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The Death of the Female Protagonists in The Awakening, "The Yellow Wallpaper" and The House of Mirth, and Its Realistic Foundations.
Mervová, Lenka ; Veselá, Pavla (advisor) ; Ulmanová, Hana (referee)
Thesis abstract This thesis analyzes the theme of death not only as the internal struggle of a certain individual, but follows its development with respect to society and the pressure that society places on the individual in question. The main foci of the analysis are Kate Chopin"s The Awakening, Edith Wharton"s The House of Mirth, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman"s "The Yellow Wallpaper". Literary typology is emphasized as a tool for creating contrasts in specific conceptions of the deaths of the women protagonists, and for facilitating an understanding of the basic framework of the individual novels. Chopin, Wharton and Gilman conceptualize death, as a complex phenomenon, in a broad perspective, not perceiving it exclusively as an end to physical existence but also as a reflection of the struggle between, on the one hand, external elements that are social, economic and familial in nature, and on the other, the sum of internal elementspredispositions, wants, imaginations and ideals. The thesis analyzes the impact that this struggle has on the perception of the heroines' own identities. The erosion of their original identity and the effort to cope with the problem is not only a direct precursor of a "traditional" death but also allows an understanding of this phase as "metaphorical" death. Gilman's "The Yellow...
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Benjamin Franklin and Jay Gatsby: A Comparison of American Literary Self-Made Men
Korejtková, Adéla ; Procházka, Martin (advisor) ; Veselá, Pavla (referee)
The thesis focuses on Benjamin Franklin, as he is portrayed in his Autobiography, and Jay Gatsby, the protagonist of Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, who are connected not only by being self-made men. Firstly, they are both symbolical figures that made a powerful commentary on a period, on the country and on its core myth - the American Dream. Secondly, they are linked by Fitzgerald himself since his hero creates a schedule and a table of general resolves which clearly imitate Franklin's schedule and the list of thirteen virtues that he intended to master. The aim of this paper is to focus on the Autobiography and The Great Gatsby and to show that Franklin's views of self-help, virtue, material wealth, social progress or religion may add another dimension to the analysis of the character of Jay Gatsby and his relation to the American Dream. In the second chapter of this thesis, the two texts are examined in terms of the authors' purpose, style and the way the central character is presented to the audience. Furthermore, I compare Franklin's own stylized self-presentation to Nick Carraway's view of Gatsby. The third chapter aims to determine in what way was Franklin's version of the central American myth transformed or corrupted in The Great Gatsby. In this part, I compare the schedules of the...
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Stereotypical Depictions of African Americans on American Film
Žáčková, Julie ; Roraback, Erik Sherman (advisor) ; Veselá, Pavla (referee)
THESIS ABSTRACT Stereotypical Depictions of African Americans on American Film As far as the history of American "moving images" reaches, there have always been African American characters on screen. However, it was already in one of the earliest movies, D.W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation, that they were portrayed as stereotypical types. Mostly played by white actors with their faces painted black, they were absolutely one-sided and evoking laughter, mockery and even disgust. It is, indeed, Griffith who is until today seen as the originator of stereotypical types on film. All the "basic" stereotypes appeared in his film: the "Mammy", the "Coon", or the "Tragic Mulatta" and marked the beginning of such portrayals of African Americans in movies. In the history of Hollywood studios production, the stereotypes were used over and over, some were reinvented and even new ones emerged. This proved to be an impulse to African American filmmakers who reacted by producing their own film projects, striving to create heroes of their own, heroes that they could look up to in movie theaters. Blaxploitation was the genre that introduced such characters. The wave of African American-produced films continued in the early 1990s. After the enormous box office success of John Singleton's Boyz N the Hood, moviegoers craved...
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Feminism in Selected Novels by Toni Morrison and Alice Walker
Chýlková, Jana ; Veselá, Pavla (advisor) ; Robbins, David Lee (referee)
The specific works analyzed in this thesis will be Sula and Beloved by Toni Morrison, and The Color Purple by Alice Walker. I have chosen these novels for their significance in the African-American literary canon, and for qualities that were assessed over time. While the choice of the novels Beloved and The Color Purple is justified by The Pulitzer Prize, Sula - which is, among other things, a novel depicting the moral and physical decline of the main heroine - was selected to contrast with Walker's bildungsroman. However, the central theme of these novels that will be explored is a black woman and her questionable representation in literature. In their novels, Morrison and Walker find diverse solutions to the problematic nature of the place of black women in a patriarchal society. Nevertheless, the selected fiction will be explored separately in terms of the feminist/womanist aspects of Morrison's and Walker's works. The Conclusion will focus on a comparison of the selected works by Toni Morrison and Alice Walker. Thus, attention will be paid to the significant themes displayed in the novels such as racism and the limitations of gender roles. The objective of this analysis will be to find some common themes displayed in the authors' fiction that connect their understanding of the world, such as issues of...
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Czech Immigrants in Minnesota; History and Critical Bibliography
Škopek, Jakub ; Robbins, David Lee (advisor) ; Veselá, Pavla (referee)
This thesis takes a look at the reasons for the emigration of Czechs from Bohemia to the United States and how this emigration began in earnest after the European revolutionary year of 1848. It also takes a look at the related steps and procedures emigrants took to make this journey possible. A primary focus of this report will be the Czech immigrants that settled in Minnesota; however, the initial part of this work applies generally to Czech immigration to America. The first part of the thesis examines some of the political and social circumstances in Bohemia (as well as in much of Europe generally) that were responsible for the waves of immigration that took place in the second half of the 19th century. The thesis takes a look at how the people learned about America and about the possibilities of traveling there. The thesis also examines how the journey was made from Bohemia to one of the German ports of embarkation, as well as the difficulties and risks awaiting emigrants in such cities. Finally, this section explains the tremendous impact the new changes in sea travel - from sail to steam - had on the rapid rise in the numbers of immigrants coming into the United States. In the following section, the thesis considers some of the general difficulties faced by all new immigrants once they had...
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Kurt Vonnegut and His Humor in Three Literary Works and Their Cinematic Adaptations
Samková, Jana ; Roraback, Erik Sherman (advisor) ; Veselá, Pavla (referee)
This bachelor thesis compares three different cinematic adaptations of three novels by an American writer Kurt Vonnegut and focuses on the way they translate the humor of the three novels. The novels discussed are Mother Night (1962), Slaughterhouse Five (1969), and Breakfast of Champions (1973). The cinematic adaptations analyzed in this thesis are Slaughterhouse Five (1972) directed by George Roy Hill and based on a screenplay written by Stephen Geller, Mother Night (1996) directed by Keith Gordon and based on a screenplay written by Robert B. Weide and finally Breakfast of Champions (1999) directed by Alan Rudolph who also wrote the screenplay. The analysis as such is divided into four chapters. Chapter 2 introduces Kurt Vonnegut as an author as well as a person. Several key theories about humor are presented, mainly those articulated by Paul Lewis, Daniel Wickberg and Sarah Blacher Cohen. The phenomenon of cinematic adaptation is introduced in the same section and the theoretical background provided is based on works by Timothy Corrigan, Brian McFarlane and Seymour Chatman. Chapter 3 discusses the novel Slaughterhouse Five and its adaptation, focusing on its structure, themes, characters, time frame and humor. In Chapter 4, Mother Night is discussed in terms of the successfulness of Gordon's...
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Emerson's influence on women in works of Nathaniel Hawthorne
Teršová, Tereza ; Robbins, David Lee (advisor) ; Veselá, Pavla (referee)
Due to its emphasis on the concepts of self-reliance, inner guidance and the aboriginal Self, Ralph Waldo Emerson's philosophy elaborates theses that favor the individual over community, such as the superiority and sanctity of self-definition, as opposed to definitions constructed by society and imposed on the individual. It is possible, then, to perceive his philosophy as important for the formation of the Women's Rights Movement and for the emerging feminism. In his four romances, Nathaniel Hawthorne creates female protagonists who advocate for women's right to self-reliance as Emerson describes it. Hawthorne's heroines can be understood and interpreted as contemplating the Emersonian principles, thus illustrating the connection between Emerson's philosophy, and themes and motifs present in Hawthorne's romances. Related to Hawthorne's portrayal of the heroines' reflections on the concepts of inner guidance, the aboriginal Self, moral dereliction and self-reliance is Hawthorne's attitude toward the relationship between "womanhood" and "femininity" on one side, and "manhood" and "masculinity" on the other side. The ambivalence of woman, as depicted by Hawthorne, consists in the discrepancy between attributes traditionally associated with "femininity", such as devotion, affection and humility, and the will...
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Community in Toni Morrison's Fiction
Brzobohatá, Michaela ; Veselá, Pavla (advisor) ; Robbins, David Lee (referee)
English Abstract Toni Morrison deals with the topic of community to a greater or lesser extent in all of her books. Being influenced by her own upbringing, she has always been aware of the role community plays in one's life and its influence on an individual. Community can both save you and forsake you. The nature of black community has been changing, according to Morrison, and so has her view of it. Her writing career reflects these alternations, revealing a significant change in her perspective. Looking at her first novel, The Bluest Eye, published in 1970, her third novel written seven years later, Song of Solomon, and her seventh novel, Paradise, written in 1998, this thesis traces the way her position alters throughout the years. Being opposed to both radical separatism and blind assimilation, Morrison first proposed return to traditional African values as the possible cure for the black community destroyed by the forces of capitalist society. Later in her career, however, Morrison changes her ideology and suggests as a remedy a community that does not exclude the unworthy, but is open, caring, and inclusive. By evolving from individualism to individuality, communities that will include everyone can be created.
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