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Victorian feminism: Oppressive notions mediated in selected poetry of Christina Rossetti and Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Hochmanová, Ester ; Beran, Zdeněk (advisor) ; Horová, Miroslava (referee)
Victorian Feminism: Oppressive Notions Mediated in Christina Rossetti's "Goblin Market" and Elizabeth Barrett-Browning's "Aurora Leigh" Ester Hochmanová Abstract Christina Rossetti and Elizabeth Barrett-Browning, two prominent poets of the Victorian Era, notably discuss various notions oppressive to women in their poetry, namely "Goblin Market" and "Aurora Leigh." Employing the Victorian theme of glamorizing death, Barrett-Browning speaks on the deadly protentional of normalizing such restrictive entrapping and an idea that love and sexual relations are often embedded in power disproportion. Rossetti on the other hand, focuses on chastity which is strongly implemented by the Catholic Church and deems unchaste women "fallen," while men are not being held up to the same standard. This overall critical examination of traditional gender roles, motherhood, and marriage, emphasizes the intersection of societal expectations, trauma, and autonomy in the lives of Victorian women. The goblin's tempting fruit becomes an allegory unveiling the predatory dynamics prevalent in Victorian society, while the narrative simultaneously unfolds a nuanced exploration of sisterhood and homoerotic, the constraints of societal expectations, and the dichotomy of fallen and redeemed women. The periodical concept of the "Angel in the...
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Christian Ethics and the Victorian Novel: The Child as a Christ Figure in Oliver Twist, Silas Marner, and The Master-Christian
Vítek, Jaroslav ; Beran, Zdeněk (advisor) ; Horová, Miroslava (referee)
This diploma thesis contributes to the evolving field of religious/postsecular and ethical studies. In the first chapter, I position my thesis in the context of the religious and ethical turn of the humanities and narrow the scope of my focus to the Victorian novel, whose critical accounts were frequently misconstrued due to the application of the secularisation thesis. I then focus on the transposition of Christianity and its ethical functions from institutional affiliations to Victorian literature and literary criticism. I interpret an orphaned child as a Christ figure in three Victorian novels, whose selection illustrates the progress of the transposition from the early Victorian period to the end of the 19th century. I establish an interpretative frame, which I apply to the following analyses of the orphan character in Charles Dickens's Oliver Twist (1837- 1838), George Eliot's Silas Marner (1861), and Marie Corelli's The Master-Christian (1900). In the second chapter, I interpret the eponymous character of Oliver Twist as the Christ figure, who brings the possibility of redemption and salvation from the ineffectual government institutions and London underground. Furthermore, Oliver establishes a heavenly kingdom on earth represented as a pastoral idyll at the end of the novel. I also focus on...
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Gender Portrayal in Maria Edgeworth's Novels
Burešová, Zuzana ; Horová, Miroslava (advisor) ; Nováková, Soňa (referee)
This thesis presents an in-depth analysis of the gender portrayal and their mutual inter-relations in Maria Edgeworth's novels that is based on a comparative reading of Castle Rackrent (1800), Belinda (1801), Ennui (1809), The Absentee (1812) and Helen (1834). The thesis focuses on the recurrent themes and qualities the author explores through her male and female characters. The introductory chapters establish the historical and literary context for Edgeworth's novels and provides an explanation for the chosen chronological order of the publication of the novels. Then, the thesis is divided into five main chapters, each of which is dedicated to a discussion of one novel. The individual sections include an analysis of the characters in relation to their gender roles, contemporary social attitudes and the gradual development that is connected to Edgeworth's own growth as a writer.
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"And Seek for Truth in the Garden of Academus": British Campus Novel in the 20th Century
Pomazova, Yekaterina ; Beran, Zdeněk (advisor) ; Horová, Miroslava (referee)
There is nothing so suspenseful as an academic committee. - Charles Percy Snow The campus or academic novel is an undeservedly forgotten literary genre that is believed to have its origins in the Anglo-American world in the early 1950s. Ironically enough, there is a lack of due attention to the genre even in many of the English literature-focused programmes, while the ambience, the characterization and the plot of academic novels are directly interrelated with university life. The bachelor's thesis would focus particularly on the British campus novel and its features, attempting to understand the essential characteristics of a classic academic novel. The earliest the thesis will focus on is The Masters by Charles Percy Snow, a rather ambiguous representative of the genre, written in 1951. Even though, some scholars do not consider this work an academic novel, the majority of critics agree that the novel belongs to the era of ivory towers of the campus novel genre. The campus novel, as we know it today, is not just a matter of setting; it is a very complex term that includes satire, irony and critique of academia. The Masters portrays rather a solemn and elegiac university life, which may seem bland and simple at first but in reality, it is a multi-layered writing that is not afraid of bringing up...
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Experiment and Narrative Strategies in Selected Novels by B. S. Johnson
Kostohryz, Jan ; Vichnar, David (advisor) ; Horová, Miroslava (referee)
This thesis explores the experimental elements and narrative techniques in selected novels by B. S. Johnson. It deals with his work inductively by observing the connections between the selected novels and their interaction with the theory presented in the "Introduction" to Aren't You Rather Young to be Writing Your Memoirs? (1973) and in the novels themselves. These contradictions are not treated as the author's shortcomings, but rather conceived as essential principles of Johnson's fiction. The aim of this thesis is to outline Johnson's deliberately contradictory theory, focus on the changing strategies employed in his fiction, examine how the selected novels resolve the particular writing problems they set for themselves, and prove that his fiction is in constant dialogue with its own theory. The three novels discussed are Albert Angelo (1964), The Unfortunates (1969) and Christie Malry's Own Double-Entry (1973). The introduction presents Johnson as a writer, discusses his changing position within the literary canon and describes the aim and structure of the thesis. The first chapter outlines Johnson's theory presented in the "Introduction" and the text's deliberate contradictions. The second chapter focuses on Albert Angelo, contrasting its aims and strategies with Johnson's theory. The third...
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Comparative Analysis of the Portrayal of Frankenstein's Creature on Film
Alechina, Yana ; Horová, Miroslava (advisor) ; Poncarová, Petra Johana (referee)
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein: or The Modern Prometheus was first published in 1818. Almost a century later, in 1910, in the early days of the cinematograph, Frankenstein's Creature appeared in black and white on the silver screen for the first time in Thomas Edison's experimental production directed by J. Searle Dawley. Since then, a plethora of film and television adaptations have been created. The goal of this thesis is to compare and analyse how Frankenstein's Creature, or, increasingly, the Frankenstein monster, was portrayed in these adaptations, paying attention primarily to the intelligence of the monster. The aim is to discover how and why the Creature, who is described in the book as an intelligent being capable of thinking, feeling, reading and speaking, is transformed in some adaptations into a senseless brutal monstrosity. The thesis will also discuss the effect of this transposition on the overall atmosphere, genre and meaning of the individual adaptations and the related problems of the novel's popular cultural legacy. The analysis of the adaptations which are closer to the original vision of the novel will serve as key material for comparison. The analysis of the different representations of the Creature throughout various adaptations will additionally allow to determine some of the...
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Haunted by the New Woman
Farniková, Hana ; Wallace, Clare (advisor) ; Horová, Miroslava (referee)
(EN) The transformation of gender is one of the fundamental topics of the late Victorian Gothic. While the earlier Gothic contended with representing a woman as either a victim or a monster, the appearance of the ambiguous New Woman, the journalistic phenomenon that became both the proto-feministic ideal and the conservative counter-ideal, prompted the creation of sympathetic monsters desiring independence. The Gothic alters the strategies of survival, punishing those who stray from social, political, and moral norms. In this way, the Gothic genre not only reacts to cultural ideals and counter-ideals, but it also arouses feelings and challenges readers' preconceptions. The thesis explores relations between figures of monstrous women and the gender ideal dominant at the fin-de-siècle. The female vampire is connected to the qualities commonly associated with the New Woman like promiscuity, hateful behaviour towards children, and yearning for freedom from the shackles of patriarchal society. Though these uncontrollable female fiends are then reduced to the ideal of a dead woman who no longer has any control over her narrative, they return as ghosts, further muddling the lines between traditional feminine and masculine qualities. A possessed woman may behave in a masculine way; a man tortured by a...
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"A Great Secret Bias": Mapping Bisexuality in Eighteenth-Century Literature.
Cherkasova, Anastasiia ; Nováková, Soňa (advisor) ; Horová, Miroslava (referee)
The research will focus on the depiction of bisexuality in 18th century literature. Despite being one of the important categories in the contemporary Queer Discourse, bisexuality still seems to be overlooked in today's cultural scene or criticized for being too ambiguous or unclear. This is prominently featured in some novels that are today considered as being involved with the depictions of homoerotic relations, even though many of them might be in a more nuanced reading described as dealing with more complex, even bisexual connections. The thesis aims to trace back bisexuality and show its omnipresence in 18th -century literature, the time period when nonstandard sexual identities started to acquire visibility. Such reading might shed some light on the nature of sexuality, which is fluid, polymorphous and complex, instead of being regarded as fixed and defined. The thesis encompasses the groundbreaking theories of Michel Foucault and other theorists, however, it has as its aim the expansion of this framework and inclusion of the still very intangible phenomenon of bisexuality. Maria Edgeworth's novel Belinda, John Cleland's erotic novel Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure as well as Charlotte Charke's A Narrative Of The Life Of Mrs. Charlotte Charke will be the template on which the...
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Gender in Selected British Twentieth-Century Dystopian Novels
Čalkovská, Markéta ; Poncarová, Petra Johana (advisor) ; Horová, Miroslava (referee)
This thesis explores the topic of gender in selected British dystopian novels from first half and middle of the 20th century - Lord of the Flies (1954) by William Golding, Brave New World (1932) by Aldous Huxley, and Swastika Night (1937) by Katharine Burdekin, through the lens of gender and feminist approaches. The theoretical part briefly summarizes the history of the dystopian and utopian genres as well as their connection to feminist critique. It also summarises the focus of feminist literary studies and gender studies lens and describes the main works of reference used in this thesis. The latter part focuses on the hierarchy and layout of dystopian societies described in the individual novels and analyses the established ideology and its values regarding gender roles and gender-coded behaviour. These values include the position and autonomy of women and their reproductive rights and duties in Brave New World and Swastika Night or the rejection of the feminine in Lord of the Flies and its impact on the outcome of the novel. It also examines individual characters and their acceptance of or disagreement with the values imposed by society and its influence on the plot. Concepts such as toxic masculinity, patriarchal society, objectification, and gender performativity are also examined.
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The Romantic Prometheus: Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein", P. B. Shelley's "Prometheus Unbound" and Lord Byron's "Manfred".
Hupcejová, Anna ; Horová, Miroslava (advisor) ; Beran, Zdeněk (referee)
Following the time of political turmoil and social change sweeping through Europe (the French Revolution, the Napoleonic Wars, the Industrial Revolution), the mythological figure of Prometheus was especially popular in English Romantic literature. The Promethean symbol and values of liberty and defiance were evident inspirations of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Percy Bysshe Shelley's Prometheus Unbound and George Gordon Byron's Manfred. Being generally interested in English Romantic literature, I seek to discuss in what ways and to what extent have the Romantics rewritten the themes associated with the Titan for the purposes of modernity. Prometheus' chief characteristics are his caring and self-sacrificing, yet rebellious and cunning nature - he is in short an individual that the Romantics could relate to, also because he suffered for his beliefs and was mentally strong enough to stand up against the Olympian authorities. His name translates as 'forethought' or 'foresight' and this is without doubt connected to why the Romantics found him relevant to their time. There are a few issues that will need to be confronted. First of all, there are countless versions of the ancient myth, so instead I will direct my attention to the values and symbols associated with Prometheus. Secondly, there are also other...
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