Paul Hammond
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199572601
- eISBN:
- 9780191702099
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199572601.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Drama
This book reads tragedy as a genre in which the protagonist is estranged from the world around him, and, displaced in time, space, and language, comes to inhabit a milieu which is no longer shared by ...
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This book reads tragedy as a genre in which the protagonist is estranged from the world around him, and, displaced in time, space, and language, comes to inhabit a milieu which is no longer shared by other characters. This alienation from others also entails a decomposition of the integrity of the individual, which is often seen in tragedy's uncertainty about the protagonists' autonomy: do they act, or do the gods act through them? Where are the boundaries of the self, and the boundaries of the human? After an introductory essay exploring the theatrical and linguistic means by which the protagonist is made to inhabit a strange and singular world, the book devotes essays to plays from classical, renaissance, and neo-classical literature by Aeschylus, Sophocles, Seneca, William Shakespeare, and Jean Racine. Close attention is paid to the linguistic strangeness of the texts which is often smoothed over by editors and translators, as it is through the weirdness of tragic language that the deep estrangement of the characters is shown. Accordingly, the Greek, Latin, and French texts are quoted in the originals, with translations added, and attention is paid to textual cruces which illustrate the linguistic and conceptual difficulties of these plays.Less
This book reads tragedy as a genre in which the protagonist is estranged from the world around him, and, displaced in time, space, and language, comes to inhabit a milieu which is no longer shared by other characters. This alienation from others also entails a decomposition of the integrity of the individual, which is often seen in tragedy's uncertainty about the protagonists' autonomy: do they act, or do the gods act through them? Where are the boundaries of the self, and the boundaries of the human? After an introductory essay exploring the theatrical and linguistic means by which the protagonist is made to inhabit a strange and singular world, the book devotes essays to plays from classical, renaissance, and neo-classical literature by Aeschylus, Sophocles, Seneca, William Shakespeare, and Jean Racine. Close attention is paid to the linguistic strangeness of the texts which is often smoothed over by editors and translators, as it is through the weirdness of tragic language that the deep estrangement of the characters is shown. Accordingly, the Greek, Latin, and French texts are quoted in the originals, with translations added, and attention is paid to textual cruces which illustrate the linguistic and conceptual difficulties of these plays.
Mary Vincent
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198206132
- eISBN:
- 9780191676987
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198206132.003.0013
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History, History of Religion
From 1931 to 1936 Church and Republic in Spain were engaged in what was effectively a dialogue of the deaf. For many protagonists, Catholic Spain and republican Spain were mutually exclusive. Despite ...
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From 1931 to 1936 Church and Republic in Spain were engaged in what was effectively a dialogue of the deaf. For many protagonists, Catholic Spain and republican Spain were mutually exclusive. Despite the determined efforts of some key individuals, as well as some small parties, by July 1936 neither side was prepared to accommodate the other. In Salamanca, this erosion of the political centre was, to a large extent, the result of the impact of the Second Republic on people's daily lives. It is one of the central tragedies of the Republic that its leaders in Madrid were unable to understand how their legislation affected the devotional lives of ordinary Catholics. A chronic underprovision of schools, hospitals, and asylums combined with a total lack of any social security system to ensure that few palliatives an even fewer remedies were available for the poor.Less
From 1931 to 1936 Church and Republic in Spain were engaged in what was effectively a dialogue of the deaf. For many protagonists, Catholic Spain and republican Spain were mutually exclusive. Despite the determined efforts of some key individuals, as well as some small parties, by July 1936 neither side was prepared to accommodate the other. In Salamanca, this erosion of the political centre was, to a large extent, the result of the impact of the Second Republic on people's daily lives. It is one of the central tragedies of the Republic that its leaders in Madrid were unable to understand how their legislation affected the devotional lives of ordinary Catholics. A chronic underprovision of schools, hospitals, and asylums combined with a total lack of any social security system to ensure that few palliatives an even fewer remedies were available for the poor.
Glyn Davis
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748637782
- eISBN:
- 9780748670864
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748637782.003.0006
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
Queer fans of Todd Haynes might have been searching for the director's usual politics. His career has hovered between melodramas focused on female protagonists and those centred on men. Despite the ...
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Queer fans of Todd Haynes might have been searching for the director's usual politics. His career has hovered between melodramas focused on female protagonists and those centred on men. Despite the best efforts of the gay/queer directors who sent a flurry of melodramas into cinemas in the first years of the twenty-first century, attempting to revive the genre, it remains mostly elusive on the big screen. His film undertakes seriously a large number of substantial questions — about authorship, about the persistence or loss of melodrama as a genre, about the queerness of particular narrative devices, and so on. Far from Heaven is genuinely unique and idiosyncratic. It is perhaps this uniqueness that most clearly marks Far from Heaven as a truly independent film.Less
Queer fans of Todd Haynes might have been searching for the director's usual politics. His career has hovered between melodramas focused on female protagonists and those centred on men. Despite the best efforts of the gay/queer directors who sent a flurry of melodramas into cinemas in the first years of the twenty-first century, attempting to revive the genre, it remains mostly elusive on the big screen. His film undertakes seriously a large number of substantial questions — about authorship, about the persistence or loss of melodrama as a genre, about the queerness of particular narrative devices, and so on. Far from Heaven is genuinely unique and idiosyncratic. It is perhaps this uniqueness that most clearly marks Far from Heaven as a truly independent film.
Anthony King
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199576982
- eISBN:
- 9780191702235
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199576982.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, UK Politics
This chapter focuses on Britain’s traditional constitution. Caius Martius, the protagonist of Coriolanus, refused to agree to the Roman plebeians’ increasingly vociferous political demands. There ...
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This chapter focuses on Britain’s traditional constitution. Caius Martius, the protagonist of Coriolanus, refused to agree to the Roman plebeians’ increasingly vociferous political demands. There were two points pointed out by Martius, first is that Rome is to continue to have a single governing body and that the existing rulers of Rome are to continue to rule; and second is that the common people of Rome, while not seeking to become the government, are to be allowed nevertheless to bring their influence to bear directly upon the government.Less
This chapter focuses on Britain’s traditional constitution. Caius Martius, the protagonist of Coriolanus, refused to agree to the Roman plebeians’ increasingly vociferous political demands. There were two points pointed out by Martius, first is that Rome is to continue to have a single governing body and that the existing rulers of Rome are to continue to rule; and second is that the common people of Rome, while not seeking to become the government, are to be allowed nevertheless to bring their influence to bear directly upon the government.
Yiannis Gabriel
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198290957
- eISBN:
- 9780191684845
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198290957.003.0004
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Organization Studies
This chapter discusses the classification of stories through the examples of an epic, a tragic, and a comic story. It also proposes a typology of organizational stories that is helpful for the ...
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This chapter discusses the classification of stories through the examples of an epic, a tragic, and a comic story. It also proposes a typology of organizational stories that is helpful for the analysis of such stories, accepting that folklorists of literary critics may opt for different typologies. Epic stories usually deal with achievements, contests, and trials and almost always have a happy ending. Comic stories are identifiable by generating laughter, amusement, and levity. Tragic stories, on the other hand, generate pity and sorrow. Each type of story builds a rather different type of relationship between narrator and audience. The narrator of an epic story invites the audience to marvel at the hero's achievements, the narrator of the comic story invites the audience to laugh, and the narrator of the tragic story invites the audience to feel compassion and awe at the protagonist's sufferings. Thus, each story type represents a distinct poetic mode or way of infusing meaning into events.Less
This chapter discusses the classification of stories through the examples of an epic, a tragic, and a comic story. It also proposes a typology of organizational stories that is helpful for the analysis of such stories, accepting that folklorists of literary critics may opt for different typologies. Epic stories usually deal with achievements, contests, and trials and almost always have a happy ending. Comic stories are identifiable by generating laughter, amusement, and levity. Tragic stories, on the other hand, generate pity and sorrow. Each type of story builds a rather different type of relationship between narrator and audience. The narrator of an epic story invites the audience to marvel at the hero's achievements, the narrator of the comic story invites the audience to laugh, and the narrator of the tragic story invites the audience to feel compassion and awe at the protagonist's sufferings. Thus, each story type represents a distinct poetic mode or way of infusing meaning into events.
Michael Hawcroft
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198151852
- eISBN:
- 9780191672866
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198151852.003.0004
- Subject:
- Literature, Drama, European Literature
Jean Racine saw that oratory as a dramatic resource need not be restricted to formal juridical and political proceedings. While traditional rhetoric books catered principally for such formal ...
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Jean Racine saw that oratory as a dramatic resource need not be restricted to formal juridical and political proceedings. While traditional rhetoric books catered principally for such formal situations, a rhetorician like Bernard Lamy, writing in French, could state explicitly that persuasion was an art of value to all people in their daily lives. A theatre essentially of words is made gripping by the extension of persuasive action beyond the normal situations of formal oratory. For much of the time, the spectators of a 17th-century tragedy witness scenes of conflict between protagonists. In most of these scenes the characters do not adopt the role of formal orator; they are not ambassadors or barristers. Yet they nearly always behave like orators. This chapter examines examples of such behaviour to see whether scenes of informal oratory can be analysed in the same way as scenes of formal oratory, what variety of treatment is accorded to these scenes, and whether Racine treats them differently from his contemporaries. Elegy and verbal action in Bérénice are also discussed.Less
Jean Racine saw that oratory as a dramatic resource need not be restricted to formal juridical and political proceedings. While traditional rhetoric books catered principally for such formal situations, a rhetorician like Bernard Lamy, writing in French, could state explicitly that persuasion was an art of value to all people in their daily lives. A theatre essentially of words is made gripping by the extension of persuasive action beyond the normal situations of formal oratory. For much of the time, the spectators of a 17th-century tragedy witness scenes of conflict between protagonists. In most of these scenes the characters do not adopt the role of formal orator; they are not ambassadors or barristers. Yet they nearly always behave like orators. This chapter examines examples of such behaviour to see whether scenes of informal oratory can be analysed in the same way as scenes of formal oratory, what variety of treatment is accorded to these scenes, and whether Racine treats them differently from his contemporaries. Elegy and verbal action in Bérénice are also discussed.
Michael Hawcroft
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198151852
- eISBN:
- 9780191672866
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198151852.003.0005
- Subject:
- Literature, Drama, European Literature
The depiction of characters in conflict with one another is a potent source of theatricality. However, it is not always the case that characters are in conflict with their interlocutors. Sometimes ...
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The depiction of characters in conflict with one another is a potent source of theatricality. However, it is not always the case that characters are in conflict with their interlocutors. Sometimes they are very much in agreement. This chapter focuses on the most obvious occurrences of apparent agreement between characters, namely, discussions between protagonists and the much maligned confidants. It suggests that some common views of the role of confidants in Jean Racine's tragedy require modification in the light of a rhetorical analysis of their encounters with their principal partners. It argues that Racine's use of persuasive interaction in these encounters contributes to their theatrical impact and also allows these scenes to be seen as instances of informal oratory, even though the oratory may be of a different tenor from that of protagonists who are in disagreement.Less
The depiction of characters in conflict with one another is a potent source of theatricality. However, it is not always the case that characters are in conflict with their interlocutors. Sometimes they are very much in agreement. This chapter focuses on the most obvious occurrences of apparent agreement between characters, namely, discussions between protagonists and the much maligned confidants. It suggests that some common views of the role of confidants in Jean Racine's tragedy require modification in the light of a rhetorical analysis of their encounters with their principal partners. It argues that Racine's use of persuasive interaction in these encounters contributes to their theatrical impact and also allows these scenes to be seen as instances of informal oratory, even though the oratory may be of a different tenor from that of protagonists who are in disagreement.
Michael Hawcroft
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198151852
- eISBN:
- 9780191672866
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198151852.003.0008
- Subject:
- Literature, Drama, European Literature
The importance to Jean Racine's dramatic technique of showing characters engaged in acts of persuasion has long been recognized by modern critics. Speeches are interesting in the theatre if ...
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The importance to Jean Racine's dramatic technique of showing characters engaged in acts of persuasion has long been recognized by modern critics. Speeches are interesting in the theatre if characters are arguing with each other for and against different courses of action. The notion of persuasion can readily be applied to scenes of confrontation between protagonists whether they adopt the role of formal orators or not. But the same notion is useful in demonstrating the theatricality of discourse in scenes involving confidants, in monologues, and in narrations. The method deployed in this book raises two major problems: the first relates to the assessment of the impact of scenes of persuasion on a theatre audience; the second, to the amount of text in any given play which lends itself to analysis in terms of verbal action, inventio, and dispositio. Spectators can be gripped by scenes of persuasion; they can also be moved by them to feel pity and fear. Rhetorical analysis illuminates the tragic effect; it also permits a truly theatrical exploration of Racinian discourse.Less
The importance to Jean Racine's dramatic technique of showing characters engaged in acts of persuasion has long been recognized by modern critics. Speeches are interesting in the theatre if characters are arguing with each other for and against different courses of action. The notion of persuasion can readily be applied to scenes of confrontation between protagonists whether they adopt the role of formal orators or not. But the same notion is useful in demonstrating the theatricality of discourse in scenes involving confidants, in monologues, and in narrations. The method deployed in this book raises two major problems: the first relates to the assessment of the impact of scenes of persuasion on a theatre audience; the second, to the amount of text in any given play which lends itself to analysis in terms of verbal action, inventio, and dispositio. Spectators can be gripped by scenes of persuasion; they can also be moved by them to feel pity and fear. Rhetorical analysis illuminates the tragic effect; it also permits a truly theatrical exploration of Racinian discourse.
Ross Harrison
- Published in print:
- 1974
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198245070
- eISBN:
- 9780191680830
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198245070.003.0003
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology
This chapter describes the connection of judgements. It first addresses informal argument. As a premiss, it ultimately depends upon assumption and agreement, and the first premiss is introduced and ...
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This chapter describes the connection of judgements. It first addresses informal argument. As a premiss, it ultimately depends upon assumption and agreement, and the first premiss is introduced and used as an unsupported premiss. It is indicated that a fundamental feature of any comprehensible world is that the protagonist (of that world) should be able to make some distinction between those judgements that he could make which would be true (or apply to the world), and those judgements that he could make which would be false (would not apply to the world). The historical use of the first premiss is reported. Leibniz took his philosophy as resting on two premisses or principles, the principle of non-contradiction and the principle of sufficient reason. In addition, immediate deductions from the first premiss, laws, the case where the protagonist is always right, and the alternative premisses are covered.Less
This chapter describes the connection of judgements. It first addresses informal argument. As a premiss, it ultimately depends upon assumption and agreement, and the first premiss is introduced and used as an unsupported premiss. It is indicated that a fundamental feature of any comprehensible world is that the protagonist (of that world) should be able to make some distinction between those judgements that he could make which would be true (or apply to the world), and those judgements that he could make which would be false (would not apply to the world). The historical use of the first premiss is reported. Leibniz took his philosophy as resting on two premisses or principles, the principle of non-contradiction and the principle of sufficient reason. In addition, immediate deductions from the first premiss, laws, the case where the protagonist is always right, and the alternative premisses are covered.
Ross Harrison
- Published in print:
- 1974
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198245070
- eISBN:
- 9780191680830
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198245070.003.0004
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology
This chapter first addresses the necessity of space or time. It then deals with the particular model world to derive time. It is seen that in this particular model world, the protagonist cannot ...
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This chapter first addresses the necessity of space or time. It then deals with the particular model world to derive time. It is seen that in this particular model world, the protagonist cannot change his mind about a judgement, and so it is for him as if he gets all his judgements correct. His position in this respect is analogous to the case of a protagonist who never makes a mistake. A feature emerged which it is clear could not be possessed by an atemporal world. It is also examined whether this feature can be derived from the other features of any comprehensible world. It does seem reasonable to presume that Wittgenstein held that the hierarchy of laws is finite. Moreover, the chapter demonstrates that even if the doctrine that justification comes to an end is accepted, it does not spoil the argument of the first part of the chapter which shows that the first premiss involved a potentially infinite number of reasons being available to the protagonist of a comprehensible world. In addition, the chapter illustrates that the majority of judgements are correct. It evaluates atemporal and temporal worlds, and the state of the inquiry.Less
This chapter first addresses the necessity of space or time. It then deals with the particular model world to derive time. It is seen that in this particular model world, the protagonist cannot change his mind about a judgement, and so it is for him as if he gets all his judgements correct. His position in this respect is analogous to the case of a protagonist who never makes a mistake. A feature emerged which it is clear could not be possessed by an atemporal world. It is also examined whether this feature can be derived from the other features of any comprehensible world. It does seem reasonable to presume that Wittgenstein held that the hierarchy of laws is finite. Moreover, the chapter demonstrates that even if the doctrine that justification comes to an end is accepted, it does not spoil the argument of the first part of the chapter which shows that the first premiss involved a potentially infinite number of reasons being available to the protagonist of a comprehensible world. In addition, the chapter illustrates that the majority of judgements are correct. It evaluates atemporal and temporal worlds, and the state of the inquiry.
Ross Harrison
- Published in print:
- 1974
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198245070
- eISBN:
- 9780191680830
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198245070.003.0005
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology
The next question to be considered is whether the general model world at its present second level of necessity or austerity contains some feature which means that it is impossible for a world just of ...
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The next question to be considered is whether the general model world at its present second level of necessity or austerity contains some feature which means that it is impossible for a world just of sensations to be a comprehensible one. This question is obviously of central importance to many theories and worries about perception. It also derives the feature that it must be possible for the protagonist to be in error in some of his present tense judgements about the world. It is hoped that establishing this feature will form an intermediate step in the derivation of the impossibility of a world consisting just of sensations, and so this feature will be dubbed the intermediate feature. In addition, the consequences of the possibility of error in present judgements are presented. The chapter also covers the formal argument for same conclusion. Next, it explores the phenomenalism and knowledge by acquaintance. The desired conclusion that a world just of sensations would not be a comprehensible one has therefore finally been reached.Less
The next question to be considered is whether the general model world at its present second level of necessity or austerity contains some feature which means that it is impossible for a world just of sensations to be a comprehensible one. This question is obviously of central importance to many theories and worries about perception. It also derives the feature that it must be possible for the protagonist to be in error in some of his present tense judgements about the world. It is hoped that establishing this feature will form an intermediate step in the derivation of the impossibility of a world consisting just of sensations, and so this feature will be dubbed the intermediate feature. In addition, the consequences of the possibility of error in present judgements are presented. The chapter also covers the formal argument for same conclusion. Next, it explores the phenomenalism and knowledge by acquaintance. The desired conclusion that a world just of sensations would not be a comprehensible one has therefore finally been reached.
Ross Harrison
- Published in print:
- 1974
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198245070
- eISBN:
- 9780191680830
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198245070.003.0007
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology
This chapter considers whether it is an essential feature of any comprehensible world that its objects should be spatially linked with each other and with their perceiver. The chapter aims to ...
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This chapter considers whether it is an essential feature of any comprehensible world that its objects should be spatially linked with each other and with their perceiver. The chapter aims to demonstrate that it is an essential condition of any world being a comprehensible one that its protagonist is spatially related to at least some of the objects of his judgements. The existence which is unperceived and space are both explored. The most promising feature from which to derive the feature that there must be a spatial relation between the protagonist and the objects of his world is the feature that it must be possible for the objects of his world to exist unperceived by him. The chapter also reviews the consequences of action upon the world. Additionally, the volitions and the further consequences of action are evaluated. A set of laws that satisfies the requirements of a comprehensible world will be a complete set linking any state with any other state and will express exactly the intermediaries that must be traversed between confrontation with any one state and confrontation with any other state. The chapter finally deals with the general model world.Less
This chapter considers whether it is an essential feature of any comprehensible world that its objects should be spatially linked with each other and with their perceiver. The chapter aims to demonstrate that it is an essential condition of any world being a comprehensible one that its protagonist is spatially related to at least some of the objects of his judgements. The existence which is unperceived and space are both explored. The most promising feature from which to derive the feature that there must be a spatial relation between the protagonist and the objects of his world is the feature that it must be possible for the objects of his world to exist unperceived by him. The chapter also reviews the consequences of action upon the world. Additionally, the volitions and the further consequences of action are evaluated. A set of laws that satisfies the requirements of a comprehensible world will be a complete set linking any state with any other state and will express exactly the intermediaries that must be traversed between confrontation with any one state and confrontation with any other state. The chapter finally deals with the general model world.
Rosemary Lloyd
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198151739
- eISBN:
- 9780191672811
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198151739.003.0004
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century and Victorian Literature
Looking into a number of fictional writings wherein children are given secondary roles and examining how childhood was noted in some autobiographies will help us recognize some of the narrative and ...
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Looking into a number of fictional writings wherein children are given secondary roles and examining how childhood was noted in some autobiographies will help us recognize some of the narrative and stylistic problems regarding how the child is portrayed as a literary representation. To demonstrate some of the measures taken by writers in dealing with issues of structure, voice, and recreating how time and space may be perceived by a child, this chapter considers a selection of works wherein the child plays no small part as the protagonist of particular narratives. The problems that poets or novelists encounter regarding how focus should be directed to the child characters are similar to the problems regarding how autobiographies should focus on childhood. Therefore, the author no longer separates these two approaches since they may entail the same solutions.Less
Looking into a number of fictional writings wherein children are given secondary roles and examining how childhood was noted in some autobiographies will help us recognize some of the narrative and stylistic problems regarding how the child is portrayed as a literary representation. To demonstrate some of the measures taken by writers in dealing with issues of structure, voice, and recreating how time and space may be perceived by a child, this chapter considers a selection of works wherein the child plays no small part as the protagonist of particular narratives. The problems that poets or novelists encounter regarding how focus should be directed to the child characters are similar to the problems regarding how autobiographies should focus on childhood. Therefore, the author no longer separates these two approaches since they may entail the same solutions.
Michael Kimmage
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780804781824
- eISBN:
- 9780804783675
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804781824.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Jewish Studies
This book concentrates on the literature of Philip Roth, one of America's greatest writers, and in particular on American Pastoral, I Married a Communist, and The Human Stain. Each of these novels ...
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This book concentrates on the literature of Philip Roth, one of America's greatest writers, and in particular on American Pastoral, I Married a Communist, and The Human Stain. Each of these novels from the 1990s uses Newark, New Jersey, to explore American history and character. Each features a protagonist who grows up in and then leaves Newark, after which he is undone by a historically generated crisis. The city's twentieth-century decline from immigrant metropolis to postindustrial disaster completes the motif of history and its terrifying power over individual destiny. This book is the first critical study to foreground the city of Newark as the source of Roth's inspiration, and to scrutinize a subject Roth was accused of avoiding as a younger writer—history. In so doing, the book brings together the two halves of Roth's decades-long career: the first featuring characters who live outside of history's grip; the second, characters entrapped in historical patterns beyond their ken and control.Less
This book concentrates on the literature of Philip Roth, one of America's greatest writers, and in particular on American Pastoral, I Married a Communist, and The Human Stain. Each of these novels from the 1990s uses Newark, New Jersey, to explore American history and character. Each features a protagonist who grows up in and then leaves Newark, after which he is undone by a historically generated crisis. The city's twentieth-century decline from immigrant metropolis to postindustrial disaster completes the motif of history and its terrifying power over individual destiny. This book is the first critical study to foreground the city of Newark as the source of Roth's inspiration, and to scrutinize a subject Roth was accused of avoiding as a younger writer—history. In so doing, the book brings together the two halves of Roth's decades-long career: the first featuring characters who live outside of history's grip; the second, characters entrapped in historical patterns beyond their ken and control.
Simon Palfrey
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198186892
- eISBN:
- 9780191674600
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198186892.003.0003
- Subject:
- Literature, Shakespeare Studies
This chapter examines the heroic ideals in William Shakespeare's romance Pericles, Prince of Tyre. It suggests that of all Shakespeare's romances this is the only one which presents anything like a ...
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This chapter examines the heroic ideals in William Shakespeare's romance Pericles, Prince of Tyre. It suggests that of all Shakespeare's romances this is the only one which presents anything like a familiar heroic protagonist. In a way, Pericles' peculiar and almost tentative quality is a kind of step on the way toward the elimination of unilateral salvation agency. This chapter describes the specific heroic characteristics and actions of Pericles.Less
This chapter examines the heroic ideals in William Shakespeare's romance Pericles, Prince of Tyre. It suggests that of all Shakespeare's romances this is the only one which presents anything like a familiar heroic protagonist. In a way, Pericles' peculiar and almost tentative quality is a kind of step on the way toward the elimination of unilateral salvation agency. This chapter describes the specific heroic characteristics and actions of Pericles.
Marilyn Butler
- Published in print:
- 1988
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198129684
- eISBN:
- 9780191671838
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198129684.003.0009
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century and Victorian Literature
Of the novels Jane Austen completed, Sense and Sensibility appears to be the earliest in conception. The didactic novel that compares the beliefs and conduct of two protagonists — with the object of ...
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Of the novels Jane Austen completed, Sense and Sensibility appears to be the earliest in conception. The didactic novel that compares the beliefs and conduct of two protagonists — with the object of finding one invariably right and the other invariably wrong — seems to have been particularly fashionable during the years 1795–1796. Most novelists, even the most purposeful, afterwards abandon it for a format using a single protagonist, whose experiences can be handled more flexibly and with much less repetition. By its very nature, Sense and Sensibility is unremittingly didactic. All the novelists who choose the contrast format do so in order to make an explicit ideological point. Essentially they are taking part in the old argument between ‘nature’ and ‘nurture’: which is the more virtuous man, the sophisticated, or schooled individual, or the natural one.Less
Of the novels Jane Austen completed, Sense and Sensibility appears to be the earliest in conception. The didactic novel that compares the beliefs and conduct of two protagonists — with the object of finding one invariably right and the other invariably wrong — seems to have been particularly fashionable during the years 1795–1796. Most novelists, even the most purposeful, afterwards abandon it for a format using a single protagonist, whose experiences can be handled more flexibly and with much less repetition. By its very nature, Sense and Sensibility is unremittingly didactic. All the novelists who choose the contrast format do so in order to make an explicit ideological point. Essentially they are taking part in the old argument between ‘nature’ and ‘nurture’: which is the more virtuous man, the sophisticated, or schooled individual, or the natural one.
Marilyn Butler
- Published in print:
- 1988
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198129684
- eISBN:
- 9780191671838
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198129684.003.0012
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century and Victorian Literature
Emma is the greatest novel of the period because it puts to fullest use the period's interest in articulate, sophisticated characters, whose every movement of thought finds its ...
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Emma is the greatest novel of the period because it puts to fullest use the period's interest in articulate, sophisticated characters, whose every movement of thought finds its verbal equivalent in a nuance of speech. The language of Emma is functional and related to the form, to a degree not found elsewhere even in Jane Austen. The plot to which the language harmoniously relates is the classic plot of the conservative novel. Essentially, a young protagonist is poised at the outset of life, with two missions to perform: to survey society, distinguishing the true values from the false; and, in the light of this new knowledge of ‘reality’, to school what is selfish, immature, or fallible in herself. Where a heroine is concerned rather than a hero, the social range is inevitably narrower, though often the personal moral lessons appear compensatingly more acute.Less
Emma is the greatest novel of the period because it puts to fullest use the period's interest in articulate, sophisticated characters, whose every movement of thought finds its verbal equivalent in a nuance of speech. The language of Emma is functional and related to the form, to a degree not found elsewhere even in Jane Austen. The plot to which the language harmoniously relates is the classic plot of the conservative novel. Essentially, a young protagonist is poised at the outset of life, with two missions to perform: to survey society, distinguishing the true values from the false; and, in the light of this new knowledge of ‘reality’, to school what is selfish, immature, or fallible in herself. Where a heroine is concerned rather than a hero, the social range is inevitably narrower, though often the personal moral lessons appear compensatingly more acute.
Susan Jones
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198184485
- eISBN:
- 9780191674273
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198184485.003.0003
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature, 20th-century Literature and Modernism
This chapter explores the female influence during his early years in Poland, and illuminates the role played by female protagonists in Conrad's fiction by considering them in the context of the ...
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This chapter explores the female influence during his early years in Poland, and illuminates the role played by female protagonists in Conrad's fiction by considering them in the context of the status and image of women in Polish romantic literature and culture. Conrad's relationship to his mother, Ewa Korzeniowska, along with the evidence of his early experiences and reading, shows that his childhood recollections, both personal and literary, offered a fundamental source for his later presentation of women in Polish fiction.Less
This chapter explores the female influence during his early years in Poland, and illuminates the role played by female protagonists in Conrad's fiction by considering them in the context of the status and image of women in Polish romantic literature and culture. Conrad's relationship to his mother, Ewa Korzeniowska, along with the evidence of his early experiences and reading, shows that his childhood recollections, both personal and literary, offered a fundamental source for his later presentation of women in Polish fiction.
Susan Jones
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198184485
- eISBN:
- 9780191674273
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198184485.003.0005
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature, 20th-century Literature and Modernism
This chapter introduces the novel Chance as the current central focus of this book. Serialised in the New York Herald Sunday Magazine in 1912, and aimed at the women readers of the paper, the novel ...
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This chapter introduces the novel Chance as the current central focus of this book. Serialised in the New York Herald Sunday Magazine in 1912, and aimed at the women readers of the paper, the novel represented a turning point in Conrad's career, his first economically successful venture in reaching a wider audience and addressing the themes of gender and romance that would occupy later fiction. Conrad's creation of a central female protagonist has often been heralded as the moment when his artistic powers began to diminish. The novel has also received negative responses from those critics who see it as an unsuccessful attempt to emulate Henry James. This chapter demonstrates that Chance was a new direction in Conrad's fiction, one in which he engages in a theoretical debate with ‘The Master’ on the relationship of vision and epistemology in the presentation of women in romance.Less
This chapter introduces the novel Chance as the current central focus of this book. Serialised in the New York Herald Sunday Magazine in 1912, and aimed at the women readers of the paper, the novel represented a turning point in Conrad's career, his first economically successful venture in reaching a wider audience and addressing the themes of gender and romance that would occupy later fiction. Conrad's creation of a central female protagonist has often been heralded as the moment when his artistic powers began to diminish. The novel has also received negative responses from those critics who see it as an unsuccessful attempt to emulate Henry James. This chapter demonstrates that Chance was a new direction in Conrad's fiction, one in which he engages in a theoretical debate with ‘The Master’ on the relationship of vision and epistemology in the presentation of women in romance.
Ann Hallamore Caesar
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198151760
- eISBN:
- 9780191672828
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198151760.003.0008
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature
This chapter discusses the roles of women and their influence on the literary pieces of Luigi Pirandello. This chapter also emphasizes Pirandello's collaboration with Marta Abba, a notable theatre ...
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This chapter discusses the roles of women and their influence on the literary pieces of Luigi Pirandello. This chapter also emphasizes Pirandello's collaboration with Marta Abba, a notable theatre actress whom he would work with until the very last productions of ‘Teatro d'Arte’. The chapter discusses the rise of female protagonists as the 19th century progressed. It tackles women's significant role in the Italian theatre production during Pirandello's time. In the further parts of this chapter, two notable plays about female heroines made by Luigi Pirandello are examined. Other parts of the chapter also discuss Pirandello's methods and approaches in bringing his female protagonist characters into life. The chapter provides a brief overview of Pirandello's ‘The Tiger’ — a notable literary piece that focuses on a female figure as a protagonist. The last parts of the chapter provide a comparative analysis between Pirandello's male and female protagonists.Less
This chapter discusses the roles of women and their influence on the literary pieces of Luigi Pirandello. This chapter also emphasizes Pirandello's collaboration with Marta Abba, a notable theatre actress whom he would work with until the very last productions of ‘Teatro d'Arte’. The chapter discusses the rise of female protagonists as the 19th century progressed. It tackles women's significant role in the Italian theatre production during Pirandello's time. In the further parts of this chapter, two notable plays about female heroines made by Luigi Pirandello are examined. Other parts of the chapter also discuss Pirandello's methods and approaches in bringing his female protagonist characters into life. The chapter provides a brief overview of Pirandello's ‘The Tiger’ — a notable literary piece that focuses on a female figure as a protagonist. The last parts of the chapter provide a comparative analysis between Pirandello's male and female protagonists.
