One thing that stands out when looking at Alfred Hitchcock's films is the director's interest in domestic space. By looking at the 'Hitchcock House' from top to bottom, from outside to inside, this...Show moreOne thing that stands out when looking at Alfred Hitchcock's films is the director's interest in domestic space. By looking at the 'Hitchcock House' from top to bottom, from outside to inside, this thesis argues that domestic architecture in Hitchcock's films has a symbolic function. Influenced by Victorian literature and German Expressionism, Hitchcock's 'topography' is characterized by houses whose architectural style, rooms and elements reflect the narrative and the protagonists' characters. In addition, Hitchcock's houses at times become characters in their own right, trapping and wounding their inhabitants. Besides that Hitchcock attributes a symbolic meaning to his domestic sets, he also uses them to play with the private/public contrast, one of the most important conventions of social space.Show less
This thesis tests the premise that there is a connection between bodily trauma and meaning, and thus between words and wounds, reflected in the metaphorical usage of the word ‘wound’ in Shakespeare...Show moreThis thesis tests the premise that there is a connection between bodily trauma and meaning, and thus between words and wounds, reflected in the metaphorical usage of the word ‘wound’ in Shakespeare’s plays Titus Andronicus and Coriolanus. Conceptual metaphor theory, which claims that our thinking is metaphorical in nature, is used to ascertain the underlying metaphorical concepts that demonstrate that ‘wounds’ are indeed connected to the concept of meaning. The linguistic analyses are aided by the Metaphor Identification Procedure (MIP). Moreover, the metaphor of the wounded body reflects both the language and the political realities of the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras.Show less
This thesis follows in the great popularity of first Suzanne Collins’s “Hunger Games” trilogy and later Veronica Roth’s “Divergent” trilogy, both works of dystopian fiction aimed at young adults....Show moreThis thesis follows in the great popularity of first Suzanne Collins’s “Hunger Games” trilogy and later Veronica Roth’s “Divergent” trilogy, both works of dystopian fiction aimed at young adults. This thesis will argue that the identities of the female protagonists of these trilogies are both formed, moulded, by their respective oppressive (dystopian) societies, but that they eventually take their own fates and that of their societies in their own hands in order to change it for the better, thus becoming active agents in their own lives. Although Katniss Everdeen remains a pawn of the system which requires her to perform various (gender) roles until the very end, her conclusion signifies that she has learned to discriminate between the real and the appearance of the real: she kills President Coin, the next evil dictator, and allows a peaceful and stable future for herself as well as for the entire nation. Similarly, Tris Prior is for a long time confined to thinking according to her society’s faction system, but she ultimately recognizes the fallibility of this system which only creates prejudice, social division, and limits identity formation. Tris is essential in taking down this faction system and allowing her society a chance to start afresh.Show less
The Bayeux Tapestry depicts the events leading up to the Norman Conquest and the Battle of Hastings, where Duke William defeated King Harold. It is generally believed that the Bayeux Tapestry...Show moreThe Bayeux Tapestry depicts the events leading up to the Norman Conquest and the Battle of Hastings, where Duke William defeated King Harold. It is generally believed that the Bayeux Tapestry provides a biased account of the Conquest and has a pro-Norman view. This thesis will demonstrate how, despite the fact that the Tapestry is commissioned by a Norman patron, the Tapestry reveals a sympathetic attitude towards Harold, and that this is probably the influence of the English embroiderers. The Tapestry provides, in comparison with Norman, Anglo-Norman and English written sources, an unbiased account of the Conquest: neither pro-Norman nor pro-English. The influence of a Norman patron and English embroiderers is illustrated through certain scenes of Harold and William and the relationship between the main narrative and the commentary in the borders of the Tapestry.Show less
Une des sources utilisées par Jean de La Fontaine pour ses Fables, est le recueil de fables Cento Favole Morali (1570) de l'auteur vénitien Giovan Mario Verdizzotti. Il y a quatre fables de La...Show moreUne des sources utilisées par Jean de La Fontaine pour ses Fables, est le recueil de fables Cento Favole Morali (1570) de l'auteur vénitien Giovan Mario Verdizzotti. Il y a quatre fables de La Fontaine pour lesquelles nous avons pu établir qu’elles ont été inspirées par Verdizzotti : Le Coq et le Renard (II, 15), Le Loup devenu Berger (III, 3), L’Aigle et le Hibou (V, 18) et Le Cochet, le Chat et le Souriceau (VI, 5). Ces fables font toutes partie du premier recueil, Fables choisies mises en vers (livres I à VI). Nous nous sommes proposée de faire une analyse comparative des deux versions de chaque fable. En comparant les textes, il est possible de mieux apprécier l'originalité de La Fontaine, qui réside justement, dans la réécriture.Show less
Compared to the protagonist of the classic Who series, since 2005 the Doctor has darkened considerably. This finding of moral complexity in the character best shows itself in ambiguities in the way...Show moreCompared to the protagonist of the classic Who series, since 2005 the Doctor has darkened considerably. This finding of moral complexity in the character best shows itself in ambiguities in the way in which the Doctor addresses and discusses (with 'laymen' in the show, such as his companions, or passers-by who somehow get involved) the show’s monsters and villains, and himself.Show less
This thesis investigates the representation of female heroism in the nineteenth century in the novels Middlemarch by George Eliot and Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell. It concludes that...Show moreThis thesis investigates the representation of female heroism in the nineteenth century in the novels Middlemarch by George Eliot and Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell. It concludes that both determinist authors imply that female heroism was not possible on the scale of romantic heroes, or able to reach its full potential. However, both writers give their heroines the best possible ending; their actions can influence a small part of the web of causality around them. This quiet heroism is their small but important power.Show less
