This thesis offers an insight into the emergence of the New Woman, who was initially largely a literary phenomenon, but grew out to become a self-identity for many women after World War I, which...Show moreThis thesis offers an insight into the emergence of the New Woman, who was initially largely a literary phenomenon, but grew out to become a self-identity for many women after World War I, which was enabled by their sudden social and economic freedoms. As such, a period of roughly a hundred years, namely from 1830, the beginning of the Victorian Period, to 1930, the aftermath of the Great War, will be studied, and the role of the New Woman in this period will be largely scrutinized through the literature of that era. Specifically, Daphne du Maurier’s 1938 novel Rebecca will be analysed, and in particular the titular character – who, by being both the title character and the antagonist of the story, represents the unstable and volatile characteristics of what identity can be. By employing Queer Theory, this thesis will hopefully provide a closer understanding as to who exactly the New Woman, personified by Rebecca, was, what she wanted, and how she was perceived in her time – effectively exploring if she was not merely a woman defying social boundaries, but a Queer phenomenon.Show less
Women held many kinds of important facilitating roles in early modern society which have been obscured by male-focused historiographies; specifically within the court, ladies-in-waiting were...Show moreWomen held many kinds of important facilitating roles in early modern society which have been obscured by male-focused historiographies; specifically within the court, ladies-in-waiting were ideally placed to dispense patronage because of their privileged access to the monarch. This thesis sets out to show the operations of private-sphere female patronage by studying the patronage activities of one of Queen Henrietta Maria’s Ladies of the Bedchamber, the Countess of Carlisle, who was one of the most influential ladies-in-waiting during the seventeenth century.Show less
This thesis describes Lady Hester Pulter’s (1605-1678) poetry, and, in particular, focuses on religious and royalist components in her work. Pulter lived for most of her life in Cottered,...Show moreThis thesis describes Lady Hester Pulter’s (1605-1678) poetry, and, in particular, focuses on religious and royalist components in her work. Pulter lived for most of her life in Cottered, Hertfordshire, where she wrote a prose romance and a collection of poetry. Her work has survived in one manuscript (MS Lt q 32) that was discovered in the University of Leeds’ Brotherton Library in 1996. Pulter wrote her poetry during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms and the ensuing period of the Commonwealth and the Protectorate. She openly expressed her support of the king and the royalist cause in her poems. For Pulter, Charles I was unquestionably the country´s and the church´s leader. The political aspect, though, is also present in the less obviously political poetry. References to politics crop up through the whole collection. Royalism was an integral part of her life and an inseparable part of her language. In fact, the political component forms an important characteristic of her work.Show less
