This thesis argues that the Wilberforce Museum assumes a similar role as William Wilberforce in the opposition of slavery in the representation of slavery and abolition and the opposition of...Show moreThis thesis argues that the Wilberforce Museum assumes a similar role as William Wilberforce in the opposition of slavery in the representation of slavery and abolition and the opposition of contemporary slavery.Show less
In “The Significance of the Frontier” Turner suggests that frontier experiences creates true – independent, individual, free – Americans, and points out that this is problematic once no actual...Show moreIn “The Significance of the Frontier” Turner suggests that frontier experiences creates true – independent, individual, free – Americans, and points out that this is problematic once no actual western frontier is left. This thesis explores how and where later great American novels have constructed new frontiers to overcome. The Sun Also Rises is a novel set in a time when the lack of a physical western frontier was just beginning to be felt. Its protagonists are among the first generations who did not have an actual American western frontier, and instead looked for a place outside America and went to find one in Europe after WWI. Their goal was to create a new identity for themselves and to build an unconventional life by distancing themselves from American society and culture. On the Road has a different take on the concept ‘frontier’ because by then it was psychological and normative rather than a physical boundary. Its main characters do physically go to the West but they do this to escape from the past and the older society with its restrictions. The experience of being on the road is what they look for as the tool to carve a new identity for themselves. Research question: What strategies do The Sun Also Rises and On the Road employ to define new frontiers since Turner’s original frontier experience can no longer be used to form authentic selves ? Thesis statement Although the frontier has changed since Turner, it has continued to exist in other forms and new forms of frontier struggle are at the heart of these novels using movement as a key strategy.Show less
The Handmaid’s Tale is a dystopia set in the near future. Written during the second wave of feminism (1985) it describes a country in which a fanatic Christian regime, The Republic of Gilead, has...Show moreThe Handmaid’s Tale is a dystopia set in the near future. Written during the second wave of feminism (1985) it describes a country in which a fanatic Christian regime, The Republic of Gilead, has seized power and has assigned the last remaining fertile women to high-ranking men with the sole purpose to reproduce. These women, including protagonist Offred, are called Handmaids. Her narrative of her oppressed situation and her memories of times before Gilead give the reader a view of what life in this regime may be like. The style of her narration provides a good view of the effect the regime has on Offred’s actions and thoughts. How does this manifest itself exactly? How and why does the regime affect her? Sigmund Freud, the forefather of modern psychology, created a theoretical framework to understand the functioning of the mind that is still implicitly influential today (even if it is often explicitly disowned). His theory makes many conjectures on how suppressed material, such as thoughts and wishes, become unconscious, and if unconscious how they may be retrieved and understood. The analysis of conscious and unconscious faculties of the mind, and the mind’s tripartite structure (ego, id and superego), underlie Freud’s master theory on the human psyche: psychoanalysis. Much of Freud’s grand theory is laid down in his dream theory. He believed that dreams were “the royal road to the unconscious” (Storr, Freud: A Very Short Introduction). This method can help to further grasp Freud’s theories on the mind. Discarded as Freud’s theories may be in psychology today, they remain influential in literary studies. Freud’s theoretical framework illuminates clearly the psychological workings of the Gilead regime, as exemplified particularly in Offred’s case. This thesis tries to understand at a psychological level how Offred functions within her society, and how she reacts to it. Therefore, like Freud would analyse a patient, this thesis will analyse Offred and her surroundings. The aim is not to simply identify Freudian elements, such as anality, orality, denial etc, but to show how these underlie an understanding of Offred, and of the novel as a whole. An analysis such as this creates and understanding of Offred’s narration and narrative, making her tale more narratable. This thesis will therefore explore The Handmaid’s Tale in a Freudian context.Show less
