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    Women in Thomas Hardy's novels : an interpretative study : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in English at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1970) Morrison, Dorothy
    When one begins a study of the women in Hardy's novels one discovers critical views of great diversity. There are features of Hardy's work which received favourable comment then as now; his descriptions of nature for instance, and his rustic characters have appealed to most critics over the years. But his philosophical and social comment have drawn criticism ranging from the virulent to the scornful. In particular his attitude to and treatment of love and marriage relationships have been widely argued, and it is the women concerned who have been assessed in the most surprising and contradictory manner. The first critic of stature was Lionel Johnson¹Lionel Johnson, The Art of Thomas Hardy (1894). London, 1923, p.193. best known as a poet. In 1894 he wrote of Hardy's women: 'I cannot think that any of them is so powerfully conceived and drawn as are the best of the men;' but he adds that they provoke an 'amazed awe of their infinite ingenuities,' and quotes a remark of Swift's about the pleasure that a few words 'spoken plain by a parrot will give.' [FROM INTRODUCTION]
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    Images of women in the A-level literature taught in Tanzanian secondary schools and their implications for development : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Phiilosophy in Development Studies at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand /
    (Massey University, 2000) Allardice, Elizabeth
    Traditionally in Tanzania gendered education was carried out by family members and 'elders', with the purpose of equipping young people with the skills and knowledge they would need to play a complete role in their society. Contact with Arab traders led to the adoption of Islam in some communities and the establishment of Koranic schools. With Christianity and the colonial administration; first by Germany and later by Britain, came Western formal education. Women had little access to either of these forms of education however and were not admitted in large numbers to schools until the socialist education policies of the post independence government were put into place. Despite these policies, society's discriminatory attitudes towards women continued to mitigate women's advancement to higher education. This has helped to lead to women's low status in society, the lack of recognition for their contributions to that society and their inability to shape the development of Tanzania on an equal basis with men. Within the education system women and girls suffer many disadvantages which contribute to their lack of academic success. Not least of these is a biased curriculum which is particularly evident in the content of school text books and reading material. Books in the A level literature in English syllabus are all written by men and an analysis of the content of the eight most frequently used books shows the predominance of negative images of women and gender relations which denigrate and devalue women and girls. These negative images, internalised by the female students, prevent them achieving the goals of the syllabus and may contribute to low self esteem and their subsequent low representation in tertiary institutions. Books written by African women writers, which portray more positive images of women and alternative gender relations, are available and would be valuable additions to the syllabus for both male and female students.
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    I'm just a girl : madness, male domination, and female imprisonment in Jane Eyre, The yellow wallpaper, Wide Sargasso Sea, and Faces in the water : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in English at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1999) Tokley, Anne-Marie
    Female madness is not always caused by the domination of women. In the texts Jane Eyre, "The Yellow Wallpaper", Wide Sargasso Sea, and Faces in the Water, however, male domination, and female imprisonment do have a relationship to madness. Medical discourse rose to a position of great power in the nineteenth century, as science and reason really began to take over. Suddenly there was a scientific and biological theory behind female inferiority, greatly influencing doctors' perspective of their female patients, and contributing to the enforcement of traditionally female roles. Whilst madness is a real and greatly misunderstood illness, these four texts illustrate that the internalisation and socialisation of medical discourse locked women into roles that, it was believed, they were not capable of escaping.