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Subject: search.filters.subject.470504 British and Irish literature

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    "A new phoenix, of the more worthier gender" : reinforcing the gender hierarchy and patriarchal orthodoxy on the Jacobean stage, 1603-1606 : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in English at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2021) van Geffen, Elizabeth Eve
    Focusing on the early years of James I’s reign in England – specifically, 1603 to 1606 – I explore how, after more than half a century of female rule in England, the restoration of male monarchy in England foregrounded misogynistic gender expectations, and how the early modern theatre had a hand in the reinforcement of the gender hierarchy and patriarchal orthodoxy. Analysing thirteen extant plays first performed professionally in London theatres within this date range, this project explores how early modern ideas of ‘masculinity’ and ‘femininity’ played out on the stage at a time when a female to male transition of monarchical power promoted a heightened awareness of, and anxieties regarding, gender and the gendered social order. I also examine how violations of the gender hierarchy and social order were framed, theatrically, as transgressive and dangerous, and how, in some instances, these social threats were ‘contained’ so as to consolidate patriarchal orthodoxy. Employing a broadly new historicist approach, my analysis of the plays is complemented by research drawing on a range of early modern English discourses which equally informed and were informed by the patriarchal hierarchies underpinning social thought at this time. These include the sumptuary laws and regulations, humoral theory and pseudo-medical treatises, anti-theatrical tracts, political treatises and speeches, topical pamphlets, poetry and panegyrics. These discourses showcase that the plays under examination in this research project are a product of a historic moment preoccupied with the maintenance and preservation of a social order that revolved around patriarchal power. Ultimately, this thesis will demonstrate that the plays themselves implicitly and explicitly maintained and preserved this patriarchal order. However, my research identifies a surprising nuance in the reinforcement of this power/order, demonstrating that the binary gender hierarchy was complicated by the early modern recognition of subtle gender differences within a sex.
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    Defining the layers : Seamus Heaney's metaphor of layers of colonisation in Ireland : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in English Literature at Massey University, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2019) de Andrad, Camille
    Seamus Heaney is arguably Ireland’s most notable poet. Receiving the Nobel prize for Literature in 1995, Heaney is recognised as one of Ireland’s most prominent writers. In particular, Heaney’s poems in the context of the Troubles have provided insight into why these events have occurred. He is, alongside Michael Longley, one of the foremost poets of the Troubles, and used his writing to try and understand the events of the time. Heaney grew up in Derry, Northern Ireland, and personally experienced the Troubles, however, the majority of his poetry which he wrote in context of this era, was written after he had moved to the Republic of Ireland. It is within the context of the Bog that Heaney searches for answers to the effects of colonisation on the Irish. Heaney explores the loss of culture as a result of colonisation by the British, but he also looks at how the Irish culture has evolved over the past two millennia. Within the poetry that he wrote during the Troubles, Heaney explores the concept of the Vikings’ culture of violence and retribution, suggesting that it lives on in the psyche of present-day Irish. In addition, his poems contemplate the hybridity of contemporary Irish culture, showing how the Irish, regardless of religion are one and the same, making the atrocities between sectarian groups pointless. Although Heaney was a Catholic Irish Nationalist, his vision for Ireland was one of an inclusive Ireland where all Irish were the same regardless of their religion. His exploration of religion and its creation of division of communities in Ireland is a major theme in his poems, and one which he links back to many of the ills of Irish history.