Login | Register

For that one creature's sake : post-courtly love in wuthering heights and great expectations

Title:

For that one creature's sake : post-courtly love in wuthering heights and great expectations

Atallah, Bassel (2009) For that one creature's sake : post-courtly love in wuthering heights and great expectations. Masters thesis, Concordia University.

[thumbnail of MR63180.pdf]
Preview
Text (application/pdf)
MR63180.pdf - Accepted Version
3MB

Abstract

This thesis examines the representation of post-courtly love in two Victorian novels, Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights and Charles Dickens's Great Expectations. I define the post-courtly genre as literature from the nineteenth century that portrays the conflict between two ideologies of love, one that follows the courtly tradition of pursuing endless though unattainable love, and one that is expected to result in a marriage based on social Victorian values of domestic stability. The Victorian realist novel aims to offer a study of how individuals function in society and how society can be positively and negatively affected by the actions of its individuals. My central argument is that Wuthering Heights and Great Expectations demonstrate this realism by portraying how courtly love conventions are at odds with the fictional worlds in which the novels are set. The social and emotional need for a physical union with his beloved will prevent the post-courtly lover from following the conventional trajectory of courtly Iove. This can lead to the emotional deterioration of the post-courtly lover, will hinder his social progress, and may even hinder the social progress of other characters within his community as well. The post-courtly lover will thus be obliged to adjust his approach to love in order to be capable of properly functioning in the social world, or be forced into isolation and alienation from the social community.

Divisions:Concordia University > Faculty of Arts and Science > English
Item Type:Thesis (Masters)
Authors:Atallah, Bassel
Pagination:iv, 84 leaves ; 29 cm.
Institution:Concordia University
Degree Name:M.A.
Program:English
Date:2009
Thesis Supervisor(s):Camlot, J
Identification Number:LE 3 C66E54M 2009 A83
ID Code:976353
Deposited By: Concordia University Library
Deposited On:22 Jan 2013 16:24
Last Modified:13 Jul 2020 20:10
Related URLs:
All items in Spectrum are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved. The use of items is governed by Spectrum's terms of access.

Repository Staff Only: item control page

Downloads per month over past year

Research related to the current document (at the CORE website)
- Research related to the current document (at the CORE website)
Back to top Back to top