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dc.contributor.advisorHughes, Linda K.
dc.contributor.authorShao, Bingen_US
dc.date.accessioned2019-10-11T15:10:30Z
dc.date.available2019-10-11T15:10:30Z
dc.date.created2000en_US
dc.date.issued2000en_US
dc.identifieraleph-883899en_US
dc.identifierMicrofilm Diss. 766.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://repository.tcu.edu/handle/116099117/32723
dc.description.abstractThis dissertation examines eight poems by Augusta Webster (1837¿1894), a key Victorian woman poet. Selected from Webster's Dramatic Studies (1866) and Portraits (1870, 1893), these eight dramatic monologues spoken by women offer a significant array of female characters, including a nun, a saint, a newly-engaged girl, an old maid, a plain woman, a prostitute, Medea, and Circe. These characters form a continuum of female identities from repression to transgression, from resignation to protest, from weakness to strength and empowerment. This study traces these themes and argues that studying a fine but unjustifiably neglected poet like Webster can both enrich the study of Victorian poetry in general and diversify our understandings of the dramatic monologue in particular. The approach of this study combines feminist criticism, cultural discourse, constructivism, social studies, and textual analysis. The discussions focus on Webster's texts to show both the poetics and the politics of her dramatic monologues: her significant choice of female speakers from social or moral margins (such as an old maid and a prostitute); her deployment of more than one context in their stories (e.g. contexts that show Medea as a healer, a helpmate, and a lover, not merely as a killer); her use of more than one voice in monologues, and her application of this form to social and feminist criticism. The Introduction surveys criticism of the dramatic monologue, approaching this form in terms of gendered reading, writing, and speaking. It also introduces Augusta Webster's life and work. Chapter One analyzes the construction of the identities of two religious women, ¿Sister Annunciata¿ and ¿Jeanne D'Arc,¿ demonstrating both Annunciata's struggle between earth and heaven and Jeanne's negotiations among gender roles. Chapter Two discusses four women speakers from the Victorian era, emphasizing their protests about Victorian women's social experience. Chapter Three discusses how Webster revises the femme fatale of Medea and Circe, whose daring transgressions empower female identity. The Conclusion suggests that more studies of this talented poet be undertaken to enrich our understanding of both Victorian women poets and the dramatic monologue itself.
dc.format.extentiv, 266 leavesen_US
dc.format.mediumFormat: Printen_US
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.relation.ispartofTexas Christian University dissertationen_US
dc.relation.ispartofAS38.S5118en_US
dc.subject.lcshWebster, August, 1837-1894--Criticism and interpretationen_US
dc.subject.lcshDramatic monologues--History and criticismen_US
dc.subject.lcshEnglish poetry--19th century--History and criticismen_US
dc.titleWomen's voices in Augusta Webster's dramatic monologuesen_US
dc.typeTexten_US
etd.degree.departmentDepartment of English
etd.degree.levelDoctoral
local.collegeAddRan College of Liberal Arts
local.departmentEnglish
local.academicunitDepartment of English
dc.type.genreDissertation
local.subjectareaEnglish
dc.identifier.callnumberMain Stacks: AS38 .S5118 (Regular Loan)
dc.identifier.callnumberSpecial Collections: AS38 .S5118 (Non-Circulating)
etd.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophy
etd.degree.grantorTexas Christian University


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