School of Culture and Communication - Theses
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ItemThe theme of melancholy in Wordsworth's poetry( 1974)My concern in this essay is to focus attention on an aspect of Wordsworth's work to which I have given the general name of a "theme of melancholy". I wish to suggest by this not some habitual melancholy of attitude, or an elegiac note, though both of these are involved in the theme, but rather something which is inherent in all his work, present as one of the shaping conditions of his poetry. We speak of Wordsworth as a revolutionary, poet above all as one who was concerned with the release of feeling, and who achieved that release in great and lasting modes; yet I believe that, if we are to say this, we must also take account of the pervasiveness of this "melancholy" in his work. The considerations involved in such an account must have an important bearing on our sense of his work as a whole, and they seem to me also to offer terms in which we may explore the reasons for the extreme difference in quality which is manifested in it.(From Introduction)
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ItemThe development of pessimism in the works of Mark Twain( 1976)The tendency towards pessimism in the 19th century novel is one of the most fascinating of the broad movements in literature, largely because its manifestations are so varied. The later novels of Dickens and Madam Bovary and Crime and Punishment would seem to have little in common and yet, like so many other novels of the period from about 1850 to the First World War, they are marked by a sense of the waste of human potential, a sombreness and narrowing in what life has to offer. We naturally feel that there must have been something in the age itself which inclined those who recorded it towards a pessimistic outlook. Yet how we are to comment on this general tendency is a difficult matter. I feel that little of value can be achieved by identifying general qualities of the age and looking back to find their influence on a variety of writers, at least not by those whose primary interest is literature and not history, however closely the two are linked in this perspective. Rather, certain qualities of the late 19th and early 20th centuries can perhaps be suggested by studying the careers of particular writers and noting the ways in which their impressions and judgments about life and their own times converge. Although a comparative study of a number of writers, with this point of view in mind, would represent a fuller working out of my interest, I feel that it would be quite inappropriate to the length of this thesis and I am confining myself to a study of Mark Twain. Twain is a figure of exceptionally wide significance in relation to the issue of pessimism as a general tendency in the 19th century. In part, this is because of the explicitness with which Twain expresses his growing pessimism. In this he resembles Tolstoy, for by the end of their careers both writers had reached a position of explicit, cosmic pessimism; a position registered particularly forcefully by their readers because it seems, at least superficially, to contrast sharply with their best known works - Anna Karenina and Huckleberry Finn - which are particularly beloved by all readers for their rendering of some of the simplest and most deeply felt of life's pleasures and values. But in what his pessimism reveals about the times in which he lived Twain is of more direct significance than Tolstoy. For although his later years were marked by exceptional difficulties and sorrows in his personal life, it is not in terms of private suffering that he develops his pessimistic outlook, but in terms of his beliefs about nature and society. (From Introduction)
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ItemThe life and work of Ludwig Becker (1808-1861): with a critical analysis of his Australian oeuvre and an appreciation of his contribution to artistic and scientific developments in Victoria( 1978)Ludwig Becker’s name has long been associated with the Great Exploring Expedition of 1860-61 and the work he executed during the Expedition as artist, naturalist and geologist. But details of his life and training have been obscure and work undertaken prior to the Expedition relatively unknown. Becker was no superficial or flamboyant character but a true scholar. He appeared content to remain in the background, sharing his knowledge and contributing much to the cultural life of early Melbourne, always the worker while others took the honours. During the research for this study of Becker’s life and work I realised that it would be enhanced by extending the critical analysis into the scientific field. I sought some guidance from scientific specialists. I acknowledge with gratitude the advice given me by Mr John Calaby, Division of Wild Life Research, C.S.I.R.O., Canberra; and Mr Alan West, Curator of Anthropology, both of the National Museum of Victoria. Help provided on a specific point is acknowledged in the relative note. The scientists confirmed that Becker was able to identify correctly almost all living species of the animal world that he sketched, providing a considerable amount of data which they can hardly fault. In all other respects this thesis is an original work. It provides a biographical study of Becker in three sections. The first covers his life prior to his arrival in Australia; the second covers nine years spent in Tasmania and Victoria; and the third tells of the part he played on the Expedition until his death. There is a lengthy critical appraisal of his artistic work, the German tradition which moulded him and comparisons with other artists, especially William Strutt. There is also a chapter on his promotion of the arts in Victoria. Appendices, including hitherto unknown (in Australia) biographical details of Hermann Beckler, with whom he was closely associated on the Expedition, as well as full notes to the text, provide additional information and sources. The second volume contains the Catalogue of Becker’s work. That prior to the Expedition cannot claim to be complete but does give the fullest information available to date. The catalogue of the sketches of the Expedition is complete. These sketches and other documentary material, including reports, letters and meteorological observations on which I have based my study of this section are in the collection of the Royal Society of Victoria, now part of the special collections held in the La Trobe Library, State Library of Victoria. Also in the La Trobe Library are the Minutes in manuscript of the Victorian Society of Fine Arts which I believe worthy of inclusion as a lengthy appendix in this study.