New Mythology: The Redefinition of British Hellenism in Selected Poetry of Percy B. Shelley and John Keats
| Thesis title in Czech: | Nová mytologie: Nové pojetí britského hellenismu ve vybraném díle P.B. Shelleyho a J. Keatse |
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| Thesis title in English: | New Mythology: The Redefinition of British Hellenism in Selected Poetry of Percy B. Shelley and John Keats |
| Key words: | romantismus, Percy Bysshe Shelley, John Keats, lyrická poezie, mytologie, romantické helénství |
| English key words: | Romanticism, Percy Bysshe Shelley, John Keats, Lyric Poetry, Mythology, Hellenism |
| Academic year of topic announcement: | 2015/2016 |
| Thesis type: | Bachelor's thesis |
| Thesis language: | angličtina |
| Department: | Department of Anglophone Literatures and Cultures (21-UALK) |
| Supervisor: | Mgr. Miroslava Horová, Ph.D. |
| Author: | hidden - assigned and confirmed by the Study Dept. |
| Date of registration: | 16.12.2015 |
| Date of assignment: | 16.12.2015 |
| Administrator's approval: | not processed yet |
| Confirmed by Study dept. on: | 16.12.2015 |
| Date and time of defence: | 12.09.2016 08:30 |
| Date of electronic submission: | 16.08.2016 |
| Date of proceeded defence: | 12.09.2016 |
| Submitted/finalized: | committed by student and finalized |
| Opponents: | PhDr. Zdeněk Beran, Ph.D. |
| Guidelines |
| Through history the Greek civilization and its legacy has been interpreted and re-interpreted many times. The image of the Greek civilization which was generally accepted in England at the beginning of the 19th century seems to have very little in common with the reality of Ancient Greece, mostly because of the very restrictive and selective way in which it was interpreted and handed down. During the course of 18th century the incongruity between the values and themes of Ancient Greece and those of the enlightenment became apparent and the Greek influence was reduced mainly to the use of formulaic allusions. With the Romantic era and its focus on an authentic sensual and intellectual experience, Ancient Greece once again came into focus. While the first generation of Romantic poets focused almost solely on the newly re-discovered aesthetic values, the response of the second generation was much more varied. For them, the Greek legacy was no longer a standard part of English cultural heritage but rather a foreign and not really assimilated influence which was however in much closer connection with what was perceived as an unadulterated human nature. The works of P.B. Shelley and John Keats present an interested relation between the natural world and the newly redefined world of Ancient Greek culture, as well as between the values of Christian culture and what they saw as a philosophical spirit of Ancient Greece.
My thesis will focus mainly on the selected lyrical works of Percy Bysshe Shelley (Adonais, The Triumph of Life,…) and John Keats (The Odes, On Seeing the Elgin Marbles, The Fall of Hyperion,…) and will try to analyse what each author perceived as the characteristic features of the Ancient Greek world and thoughts. The problem of the representation of history in this particular context will be also discussed. Special focus will be given to the way Greek mythological elements were appropriated, what elements were stressed and against what contemporary notions they were usually placed. |
| References |
| Aske, Martin. Keats and Hellenism: an Essay. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985.
Bloom, Harold. The Anxiety of Influence; a Theory of Poetry. New York: Oxford University Press, 1973. Carruthers, Gerard; Rawes, Alan. English Romanticism and the Celtic world. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. Keats, John. Complete Poems and Selected Letters of John Keats. New York: Modern Library, 2001. Priestman, Martin. Romantic Atheism: Poetry and Freethought, 1780-1830. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. Shelley, Percy Bysshe; Reiman, Donald H.; Fraistat, Neil. The Complete Poetry of Percy Bysshe Shelley. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000. Wallace, Jennifer. Shelley and Greece: Rethinking Romantic Hellenism. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1997. Webb, Timothy. Shelley: a Voice Not Understood. Atlantic Highlands, N.J.: Humanities Press, 1977. |