Date of Award

12-4-1970

Degree Type

Master's Essay - Restricted

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Literatures, Languages, and Cultures

First Advisor

Joseph Schwartz

Abstract

In an age when a visit to Bedlam provided a Sunday afternoon's diversion, one cannot expect to find a coherent rationale behind insanity, eccentricity, or extreme behavior. Just as tastes in "recreation" have changed so, too, there has been a shift in the way critics view Browning's eccentric characters. The Victorian critic operated within a moral frame of reference and his world was one in which the good - evil dichotomy was still available concept. If it appears to the modern sensibility that the Victorian critic evades the problem of the eccentric personality, it is because of a shift in perspective between the two ages. The modern critic views the eccentric from a psychological standpoint and often interprets abnormality according to scientific rather than morally evaluative criteria.

Comments

An essay submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts to the faculty of the department of English at Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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