This thesis will attempt to scrutinize Günter Grass's message to his people and show his concern for the spiritual health of his country. Each of his three novels bears directly upon political, religious, and moral issues vital to Germany and to the world. The examination is based upon the assumption that Grass as an author is more concerned that Germans see themselves as they are and as they have been than he is concerned with the image of Germany which his novels present to the world. It is, paradoxically, this very special and sincere concern which gives his work universal appeal.

This study proposes to demonstrate that the Platonic doctrine of the ennobling power of love is of paramount importance in a number of Shakespeare's plays. This study has been limited to the three love tragedies because in them the ennobling power of love is a major theme, affecting both the characters and the plot structure. The plays to be studied are Romeo and Juliet, Troilus and Cressida, and Antony and Cleopatra.

The purpose of this thesis is to determine the nature of Charles Lamb as revealed in his Elia essays. To this end, these essays form the major portion of the text. The general procedure for ascertaining what these excerpts indicate is as follows: first, the characteristics of Charles Lamb are determined from a study of the Elia essays; second, these characteristics are considered in relation to information derived from biographies. Careful attention is given to significant discrepancies between the essays and other sources.

The celebration of reality in Richard Wilbur's poetry has significant implications for contemporary literature and for contemporary man. In literature, his celebration of reality points to the way out of the mood of despair which has influenced much of literary thought in the twentieth century. For the individual, the celebration of reality encourages man to turn from self to an appreciation for reality which makes life worthwhile. This thesis will discuss the celebration of reality that is present in Wilbur's poetry.

The primary goal of this paper is to investigate the phenomenon of a dream, a desire, or an idea transpiring in the thoughts of an individual, growing in importance to the individual, and finally becoming an idée fixe, or irresistible idea, which cannot be suppressed by the individual. The investigation will be concerned with the two of Dostoevsky's heroes who best exemplify the phenomenon.

This thesis will attempt to show that the three major works of Conrad's middle period -- Nostromo, The Secret Agent, and Under Western Eyes -- are essentially literary epics.

For the purpose of this study, Poe's tales were read and considered carefully in chronological order, the idea being to discover growth and development. Poe's literary career was relatively brief (1832-1849), and there are no dramatic or definite breaks or periods. Though his production shows growth in sophistication and artistry, it has been deemed more instructive to group Poets first-person narrators according to the part they play in the story, that is, (1) main actor or protagonist, (2) minor character, (3) observers and (4) combinations of the foregoing three. An attempt will be made to note both variation and pattern, and hence artistic skill, in Poe Is handling of each particular type of narrator.

What basic similarities are found in all the fugitives? First of all, they are fugitives in the sense that they are wanderers. While not necessarily running to or from some specific thing, the fugitives nonetheless are men who travel; they are men who only face their conflicts directly when they attempt to stop traveling either by changing themselves so that they will fit in (Val in Orpheus Descending and Chance), by changing their environment so that it will accept them (Val in Battle of Angels and Shannon), or by searching for something that is permanently lost (Kilroy).