The thesis states that the confidant in the tragedies of Jean Baptist Racine evolves from the traditional servant figure to a sophisticated intimate of the principal character. The confidant's identity becomes synonymous with that of the principal character: he appears as his alter ego. The sources used are six of Racine's secular tragedies, in addition to critical works and essays of his writings. The tragedies included in this study are La Thebaide, whose secondary characters serve as a comparison to the more developed confidants as found in Andromaque, B /r/nice, Mithridate, Britannicus, and Phedre. Racine presents a variety of tragic characters whose multifaceted personality emerges through the intervention of their confidant. Representing one side of the protagonist's character, or his "other self, " the confidant becomes Racine's dramatic tool to portray the internal struggle in all its aspects. Racine's preoccupation with moral issues and his desire to instruct his audience pervade his writings. It is thus possible to trace the development of the confidant from his part as self-effacing messenger to his role as alter ego to the principal figure where he dramatically demonstrates the tragic, inner division of man.

The problem with which this study is concerned is that of citing the themes which occur most often in the essays of Maurice Maeterlinck, and of tracing the development of these themes in selected representative essays. Since no detailed study of the essays has appeared since the time of Maeterlinck's death, the major sources of information are the essays themselves.

This study shows similarities in the attitudes of and literary influences upon Maurice Maeterlinck and Nathaniel Hawthorne, especially in Maeterlinck's drama Pelleas et Melisande and Hawthorne's novel The Scarlet Letter. Circumstantial evidence indicates Maeterlinck's familiarity with Hawthorne's novel. Since no previous comparative study of Pelleas et Melisande and The Scarlet Letter exists, the works themselves are the major sources of information.

The purpose of this thesis is to examine evidences of dramatic technique in Diderot's three major fictional works, "La Reliieuse," "Le Neveu de Rameau," and "Jaccues le fataliste." The management of dialogue, setting, and gesture is of particular concern, along with style and structure and the recurrent theme of the actor. The conclusion reached is that the influence of dramatic technique is everywhere present in the three works under consideration. Diderot enlists the reader's visual and auditory participation by the use of fast-paced dialogue, striking gestures, and dynamic settings. He also borrows certain stylistic and structural devices from the theater and enhances the dramatic impression by presenting many of his main characters as actors playing their own special roles.

Four themes dominate Balzae's Pere Goriot: Paris, ambition, money, superman. Paris is described physically, socially and morally all strata of society are cruel and corrupt. The contrast between poverty and luxury arouses the ambition of young provincial Rastignae. While his ambition is mainly social, most of the characters of the novel have financial ambitions; money is their only valued Vautrin would kill and Goriot's daughters would reduce their father to pauperism for profit. Beth Vautrin and Goriot are presented as supermen, but while the former is a strong-willed ruthless ex-convict, the latter is a monomaniac, utterly blinded by paternal love. The four themes reflect contemporary society as well as Ralzac's own life and character. They recur throughout the Comdie Humalne but are skilfully condensed in Le Pere Goriot.

The study is a comparative analysis of Stendhal's romantic interpretation and Flaubert's realistic interpretation of outdated myths. The first purpose of the study is to reveal the linear development of Julien Sorel and Emma Bovary in quest of their respective myths. The second is to reveal technical devices used by the authors that lead to diverse interpretations of the myths. The sources of data used in the study are Le Rouge et le noir and Madame Bovary and secondary materials concerning the two novels. The study is divided into five chapters including an introduction, two chapters that develop Julien's and Emma's respective myths, a chapter concerning technical devices used in the novels and a conclusion.