Boundaries

Masaryk University
Faculty of Arts

Department of English and American Studies

English Language and Literature

Eva Koubová

Boundaries of Femininity: The Eighteenth-Century Novel and its Heroines Bachelor’s Diploma Thesis

Supervisor: Bonita Rhoads Ph.D.

2012

I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography.

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Author’s sig

Acknowledgement
This thesis has greatly benefited from the support of professor Bonita Rhoads Ph.D. I would like to thank her for her kindness and for being always ready to help with her advice and encouragement.

Table of Contents
1. Introduction……………………………………………………………………1
2. Women and Philosophy of Moral Sentiment…………………………………..3
2.1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………..3
2.2. From Locke to Rational Feeling………………………………………………3
3.3. Conclusion……………………………………………………………………..8
3. Women as Readers………………………………………………………………8
3.1. Introduction……………………………………………………………………8
3.2. Rates of Women’s Literacy and the Importance of Reading………………….9
3.3. Proper Modes of Reading..……………………………………………..….....11
3.4. Transgressive Reading……………………………………………………......12
3.5. Conclusion………………………………………………………………….....13
4. Women as Writers………………………………………………………………13
4.1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………...13
4.2. Women Authors……………………………………………………………….14
4.3. Writing as a Protection against Becoming an Amazon………………………..15
4.4. Conclusion……………………………………………………………………..17
5. The Sentimental Novel…………………………………………………………..18
5.1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………....18
5.2. The Novel versus Romance……………………………………………………18
5.3.Definition of the Novel of Sentiment……………………………………….....21
5.4. Women Writing Sentimental Fiction…………………………………………..21
5.5. Conclusion……………………………………………………………………...22
6. Samuel

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