Abstract This article studies the book "Rape Fantasies" and the writer asks the question "Who is the victim when a woman is raped?" The writer maintains that the women of Margaret Atwood's short story "Rape Fantasies" suggest that women often cannot identify who is a victim and who is not a victim when they are raped. The story is told as a monologue in the first person voice of a woman named Estelle. It chronicles a group of women indulging in spoken fantasies about rape, specifically being raped by men. At first, the women's joking tones suggest that they are not really talking about being raped at all, but enjoying their sexuality. The women desire sex with strangers but use the word 'rape' as a way of discussing their unspoken and unacknowledged sexual desires in a culture that does not permit women to openly acknowledge their sexuality in a positive fashion. But at the end of the story, as Estelle is revealed to be speaking her monologue to a man she has met in a bar, Atwood suggests that ultimately, even when women are joking about rape, rape is still a very serious act against women in terms of female victimization.
From the Paper "In defiance of the warnings cited by the narrator from popular women's magazines, Chrissy says she fears men. But Chrissy is still a victim, because she cannot enjoy sex other than in terms of being forced to enjoy sex. In her daily life Chrissy dresses to attract men and to win male approval. In Chrissy's private life she uses the idea of forced sexuality as a way of enjoying male attentions without the pressures of the consenting to sex. Thus, Chrissy is still a victim of rape ideology.
Estelle, the office worker responds to Chrissy's comments by noting how popular the topic of rape has become in women's magazines, citing titles like "Rape: Ten Things To Do About It" is less open in her attitude. At first, Estelle pokes fun at the magazine's obsession, noting that the carefulness urged by the magazine on the part of women makes it seem like avoiding sexual assault is a step-by-step process ''like it was ten new hairdos or something," not a serious criminal and personal issue. The story evolves from Estelle's point of view. But there are hints that Estelle initially finds the conversation of her female colleagues uncomfortable, as is evidenced by her focus on the beginning pursuit of the women, a bridge game and by concentrating on her bidding."
Abstract This paper begins by presenting an outline and definition of the realms of reality and fantasy. It then posits a commentary on the treatment, the juxtaposition and the eventual merging of reality and fantasy in the earlier set of works by Lewis Carroll. The works considered are "Alice in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass".
From the Paper "The treatment of reality and fantasy in works by Lewis Carroll is, shall I say, unique in the annals of literature, for never has it been accomplished with such an effectiveness, subtlety, delicacy and poignancy. The principal idea in this first set of works is one of a visible, palpable and tangible 'transition point', from which the protagonist enters a realm of fantasy from a realm of reality. That 'point de depart', so to speak, is symbolized by the rabbit hole in the first work, and a looking glass in the second, both of which have a special significance as motifs of transition between the planes of reality and fantasy. Once Alice crosses these points, she passes into a realm where logic and reality as she knows it no longer applies. The idea of a definite transition point, through which one may pass in order to get to another realm is a form of subconscious demarcation used by Carroll between reality and fantasy. A portal through which one may pass automatically represents a gateway back from the other realm to this one, thus preserving the integrity of both worlds."
Abstract This paper examines how the plays "The Glass Menagerie" by Tennessee Williams and "Death of a Salesman" by Arthur Miller share a similar theme in that they both explore themes related to living in reality versus living in a fantasy or a dream life. Both plays feature a main character that is living in a fantasy. In "Death of a Salesman, the main character is Willy Loman, an unsuccessful salesperson who lives in a fantasy world where he believes he is successful. In "The Glass Menagerie" the main character is Laura Wingfield, a young girl who escapes into a fantasy world to avoid the problems of her life. The issues of reality versus fantasy are explored by comparing and contrasting the two main characters of the two plays.
From the Paper "The first consideration related to the two plays is why people escape into a fantasy world. For both Willy Loman and Laura Wingfield, it is a means of escaping from the real world. For Willy Loman, it is a way of escaping from his own failures, namely his failures in being able to provide for his family. This is especially related to his perception of what a man should achieve. These views are based on the American dream, which he has come to accept as truth. Loman's dream is simply to be a good husband and provide for his family. It must be noted that Loman's dream is not based on a need to achieve great success, power, or a lot of money. He simply wants to be a good provider for his family."
Abstract This paper presents a study of Eros in literary fantasy based on seven short stories (Ambrose Bierce's "The Death of Halpin Frayser", Charles Dickens's "The Signalman", Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Minister's Black Vei"l, Patricia Highsmith's "The Snail-Watcher", H. P. Lovecraft's "The Festival", Richard Matheson's "Born of Man and Woman", Edgar. Allan Poe's "The Black Cat") and two short excerpts from Gothic novels (M. G. Lewis's "The Monk" and Ann Radcliffe's "The Mysteries of Udolpho"), but occasional references are made to other works by these authors and also to Henry James, the Bronte sisters and Le Fanu. The paper begins with a brief presentation of the Greek myth of Eros. The second part of the study considers the problem of knowledge in relation to the erotic dimension of literary fantasies. In the third part of the study, the paper turns to the different manifestations of Eros in fantasy and the process of attraction-repulsion, before examining, in the fourth and final part, two erotic motifs which, latently or overtly, introduce an erotic dimension.
From the Paper "Indeed, when looking into the texts that form the corpus of our study, one recurring particularity is noticeable in all of them - all narrators are very much concerned with seeing and knowing. The reader is confronted with the narrator's or protagonist's persistent questioning and that questioning also becomes the reader's. We could call it the "wh-" of fantasy - Halpin Frayser does not know "whence and whither" he travels; Dickens's narrator wants to know "what" the signalman's trouble is and asks "Who is it?"; the snail-watcher has to know "what" his snails are up to and "how" they breed; Antonia earnestly demands "How came I here?... Where am I?", while Ambrosio needs to know "why" she refuses him and their mutual questioning goes on in two consecutive paragraphs; Radcliffe's Emily asks her attendant a thousand questions. The reader is a witness of countless who-what-when-where-how-s and for the most part, they remain unanswered. It is as if the signalman answered on our behalf - "I don't know." The texts become desperate attempts to pass on the same biblically borrowed message that stands out in Le Fanu's In a Glass Darkly, the message that "we know in part, and we prophesy in part". These intense efforts to see, to find out, to know are easily explained by the fact that we are dealing with fantasy which, partly by definition, is the literature of the unknown. But the work of many authors of fantasy also carries a heavy cultural heritage that feeds on centuries of known written history, on repeatedly told legends and on established myths."
Abstract This paper examines writer J.R.R Tolkien, one of the first fantasy writers, through his Lord of the Ring series. The author summarizes each work and explains how each Tolkien novel includes all of the elements that make a great fantasy series including epic battles in far-off places, interesting, creative characters and plots filled with wonder, amazement, and magic.
From the Paper "As in all fantasy novels there has to be a hero. Usually the hero is the person least expected and goes through significant changes throughout the novel. Bilbo Baggins is the hero in The Hobbit. In the beginning he is very weak and afraid, but as the story progresses he changes significantly. Bilbo shows all of the signs of being a hero. "
Abstract This research examines E.T.A. Hoffmann's "The Sandman" with reference to elements that demonstrate the literary tradition of German Romanticism. The paper cites fantasy tales of E.T.A. Hoffmann as precursors of modern science fiction and fantasy tales.
From the Paper "In "The Sandman," the limits of perception are manifest by the disturbing psychology of the hero and the magic of mechanical wizardry. This confluence of elements extends beyond the text of the words into the realm of a pathological Romanticism transmuted into psychological horror. As Nathanael sees the world, horror has entered his life (Hoffmann 1). As he tells his story, the reader begins to suspect that Nathanael's perceptions are themselves suspect and that he is an unreliable narrator. And the reader becomes the perceiver of Nathanael's deeply flawed vision."
Abstract This paper briefly discusses how the fantasy in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" involves magic and a belief in fairies and sprites. It explains that the first of several conflicts of opposites in the play is between reality and fantasy, between the reality of life in the city and fantastic nature of life in the woods.
From the Paper "In A Midsummer Night's Dream, one reason for the fantasy element is to create a dramatic stage on which to test human constancy and human worth. Lysander states that "the course of true love never did run smooth" (I.i.134), and this represents a theme that runs through many of Shakespeare's plays and indeed through much of world literature. The statement itself embodies several ideas. First, it assumes that there is such a thing as true love and that it is a conception based on the idea that two people are literally meant for each other. Second, it states that these two people, though meant for each other, may have to endure a good deal before they can actually achieve the love that is their destiny. In terms of A Midsummer Night's Dream, this statement helps characterize Lysander in a way that makes it evident the objections raised to the young man by Egeus are wrong and that Lysander is not one to feign love at all as Egeus believes he is doing. Lysander does indeed love Hermia as she loves him."
Abstract This paper explores sexual fantasies and how fantasies are experienced as a means of providing release from social limitations on erotic behavior for men and women alike.
Abstract This paper relates that Elliott Carter's "Eight Etudes and a Fantasy for Woodwind Quartet", composed in 1949, is defined as an etude because it is a musical composition for a solo instrument designed to give practice in some point of technique. The author describes the first etude, entitled "Maestoso", which means majestically, in which all the instruments play a very similar part dynamically and rhythmically, with each stressing a wide range. The paper concludes that the final and ninth movement, "Fantasy" is a culmination of all the previous techniques demonstrated in all the eight etudes in a fugue setting, with direct musical "quotes" taken directly from the etudes.
From the Paper ""Quietly" is the second etude, meant to tax a musician's ability to play extremely quickly while maintaining a very quiet dynamic. Each instrument encounters the same melodic line that remains identically every time it is repeated. The majority of the movement stays below a mezzo forte with a few statements of the melody rising to forte. Carter said that the melody "?sounds like four birds that sing as birds do, sporadically, the same song, over and over." The flute states the melody first which is then followed by the clarinet, oboe and bassoon in that order."
Abstract In order to analyze people's fantasies, Sigmund Freud says that we can look at their creative writing, thereby seeing the wishes and desires that they have. By approaching an analysis of the character Sir Lancelot in Sir Thomas Malory's "Le Morte D'Arthur" in this way, this paper provides insight on what was important to men in that society. Lancelot is made the primary hero of the story. The paper shows, therefore, that Lancelot becomes the vehicle through which Malory and male readers can stop being "ashamed" of their fantasies and find a release of tension through the adoration Lancelot receives from women and the excellence of Lancelot's fighting skills.
From the Paper "Guenivere's desire for Lancelot throughout Malory's story shows us how Lancelot is the figure of a daydream. Guenivere is the wife of the king. This attribute of Guenivere's places her on a pedestal. She is the most important woman in the territory controlled by King Arthur. Having an affair with a married woman such as Guenivere would make the person having the affair seem important. Guenivere's actions toward Lancelot characterize her as someone who is in desperate need of the hero's love. When Lancelot is trying to draw attention away from his interest in Guenivere, Guenivere says, "Sir Lancelot, I see and feel daily that they love beginneth to slacken, for ye have no joy to be in my presence, but ever ye are out of this court (403). It makes a male feel good to have an important woman want his "love" and not want the "love" to "slacken.""
Abstract This paper argues that the treatment of reality and fantasy in works by Lewis Carroll is unique in the annals of literature, for never has it been accomplished with such an effectiveness, subtlety, delicacy and poignancy. The paper first outlines the realms of reality and fantasy, before positing a commentary on the treatment, the juxtaposition and the eventual merging of these existential states in the earlier set of works by Lewis Carroll. The works considered are: "Alice in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass".
From the Paper "Looking at these works, an extremely interesting fact emerges. The author has made use of a skillful set of frames in the narration of works that aspire almost to the status of epics. Literary frames are devices that enable an author to activate various levels of demarcation in a work, enabling the author himself to remain relatively discrete of his own work. The first frame used in 'Alice in Wonderland' is the concept of a dream into which Alice tumbles, thus entering the world of Wonderland. The figure of the White Rabbit, the harbinger of chaos, a denizen from the other world setting foot into this one is the first element of fantasy that one finds in the book."
Abstract The writer of this paper presents five elements that must be analyzed to understand and underline the Romantic nature of this composer's work. Firstly, one must consider the "storytelling" use of the sonata form of the Fantasy. Secondly, one must consider the way in which the sonata was considered by the composer to be an Overture, a work that gives a "summary" or a miniature of a larger story or musical work. Thirdly, the tone color of the music must be analyzed. And fourthly and fifthly the timber and texture the work must also be reflected upon to understand the opulent quality of the music that renders it characteristic of the Romantic period during which Tchaikovsky composed music.
From the Paper "According to the musicologist E.T.A. Hoffman, the Romantic period of Western music was characterized by the ?fantastic, idealistic, and marvelous.? He states that such qualities are associated with the ?romance, a medieval tale or poem about heroes or events written in one of the languages descended from Latin.? (Cited in Grout & Palisca 563) Tchaikovksy's choice to use the story of Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" as the title of his Fantasy underlines the importance of Romantic thought in the orchestration of the composition. Rather than simply expanding upon or working within sonata form, defined as ?an ambitious work in several movements for one or two solo instruments,? "
Abstract This paper compares Robert Jordan's "The Wheel Of Time" to J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord Of The Rings". It explorers the these great examples of fantasy literature through their similar characters, themes and names. The paper describes that the books are both magical with similar dark lords, heroes, keepers of the lands, monsters, and parents to the heroes.
From the Paper "Like all other fantasy books, some resemble others greatly. Robert Jordan's "The Wheel Of Time" closely resembles J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord Of The Rings". The resemblances are mostly resembled in the first few books. Some resemblances occur in many other fantasy series too.
The first and most obvious parallels are the heroes, Frodo in "The Lord Of The Rings" and Rand in "The Wheel Of Time". The heroes in both books are unwilling characters approached by guides and are sent off on dangerous missions where they must fight fear, and face overwhelming chances of failure. They are from far-away places that most kingdoms have never heard of. In "The Lord Of The Rings" they must go and destroy the ring, in "The Wheel Of Time" they must fight Shai'tan. They are targeted by a dark leader. The dark leader in "The Lord Of The Rings" is Sauron, and in "The Wheel Of Time" it is Shai'tan. They have moments of truth where they must have the courage to go beyond their boundaries like going into Shayol Ghul in "The Wheel Of Time" and into Mordor. It is all up to them to save the world."
Abstract This paper looks at Catherine's gothic fantasies in Jane Austen's "Northanger Abbey" and focuses on her reading of gothic novels and how they trigger her imagination to invent wild fantasies at Northanger. It examines how she renounces these fantasies as well as the importance of Henry Tilney as the lover-mentor figure in helping her to see how foolish she has been. It discusses whether or not Catherine has been completely foolish in giving into these fantasies and argues that her suspicions, as absurd as they may seem, actually allow her to pick up on the oppressive atmosphere at Northanger and reveal a much more 'real' and modern mystery than any in her gothic novels.
From the Paper "Henry almost confirms Catherine's ideas of the abbey with descriptions of ?sliding panels and tapestry.? He recognises that these are objects which appear frequently in the type of novel Catherine likes to read, and so he knows this will appeal to her curiosity. It is interesting to note that "what one reads about" appears in speech marks. It is almost as if Henry is gently mocking Catherine. He knows that the abbey is not as she has imagined, and it seems that he believes she is na?ve in thinking this way. This reinforces Catherine's foolishness in believing what she later does, and heightens the educational value of Henry, the lover-mentor figure in the novel."
Abstract This paper is about Sigmund Freud's concept of 'unconscious' and its relevance in the arts. The author discusses how Freud is commonly recognized as having invented the concept of the "unconscious". The author explaines that the subordination of the "pleasure principle" by the "reality principle" is done through a mental process that Freud refers to as sublimation. According to Sigmund Freud, dreams and fantasies (or phantasies) are the symbolic expression and fulfillment of wishes and desires that as a result of sublimation by the "reality principle" cannot be fulfilled through daily life and are consequently repressed into the ?unconscious.? To Freud, "the motive forces of fantasies are unsatisfied wishes, and every single fantasy is the fulfillment of a wish, a correction of unsatisfying reality" (Freud 485). Freud affirms that dreams are disguised, hallucinatory fulfillment's of repressed wishes. He concludes that if expressed in undisguised form, they would be so disturbing that it would wake the dreamer from sleep. Freud's fundamental assumption is that the sublimation of the artist's unsatisfied libido is responsible for producing all forms of art and literature whether it be painting, sculpting, or writing. David H. Richter notes in his introduction to "Sigmund Freud" that Freud was once criticized by Carl Gustav Jung, a fellow psychoanalytic theorist, for insinuating that artists were diseased individuals creating art out of their own personal neurotic needs. The writer feels that Freud insinuates that art is primarily an escapist method, that "in an ideal world in which everyone had matured sufficiently to replace the pleasure principle by the reality principle, there would be no need for art" (Storr 103).
From the Paper "The historical tradition of scholarly theory has been one in which literary texts are subjected to scrutiny regarding whether they are either implicitly or explicitly ideological in nature. Arguably so, nothing reflects a society's fears, hopes, and desires about gender, class, and power more than what the society maintains about art and artists. A literary text is credible of fully reflecting the culture in which it was written, that is to say, it has the potential to embody certain sociological assumptions presented in the dichotomy between "normal" and ?abnormal.? Sigmund Freud, the patriarch of psychoanalysis, is associated with Charles Darwin and Karl Marx as being "one of the three original thinkers who have most altered man's view of himself in the twentieth century" (Storr 145). Yet, even literary theorists, including Freud, realized that "any comprehensive vision of human nature such as he provides must have implications for the nature of happiness, and for the relation of man's natural capacities to his normal or ideal state" (Sousa 196). That is, numerous later theorists and critics believe that Freud's own theories about the function and nature of the mind uncovered some fundamental truths about how an individual's notions of "self" are formed and how culture and civilization operate and are affected by these notions. Coinciding with Freud's own account, the significance of everyday action is determined by motives that are far more numerous and complex than people are aware of or commonsense understanding takes into account. The most basic and constant of motives that influence our actions are those of the unconscious, moreover, those that are difficult to acknowledge or avow. Freud's conception of the unconscious and his rediscovery of the importance of dreams encouraged painters, sculptors and writers to pay serious attention to their inner world of dreams; to find significance in thoughts and images they previously would have dismissed as absurd or illogical. Therefore it is plausible that notions of art and literature as described by Sigmund Freud, are created through the ramifications of the unconscious or the sublimation of an unsatisfied carnal appetite."
