Redeeming "Midnight" for Day: Saxon Sydney-Turner, Virginia Woolf, and the Bloomsbury Group, 2015
Saxon Sydney-Turner was a constant figure in the gatherings of the Bloomsbury Group, but has been... more Saxon Sydney-Turner was a constant figure in the gatherings of the Bloomsbury Group, but has been largely forgotten because he went unpublished, and therefore unrecognized, as a contributing member in this historically important intellectual and artistic collective. This thesis explores the key role this poet and musician played in anonymously publishing the first book of Bloomsbury, and his influence on the development of Virginia Woolf as the writer whom we know today. The findings in this research and textual analysis present a direct challenge to the dismissive assumptions drawn about this enigmatic figure. This study seeks to analyze his biography in relation to the Bloomsbury Group, evaluate the anonymous and unpublished writings he produced throughout his life, and take a closer look at his musical side, particularly as he inspired Virginia Woolf to produce some of her most experimental texts. In showing the ways that Sydney-Turner was a figure of consequence in Bloomsbury, this thesis reveals the foundations of the relationships that are the essential component of any intellectual community.
Two great pieces of American literature from the past century stand in stark contrast to each oth... more Two great pieces of American literature from the past century stand in stark contrast to each other on one important note: vision. While F. Scott Fitzgerald’s "The Great Gatsby" makes extensive use the symbol of eyes in its narrative, as well as the interpersonal relations of its characters and how they look at each other, Ralph Ellison’s "Invisible Man" makes the lack of sight and recurrent blindness and invisibility a central and instructive theme. These works are each products of their time, and indeed products of class and race relations, however they speak to deeper, more fundamental forces in American culture. In using such accessible and salient themes in opposing ways, these two authors intentionally step back from their fictional narratives to give eloquent voice to the problems inherent in American ambitions and desires. A comparative analysis of the differing ways in which "The Great Gatsby" and "Invisible Man" explore the elemental sense of sight reveals that, unknowingly, but quite harmoniously, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ralph Ellison join hands across the decades to show us just how America lost—and perhaps continually loses—not only its sight, but also its vision.
Redeeming "Midnight" for Day: Saxon Sydney-Turner, Virginia Woolf, and the Bloomsbury Group, 2015
Saxon Sydney-Turner was a constant figure in the gatherings of the Bloomsbury Group, but has been... more Saxon Sydney-Turner was a constant figure in the gatherings of the Bloomsbury Group, but has been largely forgotten because he went unpublished, and therefore unrecognized, as a contributing member in this historically important intellectual and artistic collective. This thesis explores the key role this poet and musician played in anonymously publishing the first book of Bloomsbury, and his influence on the development of Virginia Woolf as the writer whom we know today. The findings in this research and textual analysis present a direct challenge to the dismissive assumptions drawn about this enigmatic figure. This study seeks to analyze his biography in relation to the Bloomsbury Group, evaluate the anonymous and unpublished writings he produced throughout his life, and take a closer look at his musical side, particularly as he inspired Virginia Woolf to produce some of her most experimental texts. In showing the ways that Sydney-Turner was a figure of consequence in Bloomsbury, this thesis reveals the foundations of the relationships that are the essential component of any intellectual community.
Two great pieces of American literature from the past century stand in stark contrast to each oth... more Two great pieces of American literature from the past century stand in stark contrast to each other on one important note: vision. While F. Scott Fitzgerald’s "The Great Gatsby" makes extensive use the symbol of eyes in its narrative, as well as the interpersonal relations of its characters and how they look at each other, Ralph Ellison’s "Invisible Man" makes the lack of sight and recurrent blindness and invisibility a central and instructive theme. These works are each products of their time, and indeed products of class and race relations, however they speak to deeper, more fundamental forces in American culture. In using such accessible and salient themes in opposing ways, these two authors intentionally step back from their fictional narratives to give eloquent voice to the problems inherent in American ambitions and desires. A comparative analysis of the differing ways in which "The Great Gatsby" and "Invisible Man" explore the elemental sense of sight reveals that, unknowingly, but quite harmoniously, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ralph Ellison join hands across the decades to show us just how America lost—and perhaps continually loses—not only its sight, but also its vision.
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Graduate Thesis by Dwain Sparling
Papers by Dwain Sparling