Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Identifier

167

Date

2010

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Major

English

Concentration

Literature

Committee Chair

Catherine G. Martin

Committee Member

Gene Plunka

Committee Member

Carey Mickalites

Abstract

G.K. Chesterton and George Bernard Shaw both lived at the turn of the twentieth century, which was a time of incredible social and philosophic change and upheaval. In reaction to the social chaos and uncertainty, both men sought to change the world through their artistic and polemical works and thus were friends, yet both men wanted to change the world into different things for different reasons and thus were enemies. Their intellectual, friendly rivalry was a hallmark of early twentieth-century public discourse and English letters. Unfortunately, while their artistic contributions remain, most of their intellectual contributions have been either misunderstood (in regard to Shaw) or forgotten (in regard to Chesterton). Therefore, to once again appreciate the rich and profound intellectual lives of these two men, we must investigate their thoughts and positions on what they saw as the most important issues of life: God, humanity, and society.

Comments

Data is provided by the student.

Library Comment

Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to the local University of Memphis Electronic Theses & dissertation (ETD) Repository.

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