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Nobody's Fault: The study of an escape artist in English culture.
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Nobody's Fault: The study of an escape artist in English culture.
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Description
Identifier
Thesis
1712
Author
Sussler, Joan
Title
Nobody's
Fault
: The
study
of an
escape
artist
in
English
culture
.
Publisher
Central Connecticut State University
Date of Publication
2002
Resource Type
Master's Thesis
Abstract
This
examination
of
Nobody
, a
punning
image
in
words
and
pictures
of an
imaginary
person
without
a
torso
, was
initiated
by how
often
he
appeared
in
different
guises
in the
English
satirical
prints
of the
eighteenth
century
. For
many
years
Nobody
was
seen
as a
trickster
who
showed
that his
head
was
directly
attached
to his
legs
.
Whether
his
face
was
disguised
as that of a
well-known
personage
or
whether
he or she was
dressed
fashionably
,
Nobody
dominated
the
scene
as an
amusing
visual
and
verbal
topic
for
conversation
or
speculation
. In the
process
of
assembling
the
pictures
of
Nobody
from
various
collections
,
it
became
apparent
that,
aside
from
Gerta
Calmann's
fine
analysis
from an
art
historical
standpoint
, there was
no
comprehensive
study
of
Nobody
in his
parallel
role
as an
elusive
entity
in
English
literature
.
Moreover
,
Calmann's
study
of
Nobody
as a
folk
image
on the
Continent
offered
no
substantial
argument
to
support
his
longevity
in
England
.
Because
the
eighteenth-century
playgoer
,
reader
, or
print-buyer
was
exposed
to
shows
in
which
oddly
proportioned
characters
performed
, their
attention
was
caught
and
held
by the
fact
that
Nobody
could
pop
up
anywhere
; that
is
, he
could
be
depended
upon
to be
undependable
.
Calmann's
essay
began
with
Nobody's
origins
in
Greek
legend
as the
identity
assumed
by
Odysseus
in
order
to
avoid
being
eaten
by the
one-eyed
giant
,
Polyphemus
.
Subsequently
, she
explored
his
appearances
in the
Bible
as "
Nemo
" and his
later
adaptations
into
medieval
European
folklore
under
the
name
of "
Niemand.
"
Although
her
study
also
revealed
much
about
Nobody's
iconographic
career
in
England
,
it
did
not
connect
her
findings
about
him in
relation
to the
written
language
,
nor
did
she
note
his
presence
in
children's
literature
, in
music
or the
dance
;
wherever
, in
short
, there was an
opportunity
for his
exhibition
.
Readily
received
into the
mainstream
of
English
culture
,
Nobody's
debut
was
traceable
from the
Renaissance
stage
,
including
his
mention
by
Shakespeare
. As
Nobody
passed
blithely
into the
next
century
, he was
recognized
by
such
luminaries
as
Samuel
Johnson
and
Horace
Walpole
, in
addition
to
being
singled
out
as a
creature
of
either
sex
by
two
women
playwrights
of the
1790s
,
Mary
Robinson
and
Hannah
Cowley
.
Judging
from the
boastful
retort
by
one
of
Cowley's
foppishly
dressed
characters
: "
I
have been in a
thousand
different
shapes
, and a
thousand
places
since
then"
I
concluded
that the
attraction
of
Nobody's
intangibility
was
similar
to that of a
sprite
or a
leprechaun
to
audiences
. From this
protean
aspect
of
Nobody's
being
that was his
essential
trademark
,
I
looked
for
indications
as to how
far
he
could
go
by
reinventing
himself
over
such
a
long
period
. In this
respect
,
I
found
that
Nobody's
versatility
was
directly
tied
to the
coded
behavior
of the
day
,
where
he
appeared
in
such
customary
pursuits
as
play-acting
and
card-playing
. In these
contexts
Nobody
functioned
as a
way
in
which
a
player
could
express
his
wished-for
identity
,
based
on the
culture's
Odyssean
preference
for
double-dealing
by the
use
of
imagination
. What
still
remained
to be
answered
was the
reason
for the
end
of
Nobody's
appeal
.
William
Blake
cast
the
first
stone
on
Nobody's
hold
over
the
imagination
in
1794
,
when
his
critical
position
was
bolstered
by the
stirring
of
moral
indignation
over
the
French
Revolution
.
However
,
it
was not
until
halfway
into the
following
century
that
Charles
Dickens
extended
Blake's
criticism
of
Nobody
to the
level
of
social
ostracism
.
Nobody's
unsteady
habits
, his
cloudy
definition
, his
tendency
to
vanish
and
reappear
as
someone
else
, were
abstracted
by
Dickens
into a
symbol
of the
bureaucracy
, an
institution
that
dodged
any
acceptance
of
blame
.
Previously
,
Nobody
had been
successful
in his
shadowy
career
because
the
atmosphere
of the
times
would
support
his
duplicity
. But this
identity
that was
Homeric
in its
origins
was
replaced
by a
new
wished-for
self
where
ethical
principles
were
substituted
for
versatility
in
order
to
come
to
grips
with
issues
.
Such
exposure
to the
light
of
truth
was
anathema
to
Nobody's
essential
being
.
Without
a
stage
upon
which
to
perform
his
tricks
,
Nobody
finally
had
no
choice
but to
exit
the
scene
. In
summary
, this
study
has
attempted
to
explore
the
development
of
Nobody
as a
many-sided
trope
that
thrived
in
English
culture
until
he was
stopped
in his
tracks
by the
social
and
political
changes
wrought
by the
French
and
Industrial
Revolutions
,
which
acted
together
to
effect
his
dismissal
. In
spite
of his
faults
,
however
,
Nobody
achieved
nothing
if he
did
not
prove
that he was a
magician
, a
mere
figure
of
fun
and
games
,
whose
sole
props
consisted
of
smoke
and
mirrors
.
Subject
Caricatures and cartoons -- Great Britain
Department
Department of English
Advisor
Barnett, Stuart
Type
Text
Digital Format
application/pdf
Language
eng
OCLC number
713734057
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