Braniff Graduate School

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14026/2073

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Browsing Braniff Graduate School by Author "Dr. Gerard Wegemer"

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    Improving on Sallust and Tacitus: Thomas More's Narrative Techniques in Historia Richardi Tertii
    (2021-10-01T00:00:00-07:00) Johnson, RoseMary; Dr. Gerard Wegemer; Dr. David Sweet; Dr. Andrew Moran
    In his Historia Richardi Tertii, Thomas More shares a common goal with Sallust and Tacitus: to help prevent tyranny by promoting civic virtues in readers. After reviewing the similarities between Moreâ s Historia and his classical models, I employ close reading and the insights of narratology to show that More surpasses Sallust and Tacitus in the sophistication of his narrative techniques. More uses an encomiastic introduction, mimetic indirect discourse, and divergent focalization to fill the Historia with a multiplicity of voices and points of view. The result is a complex narrative that is the perfect arena for teaching the art of character discernment, especially through the â character puzzlesâ of King Edward and Queen Elizabeth. These character puzzles are carefully constructed to assist the reader in discovering and exercising the principles of character discernment. A close reading of the text shows that King Edward falls far short of the humanist ideal of kingship, since he is ambitious, imprudent, prone to flattery, and puts his own pleasure ahead of his peopleâ s good. The â character puzzleâ of Queen Elizabeth is more difficult to solve. Why does she allow her son to leave sanctuary when she knows there is â nothing more hazardousâ than to put both her sons in Richardâ s power (CW15 394/20)? By carefully analyzing the entire Historiaâ including Moreâ s references to Lucianâ s De Calumnia, Livyâ s History of Rome, the Book of Lamentations, and Petrarchâ s â De Obedientia ac Fide uxoria, Mythologiaâ â I conclude that Elizabeth approaches the decision of whether to give up her son not as a mother, but as the leader of a faction. She is primarily concerned with what will advance her political interests and restore her fortunes, not with what will save her son. After explaining Moreâ s use of narrative techniques and â character puzzlesâ to help readers discover and exercise the principles of character discernment, I conclude that the sophistication of Moreâ s narrative techniques makes his Historia Richardi Tertii superior as a work of art to Sallustâ s Bella and Tacitusâ Annales.
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    The Causes of Tyranny as a Guide to Political Reform: St. Thomas More's History of King Richard III of England
    (2017-04-01T00:00:00-07:00) Mock, Carle; Dr. Gerard Wegemer; Dr. Richard Dougherty; Dr. Daniel Burns
    Part One of this dissertation establishes a basis for interpreting Moreâ s History of King Richard III. Chapter One inquires into its genre, concluding it is a â rhetorical historyâ like the histories composed by Thucydides, Livy, Sallust, and Tacitus, a genre similar to drama which aims to reveal fundamental moral and political truths by following classical rhetorical principles. Chapter Two investigates the relationship between the nine textually significant extant versions of this work, and concludes that they derive from a series of revised drafts. The English versions are shown to be preliminary drafts, with the Paris manuscript being the Latin version based on the latest draft. Chapter Three analyzes the changes between drafts and finds that More carefully revised his work and paid particular attention to concepts important in political philosophy. The four chapters of Part Two interpret the work's political teaching. Chapter Four introduces the major themeâ the causes of tyranny in the England depictedâ by contrasting tyranny with a good political order, â republic.â This chapter defines tyranny, distinguishes the tyrant Richard from the merely bad king Edward, notes the relationship between tyranny and faction, and describes the attributes of a republic and its members, â citizens.â It also discusses aligning public and private interests and avoiding conflicts of interest as principles of political reform. Chapter Five inquires into institutional causes of tyranny, discussing sanctuary and the dangers of imprudent rational critique, the strengths and weaknesses of England's criminal, civil, and constitutional law, and the weaknesses of hereditary kingship. Chapter Six inquires into moral causes, concentrating on individual failures of the virtue fides, including persons who are too trusting and those who are not trustworthy, discusses when it is appropriate to trust, and notes the importance of trustworthiness in political teaching. Chapter Seven inquires into nonhuman causesâ Divine Providence, fate, and fortuneâ and concludes that despite the limits these place on human power, a significant arena for choice and action remains. Humans have free will, and should choose to work for the real, but limited possibility of political reform. The Appendix includes a new literal translation of Richard III from Latin.
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    The Soul-Reforming Rhetoric of Thomas More's Dialogue of Comfort
    (2021-04-01T00:00:00-07:00) Friddle, Patrick; Dr. Gerard Wegemer; Dr. Andrew Moran
    How does Antony comfort Vincent in Thomas Moreâ s Dialogue of Comfort Against Tribulation? While other critics focus on specific aspects of Antonyâ s comfort and their reforming effect on a specific power of Vincentâ s soul, I attempt to show in this paper the effect of the whole of Antonyâ s comfort on the whole of Vincentâ s soul. First, I define the three appeals of persuasion, since comfort is a reforming kind of rhetoric through appeals. Then, I analyze how Antony discovers, organizes, and stylizes those appeals: he discovers the appeals in Vincentâ s responses, organizes them according to what Vincent is ready for, and stylizes them so that Vincent will enduringly remember his counsel. Lastly, I look at the reforming effect of Antonyâ s appeals on Vincentâ s soul: Antony helps to instruct Vincentâ s intellect through logical appeals that draw from reason and faith, refashion his memory and imagination through passionate appeals that are humorous and serious, and redirect his heart (his will and affections) through ethical appeals that move him to trust in Christ alone. The work as a whole is Moreâ s vision of a comprehensive attempt to reform the soul so as to pursue freedom and trust in the grace of God. By explicating Antonyâ s rhetorical appeals and Vincentâ s soul-responses, this paper relates the powers of rhetoric with the powers of the soul. Although grace reforms the soul in the supernatural order, rhetoric helps to reform the soul to a great degree in the order of nature.