The convent of measure: prosodic passing and stable subjectivity in Margaret Cavendish's The convent of pleasure

Although contemporary criticism of Margaret Cavendish's The Convent of Pleasure often focuses on Happy's convent as a site of queer resistance, my prosodic analysis of the verse structure of the 4.1 pastoral scene suggests that Lady Happy's convent is not defined negatively in relation to the patriarchy (as in resistance); rather, her convent is established to reflect her positively defined homoerotic desires. The Prince's successful infiltration of Happy's convent depends, then, upon not only his temporary rejection of patriarchal imperatives but also upon his assumption of the "feminine" discourse that Happy establishes as the discursive currency of her convent. The ways in which Happy delivers prose in scenes prior to 4.1 suggest that she prefers both content that glorifies nature and structure that demonstrates speed and poetic continuity. Likewise in the 4.1 scene, the disguised Prince delivers to Happy an erotic suit that succeeds because of its smooth, swift iambic trimeter form. The Prince's gender mimicry, then, extends beyond the standard adoption of cross-gendered clothing to an appropriation of positively defined, "feminine" ways of speaking. With this poetic gender mimicry, the Prince is able to infiltrate Happy's feminine utopia and collapse it from the inside by insinuating the patriarchal imperative of marriage into his otherwise feminine discourse. The poetic mode that Happy espouses represents a mode of feminine resistance that is borne out in Butlerian theories of gendered resistance. Happy's convent, then, characterizes a need to move beyond received (and largely inaccurate) notions of Butlerian performativity and to shift focus toward the more manageable terms of iteration and citation. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries

Deny thy father, yet seek to please him?: subversive Shakespeare and the authoritative desire of Shakespearean teen films

This dissertation examines questions of authority in teen adaptations of Shakespeare. Drawing on the fields of Shakespeare studies, film studies, and cultural studies, I focus on four Shakespeare film adaptations ‒ Baz Luhrmann's William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet, Gil Junger's 10 Things I Hate About You, Tim Blake Nelson's O, and Michael Almereyda's Hamlet ‒ and maintain that discussions of these films must be grounded in discussions of Shakespeare's plays and of the teen film genre. By comparing Shakespeare's plays to other early modern texts, examining early modern cultural practices, and considering the plays' critical and theatrical histories, I argue that Romeo and Juliet, The Taming of the Shrew, Othello, and Hamlet present radical challenges to particular structures of authority in early modern England, including marriage, gender roles, racial and cultural difference, and tyranny; these plays seek a future in which traditional forms of authority are questioned, reworked, and reformed. In contrast, teen films, according to scholars of the genre, promote and uphold hegemonic values, typically represented in the form of patriarchal control. Authority operates on different levels, as the films themselves reflect the values of the adult generation and as the young characters within the films express a desire for more, not less, authority in their lives. Using these studies, I argue that Shakespearean teen films frequently present restrictive views of teen autonomy. Rather than challenge, subvert, or rebel against received social structures, these films depict young characters who yearn for parental or social acceptance; similarly, the films themselves limit challenges to authority by presenting a return to order. In comedy, this restoration appears as protagonists learn to navigate social expectations, thus winning approval from peers and adults alike; in tragedy, the police restore authority by arriving to survey the scene and punish wrongdoers, or the media anesthetizes the tragedy by reporting it as just another story on the evening news. In this dissertation, I do not privilege Shakespeare's plays over contemporary films, but rather attempt to demonstrate how Shakespearean teen films adapt and interpret their source texts within a particular set of generic and historical conventions. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries

Virtual access to landscapes and historic gardens at linked locations

Pathological mutations in BRCA1, BRCA2 and TP53 are associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. This study evaluated mutation frequency of these genes in early-onset breast cancer patients, and correlated this with family history and determined relative risks to family members. Patients with breast adenocarcinoma diagnosed &lt;= 30 years were ascertained between 1980 and 1997. Family history was established and mutation screening of BRCA1, BRCA2 and TP53 genes was performed. Estimates of penetrance and relative risk were undertaken. DNA was obtained from 100/139 women. 17/36 familial cases had a BRCA1, BRCA2 or TP53 mutation. Of 64 non-familial cases, one BRCA2, two BRCA1 and two TP53 mutations were detected. Penetrance estimates (by age 70) for breast cancer were 84% for BRCA1 mutations and 91% for BRCA2 mutations and for ovarian cancer, 60% and 26%, respectively Relative risks associated with mutations were consistent with previous studies. BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations in patients with breast cancer &lt;= 30 years are predicted strongly by family history. The majority of families with ovarian cancer were due to mutations in BRCA1/2 whereas these mutations only accounted for 30-50% of the excess breast cancers. <br/

Thank you to our reviewers

Publication status: Publishe

Thank you to our reviewers

Key Points: The editors thank the 2022 peer reviewer