Their ruin! Hence I will excite their minds : mind reading and Machiavellian intelligence in Milton's Satan and Shakespeare's Cassius, 2017

Item — Call Number: MU Thesis Tur

Identifier: b7717405

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

From the Collection:

The collection consists of theses written by students enrolled in the Monmouth University graduate English program. The holdings are primarily bound print documents that were submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for the Master of Arts or Master of Fine Arts degrees.

From the Collection:

Students become eligible to pursue the Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) degree if they have obtained a Master of Arts (M.A.) in English from Monmouth University and demonstrate a proficiency for creative writing through a thesis or equivalent work.

From the Collection:

After completing their 30-credit M.A. in English with a Creative Writing concentration, Monmouth’s M.F.A. students take an additional 18 credits of intensive creative writing study that includes the completion of a book-length Creative Thesis.

From the Collection:

During the fall 2022 semester (in instances where the requisite waivers were received from consenting student authors), the Monmouth University Library, together with the University's Graduate School and Wayne D. McMurray School of Humanities and Social Sciences, began providing open access to select full-text digital versions of current theses and dissertations through links to the ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global website in the Library's Online Public Access Catalog. Links to these open access digital publications can also be found in the "External Documents" section under any conforming titles that are listed among the holdings itemized in the collection inventory for this finding aid.

Dates

Creation: 2017

Creator

Turczmanovicz, Brian J. (Brian John) (1992- ) (Author, Person)
Goulding, Susan (Thesis advisor, Person)
Starke, Sue P. (Thesis advisor, Person)

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research use. Access is by appointment only.

Access to the collection is confined to the Monmouth University Library and is subject to patron policies approved by the Monmouth University Library.

Collection holdings may not be borrowed through interlibrary loan.

Research appointments are scheduled by the Monmouth University Library Archives Collections Manager (723-923-4526). A minimum of three days advance notice is required to arrange a research appointment for access to the collection.

Patrons must complete a Researcher Registration Form and provide appropriate identification to gain access to the collection holdings. Copies of these documents will be kept on file at the Monmouth University Library.

Extent

1 Items (print book) : 40 pages ; 8.5 x 11.0 inches (28 cm).

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Introduction [excerpts]

In the case of [John] Milton's [character] Satan and [William] Shakespeare's [character] Cassius, [Professor Blakey] Vermeule's ToM [Theory of Mind] scholarship exposes how similarly Satan and Cassius use their mind reading capabilities on their victims (Eve and Brutus). Cassius and Satan both use mind-reading "imitation" to degrade a ruling system and build the victim up to make their minds [sic] act towards rebellion. We see that Satan degrades God's Eden as oppressive and he tells Eve that by breaking God's rule she should rise in rank (above Adam). Similarly, we can see that Cassius uses "imitation" mind reading to degrade Caesar's godly reputation into a greedy man grabbing the power of Rome. Vermeule's ToM scholarship shows that Satan and Cassius use "emphathy" mind-reading skills to make Brutus and Eve think they care about their well-being. Satan makes Eve think he cares about her low position in Eden. Cassius makes Brutus think that Roman citizens have left him letters on his doorstep, demanding him to remove Caesar from power....

[T]his paper will conclude on how ToM scholarship, like Vermeule's, allows readers and scholars to evaluate two literary characters and see how their similar minds advances [sic] our evaluation of them in future literary discussions. This paper will provide examples and suggesttions for future literary discussions, when using the ToM lens to evaluate characters's cognitive capabilities.