The concept of hopeless hope in Eugene O'Neill's and Beckett's dramas

Hello there,

I'm about to start writing (actually I should have started already, some time ago) my master's thesis in american and/or english literature... My dissertation is going to be about the concept of 'hopeless hope' in Eugene O'Neill's dramas and possibly in Samuel Beckett's dramas as well (especially 'Waiting for Godot')

The ehing is that I would like to go beyond the drama, and try to delve into prose and fiction, but nothing comes to my mind in the light of 'hopeless hope' (well, I've been thinking about 'Never Let Me Go' by Kazuo Ishiguro, a nearly-Booker prize-winner in 2005, but I'm not sure if the choice is right)

I want to write about human condition, sense of life (or the lack of it), the concept of waiting for death, and mainly, the hope that keeps us all alive...

Anyway, do you guys have any ideas that might be helpful? I need some primary and secondary sources badly (especially some literary criticism on the subject)

I would be so grateful if you could help me out...

Best wishes,

PS

ps. by the way - are there any free academic essays datebases on the internet?

Greetings!

I think the most important thing is to get yourself focused in just one direction. You can't really find primary or secondary sources until you are very clear on what your thesis is about; otherwise, you're just floundering and it's an exercise in frustration. "The concept of 'hopeless hope' strikes me as a little vague. I would suggest that you try putting into one sentence exactly what it is you want your thesis to be about. You have some interesting ideas, but, at this point, they are just sort of free-floating; they need to be pointing in one direction. What is it about 'hopeless hope' that you want to say?

There are sites with free academic essays on the internet, but I doubt that most of those free essays will be much help to you. Do check out our "Free Essays and Articles" section on this site, however; you might get some dissertation writing tips that would be of benefit.

I'm sure you must have talked with your thesis advisor about this, but perhaps another meeting is in order, to make your path a little more clear. I hope this helps!

Thanks,

Sarah, EssayForum.com

Hello Sarah!

Well, let me sketch the outline of my work

What I want to do, is to present, on particular works, the concept of hopeless hope (as understood by Eugene O'Neill). Namely:


In chapter I, I want to concentrate upon early works of O'Neill's and his major work "Iceman Cometh" which in various respects is kind of similar to Waiting for Godot by Beckett. In this chapter I want to delve into O'Neill's fatalism or determinism if you like, and by studying is characters present the idea of hopeless hope. In this chapter I also want to present various aspects of 'hopeless hope' ie. those that are visible in the theatre of tragedy and the theatre of the absurd.

In the second chapter I want to concentrate on Beckett's Waiting For Godot, with Godot understood in terms of a devine being, namely - God. I want to descrive the hopelessness of Vladimir and Estragon's lives, maybe in the light of The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus. Waiting for Godot is a great example of absurdity of life, in my humble opinion.

I was also thinking about chapter 3... where I could give some space to some prose & fiction... but I don't know where to start... Maybe Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go... or maybe The Unnamable by Beckett, which closes with 'you must go on, I can't go on, I'll go on.'

I don't know... Yet, what I do know, is that I can't visit my advisor right know... she's in hospital , she's been there for 1 month now, and I have no idea when she's coming back, and I cannot wait till then cause I want my thesis finished :)

Greetings!

Oh, my, your poor advisor! I hope she gets well soon! In the meantime it looks like you're on your own, unfortunately. It does sound like you have a fairly clear direction about where you want to go; I understand better now what you were saying. You're a bit out of my particular area of expertise, however. While I can't give you specific advice about your literature selections, I can tell you that The Unnameable sounds, from your description, like it would be an excellent choice for exploring the concept of hopeless hope. Remember that this is your thesis; if a work intrigues or challenges you, or seems to epitomize the essence of what you want to say, then it's a good choice. I have seen students struggle with trying to write a thesis that really has no meaning for them, and it's a nightmare, so make it relevant to you.

Best of luck!

Thanks,

Sarah, EssayForum.com