Introduction 1
0.1 The Success of Southey’s Epics 5
0.2 The Argument and the Methodology of the Dissertation 18
0.3 Critical Survey 28
0.4 The Organization of the Dissertation 36
Chapter One The Political Binary Oppositions in Joan of Arc 44
1.1 An Independence Declaration of Defence against British Aggression 51
1.2 The Contrast between Public’s Altruism and Monarch’s Egoism 79
1.3 Male Political Domination and Female Subordination 105
Chapter Two The Cultural Binary Oppositions in Madoc 128
2.1 The Conflict between European“Civilization”and American“Barbarity” 135
2.2 The Rivalry between European Christianity and American Fetishism 163
2.3 The Comparison between Welsh Patriarchy and American Matriarchy 200
Chapter Three The Moral Binary Oppositions in Roderick，the Last of the Goths 227
3.1 The Struggle between Loyalty and Betrayal in National Unification 235
3.2 Hermit’s Benevolence versus King’s Malevolence 265
3.3 A Canticle of Triumph of Female Virtue over Male Evil 294
Conclusion 320
Bibliography 336