Undergraduate thesis presents the problem of alcoholism in the long 19th century through the works of Slovenian and Czech women writers from this period. The intention of the undergraduate thesis is to find out, how the writers illustrated the influence of alcoholism on everyday life, the consequences of alcoholism and if the writers recognised it as a problem. As I will focus on the women's view of the world in a specific historical moment, the understanding of the considered period is necessary, as well as the political situation in the Habsburg monarchy and later Austria-Hungary with a special focus on the social conditions and the position of women in Slovenian and Czech lands. In the undergraduate thesis the historical context of the long 19th century and the problem of alcoholism are outlined first. Then follows a presentation of the selected writers – Slovenian writers Pavlina Pajk, Marica Nadlišek Bartol and Zofka Kveder and Czech writers Božena Němcová, Karolina Světlá and Gabriela Preissová. There is a short description of the literary movements of which they were a part and the corresponding dilemmas. The works, in which alcohol is present, are described and the examples of alcoholism and corresponding problems are highlighted. Some attention is directed towards the reception of the selected works, because it reveals a lot about the perception of alcoholism in the society. Finally, there is a comparison of the selected works with an emphasis on the comparison of motifs connected to alcoholism in all works.
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