An intriguing essay about the country house tradition in wartime England has delivered an Arts graduate from The University of Notre Dame Australia’s Fremantle Campus a “rare” and “outstanding” achievement in an international essay competition.
Ellen O’Brien, now a current English Literature tutor in the Fremantle School of Arts and Sciences, won the essay competition sponsored by the Evelyn Waugh Society.
Her prize winning essay, entitled Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited and the Country House Tradition, will be published in the peer reviewed journal, Evelyn Waugh Studies.
The novel, written by Evelyn Waugh, an iconic English author and famed convert to the Catholic Church, is set during World War II.
The book deals with concepts of faith, especially Roman Catholicism, and the internal, and often unwitnessed, challenges that faced the English nobility who used to reside in elegant country houses.
The novel was made into a popular BBC series in 1981.
Ms O’Brien’s essay was originally part of her Honours coursework in preparation for the 2012 literary tour to England and Ireland as part of a School of Arts and Sciences’ program.
Whilst on the tour, she visited a number of English country houses which were of a similar nature to those featured in Brideshead Revisited.
Associate Dean Professor Chris Wortham, said it was rare for an undergraduate student’s work to be published in an international peer-reviewed academic journal.
“The University is extremely proud of Ellen’s achievements and we wish her the very best in her move to England to study at the Royal Holloway College in the University of London later this year.”