{"id":{"repo_id":"buffalo","oai_identifier":"oai:ubir.buffalo.edu:10477/86463"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/buffalo/oai:ubir.buffalo.edu:10477/86463","repository":{"repo_id":"buffalo","name":"Buffalo","base_url":"https://ubir.buffalo.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"The Many Eyes of Middle-earth: Looking at the Gaze in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings","abstract":"M.A.","abstract_html":"M.A.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Kielich, Steven; 0000-0002-0608-5063"],"institution":"State University of New York at Buffalo","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Miller, Steven","English"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2025,"date_issued":"2025-02-21T17:22:41Z","date_published":"2025-02-21T17:22:41Z","updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:05:32Z","subjects":["philosophy","English literature"],"languages":["eng"],"rights":["Users of works found in University at Buffalo Institutional Repository (UBIR) are responsible for identifying and contacting the copyright owner for permission to reuse. University at Buffalo Libraries do not manage rights for copyright-protected works and cannot assist with permissions.","Copyright retained by author."],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/10477/86463","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Miller, Steven","English"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Kielich, Steven; 0000-0002-0608-5063"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2025-02-21T17:22:41Z","2020"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["State University of New York at Buffalo"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Text","Thesis"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["philosophy","English literature"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Users of works found in University at Buffalo Institutional Repository (UBIR) are responsible for identifying and contacting the copyright owner for permission to reuse. University at Buffalo Libraries do not manage rights for copyright-protected works and cannot assist with permissions.","Copyright retained by author."]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/10477/86463"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["M.A.","This thesis examines how the gaze plays a pivotal role in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. While The Lord of the Rings is a classic tale of Elves, Men, Dwarves, and Orcs in a black and white struggle of good and evil with a simple narrative structure, the gaze, being an element of danger that the protagonists must contend with, helps give the narrative not only more weight but a sense of unpredictability as well. In the novel, Tolkien presents the gaze in a series of vignettes, episodes his characters are placed in where the gaze affects them profoundly. Through these vignettes, we are provided with a coherent account of Tolkien's thoughts about the gaze. We find that, according to Tolkien, the gaze is something that is symbolic of phenomenal power, capable of startling, unsettling, transforming, and destroying, as well as putting the self in an intense state of vulnerability. Tolkien's own theories of vision and visuality parallels those that have been advanced by Jean-Paul Sartre and Jacques Lacan. Applying both Sartre and Lacan's theories allows us to understand more completely and appreciate more fully Tolkien's own understanding and application of the gaze. Their ideas or theory can illuminate Tolkien's practice. From the very beginning of Tolkien's epic, all the way to its very end, he skillfully manipulates the gaze as an instrument with which he exercises his theories of vision and visuality. Ultimately, this thesis aims to prove that Tolkien is a serious author of the gaze and that he has something important to teach us about the gaze.","**To request an accessible version of the file(s) associated with this item, contact library@buffalo.edu. Please include the item's persistent URL [http://hdl.handle.net/. . .] in your request.**"]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Many Eyes of Middle-earth: Looking at the Gaze in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Miller, Steven","English"],"dc:creator":["Kielich, Steven; 0000-0002-0608-5063"],"dc:date":["2025-02-21T17:22:41Z","2020"],"dc:description":["M.A.","This thesis examines how the gaze plays a pivotal role in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. While The Lord of the Rings is a classic tale of Elves, Men, Dwarves, and Orcs in a black and white struggle of good and evil with a simple narrative structure, the gaze, being an element of danger that the protagonists must contend with, helps give the narrative not only more weight but a sense of unpredictability as well. In the novel, Tolkien presents the gaze in a series of vignettes, episodes his characters are placed in where the gaze affects them profoundly. Through these vignettes, we are provided with a coherent account of Tolkien's thoughts about the gaze. We find that, according to Tolkien, the gaze is something that is symbolic of phenomenal power, capable of startling, unsettling, transforming, and destroying, as well as putting the self in an intense state of vulnerability. Tolkien's own theories of vision and visuality parallels those that have been advanced by Jean-Paul Sartre and Jacques Lacan. Applying both Sartre and Lacan's theories allows us to understand more completely and appreciate more fully Tolkien's own understanding and application of the gaze. Their ideas or theory can illuminate Tolkien's practice. From the very beginning of Tolkien's epic, all the way to its very end, he skillfully manipulates the gaze as an instrument with which he exercises his theories of vision and visuality. Ultimately, this thesis aims to prove that Tolkien is a serious author of the gaze and that he has something important to teach us about the gaze.","**To request an accessible version of the file(s) associated with this item, contact library@buffalo.edu. Please include the item's persistent URL [http://hdl.handle.net/. . .] in your request.**"],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["http://hdl.handle.net/10477/86463"],"dc:language":["eng"],"dc:publisher":["State University of New York at Buffalo"],"dc:rights":["Users of works found in University at Buffalo Institutional Repository (UBIR) are responsible for identifying and contacting the copyright owner for permission to reuse. University at Buffalo Libraries do not manage rights for copyright-protected works and cannot assist with permissions.","Copyright retained by author."],"dc:subject":["philosophy","English literature"],"dc:title":["The Many Eyes of Middle-earth: Looking at the Gaze in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings"],"dc:type":["Text","Thesis"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:05:32Z"}