Bronte sisters

Victorian age

1. The Brontë sisters Charlotte Brontë (1816-1855). Emily Brontë (1818-1848). Anne Brontë (1820-1849). 27/10/21 Prof.ssa Guidi Claudia - Isiss T. Guerra. School year 2021-22 1

2. 1. Life Charlotte (1816), Emily (1818) and Anne (1820. The daughters of an Anglican clergyman of Irish origin. Spent most of their lives in isolation in a remote part of Yorkshire , in northern England . Did not receive formal education. Apart from brief periods at school, they were mainly self-educated . 27/10/21 Prof.ssa Guidi Claudia - Isiss T. Guerra. School year 2021-22 2

3. 1. Life Decided to use pseudonyms to publish their novels in 1847: Emily (Ellis Bell) published Wuthering Heights ; Charlotte ( Currer Bell) published Jane Eyre ; Anne (Acton Bell) published Agnes Grey . Emily died in 1848 and Anne in 1849. Charlotte married Reverend Arthur Bell Nicholls in 1854 and died the following year. Prof.ssa Guidi Claudia - Isiss T. Guerra. School year 2021-22 3 27/10/21

4. The Victorian novel ( THE GOLDEN AGE OF THE NOVEL ) - many published in literary magazines & periodicals I n SERIALIZED FORM Prof.ssa Guidi Claudia - Isiss T. Guerra. School year 2021-22 4 27/10/21

5. Prof.ssa Guidi Claudia - Isiss T. Guerra. School year 2021-22 ( BILDUNGSROMAN ) A novel of formation , that followed the story of the protagonist from childhood to Early adulthood , like in Charlottes ’ JANE EYRE One of the most popular genre of the period Different subplots and a WIDE VARIETY of CHARACTERS Common theme / recurrency : M O N E Y 27/10/21 5

6. 1. What was women’s place in the Victorian society? They didn’t have many rights . NO UNIVERSITY NO OWN / inherit EIR OWN PROPERTIES COULD NOT VOTE OR EASILY EXPRESS THEIR THOUGHT For young women education would be around those subjects that would make her a good and agreeable wife ( drawing , embroidery and playing the piano) 27/10/21 Prof.ssa Guidi Claudia - Isiss T. Guerra. School year 2021-22 6

7. 1. WOMEN This social climate did not stop women like the Brontee sisters from becoming great writers. Prof.ssa Guidi Claudia - Isiss T. Guerra. School year 2021-22 7 27/10/21

8. 1. THE BRONTEE SISTERS They were born in Yorkshire, the inspiration for most of their novels Charlotte, the eldest sister , was born in 1816, followed by Emily (1818) and Anne (1820) The Brontee family had 2 more daughters, who died in childhood and a son LONELY CHILDHOOD Made the most of it: they read, studied, and spent hours elaborating a phantasy world The Brontees weren’t rich, so when the children became old enough, they left home to start working as teachers or governesses (3) Prof.ssa Guidi Claudia - Isiss T. Guerra. School year 2021-22 8 27/10/21

9. 1. THE BRONTEE SISTERS 3 different personalities for the 3 sisters (although they spent Charlotte= spirited, intellingent , but also a bit selfish and manipulative Anne = beautiful and cosciensious , but very Shy Emily, totally absorbed in her own world and paid little attention to what went on around her Starting of the career: Emily found Charlotte’s book of poetry and insisted to have it published They all gave their contribution to their volume of poetry and published it at their own expense,using pen names (MALE NAMES) (4) Prof.ssa Guidi Claudia - Isiss T. Guerra. School year 2021-22 9 27/10/21

10. 1. THE BRONTEE SISTERS – their way into the WORLD – WRITING They wrote until late at night, reviewing each other’s works Charlotte= the first book published by a real publisher, JANE EYRE, published in 1847 JANE EYRE was so successful that the publisher decided to give a chance also to the other sisters 27/10/21 Prof.ssa Guidi Claudia - Isiss T. Guerra. School year 2021-22 10

11. 1. THE BRONTEE SISTERS – rebels against the Victorian world of rules and labels Borrowed themes from the GOTHIC TRADITION Had a Romantic SPIRIT In their novels we can find Extreme of Passion and Violence and Romaticism described with GREAT ELEGANCE inside 27/10/21 Prof.ssa Guidi Claudia - Isiss T. Guerra. School year 2021-22 11

12. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë Performer Heritage Marina Spiazzi, Marina Tavella, Margaret Layton © 2017 27/10/21 Prof.ssa Guidi Claudia - Isiss T. Guerra. School year 2021-22 12

13. 1. Who is Jane Eyre? An orphan brought up by her cold and hostile aunt, Mrs Reed and her cousins. (1) Sent to Lowood School(a charity school) – Jane is obviously SAD and LONELY Schools in the Victorian age can be very harsh places (2) Charlotte Gainsbourg as Jane Eyre. Jane Eyre Prof.ssa Guidi Claudia - Isiss T. Guerra. School year 2021-22 13 27/10/21

14. 1. Who is Jane Eyre? When Jane finishes school, she finds a job as a governess to ADELE , who lives with a guardian, MR Rochester Refuses Mr Rochester’s proposal when she finds out he is married . Thornfield HALL is quite CREEPY- Leaves Thornfield and goes to live with her cousin at Moor House. She meets St John Rivers, a religious man who proposes to her but she refuses. Returns to Mr Rochester but he lives at Ferndean and h as become blind after a fire. She finally marries him . Charlotte Gainsbourg as Jane Eyre. Jane Eyre Prof.ssa Guidi Claudia - Isiss T. Guerra. School year 2021-22 14 27/10/21

15. Performer Heritage 2. A ground-breaking character She is moderately plain and poor . She is a governess , one of the jobs availa bl e to educated but poor young women . (autobiographical trait, Jane had been a governess) She falls in love with a rich and married man . She speaks with frankness about herself. Feels strongly about her emotions and acts following her convictions . Charlotte Gainsbourg as Jane Eyre. Jane Eyre Prof.ssa Guidi Claudia - Isiss T. Guerra. School year 2021-22 15

16. 3. The setting A BILDUNGSROMAN, with some features of the GOTHIC NOVEL (4) - f ive locations in northern England . Jane Eyre 27/10/21 Prof.ssa Guidi Claudia - Isiss T. Guerra. School year 2021-22 16

17. 4. Setting and character development Each setting represents a new phase in Jane’s development . She experiences the conflicts between spirit and flesh, duty and desire, denial and fulfilment. She struggles to get a free spirit , fighting for recognition and self-respect in the face of rejection by a class-ridden and money-oriented society. Mia Wasikowska as Jane Eyre in 2011 film by Cary Fukunaga. Jane Eyre 27/10/21 Prof.ssa Guidi Claudia - Isiss T. Guerra. School year 2021-22 17

18. 4. The relationship between 2 female characters : Jane and the mad Bertha JANE: clever, independent. She deserves to be happy BERTHA: but is she really a bad person ? She sets fire to Mr Rochester’s house Un unpleasant and evil laugh , but she’s been locked in an attic for so long, trapped in a marriage she did not want . Maybe she’s Rochester’s victim , not the other way round (1) Jane Eyre Prof.ssa Guidi Claudia - Isiss T. Guerra. School year 2021-22 18

19. 5. A Romantic hero The character of Mr Rochester is based on the figure of the Byronic hero . A lost nobleman of passion . Attracted to Jane’s soul and personality rather than to physical appearance. Toby Stephens as Mr Rochester. Jane Eyre 27/10/21 Prof.ssa Guidi Claudia - Isiss T. Guerra. School year 2021-22 19

20. 6. Themes Childhood and education ( Bildungsroman ). The need for warmth and affection. Marriage as a relationship between equals , not as a social compromise. The social position of a governess in Victorian society. Critique of the strict Victorian social class system and gender relationships . Symbolic use of Gothic to reveal the presence of a malevolent force. Jane Eyre 27/10/21 Prof.ssa Guidi Claudia - Isiss T. Guerra. School year 2021-22 20

21. 7. Style Use of the heroine as narrator ()first person narrator gives unity to the novel. Everything is seen from Jane’s point of view . ( A SHOCK for the reader: women at the time were not supposed to have independent thoughts or physical passions Jane often addresses the reader explaining how she feels and makes decisions. Emotional use of language . concern with the nature of human relationships. There are also repeated motifs, symbols, and images: the workings of the supernatural, important dreams, patterns of light and dark, oppositions of warmth and cold. Jane Eyre Prof.ssa Guidi Claudia - Isiss T. Guerra. School year 2021-22 21

22. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë 27/10/21 Prof.ssa Guidi Claudia - Isiss T. Guerra. School year 2021-22 22

23. 1. Key events Poster for the 1992 film version. Part One: First generation The foundling : Heathcliff is brought to Wuthering Heights by Mr Earnshaw . gypsy Oppression and exploitation of Heathcliff by Hindley, Mr Earnshaw’s son. Cathy Earnshaw and Heathcliff become twin souls . Wuthering Heights 27/10/21 Prof.ssa Guidi Claudia - Isiss T. Guerra. School year 2021-22 23

24. 1. Key events The bill for the 1992 film version. Cathy Earnshaw’s transformation from ‘savage’ to ‘proper lady’ during her stay at Thrushcross Grange. Cathy’s betrayal of her ‘soul mate’ Heathcliff. Heathcliff’s departure (splitting of the oak). Cathy’s marriage to Edgar Linton. Wuthering Heights 27/10/21 Prof.ssa Guidi Claudia - Isiss T. Guerra. School year 2021-22 24

25. 1. Key events Heathcliff’s return as a ‘gentleman’ intent on revenge . Cathy’s attempts to have both Heathcliff and Edgar. Cathy’s derangement and illness . Top Withens. Wuthering Heights Prof.ssa Guidi Claudia - Isiss T. Guerra. School year 2021-22 25

26. 1. Key events Part Two: Second generation Near Top Withens. Heathcliff’s revenge : property , gained by marriage to Isabella Linton and expropriation. Degradation of Hareton, Heathcliff’s and Isabella’s son. Heathcliff loses interest in revenge. Wuthering Heights 27/10/21 Prof.ssa Guidi Claudia - Isiss T. Guerra. School year 2021-22 26

27. 1. Key events Near Top Withens. Heathcliff and Cathy together in death. Marriage of Cathy II and Hareton: property restored to rightful owner. Wuthering Heights 27/10/21 Prof.ssa Guidi Claudia - Isiss T. Guerra. School year 2021-22 27

28. 2. Two settings: opposite principles Wuthering Heights Thrushcross Grange The home of the Earnshaws. Severe, gloomy, brutal in aspect and atmosphere. Firmly rooted in local tradition and custom. The background for the life of primitive passion led by its owner. The home of the Lintons. Reflects a Victorian conception of middle class life. Symbolises stability, kindness and respectability . Storm and energy Calm Wuthering Heights 27/10/21 Prof.ssa Guidi Claudia - Isiss T. Guerra. School year 2021-22 28

29. 3. The moors as symbol Attempt to escape The moors represent the Romantic rejection of society and the desire to transcend its rules English moors. Wuthering Heights Prof.ssa Guidi Claudia - Isiss T. Guerra. School year 2021-22 29 27/10/21

30. 3. The moors as symbol English moors. Escape is impossible Cathy reconciles self and class in society through her marriage to Edgar and her relationship with Heathcliff Wuthering Heights Prof.ssa Guidi Claudia - Isiss T. Guerra. School year 2021-22 30

31. 4. Main characters Charlotte Riley as Catherine and Tom Hardy as Heathcliff in Coky Giedroyc’ s 2009 film version. Catherine Wayward , difficult , rebellious , spirited & ‘unfeminine’ . ‘ Her spirits were always at high water-mark, her tongue always going [...]. A wild, wick slip she was –but she had the bonniest eye, and sweetest smile, and lightest foot in the parish [ …] . ’ (Part I, Ch. 5) ‘ Heaven did not seem to be my home. ’ (Part I, Ch. 9) Wuthering Heights 27/10/21 Prof.ssa Guidi Claudia - Isiss T. Guerra. School year 2021-22 31

32. 4. Main characters Heathcliff Persistent ambiguity: man or beast ? Unknown origins , absence of social connection. Absence of emotion, ‘ insensible ’ . Timothy Dalton in Robert Fuest ’ s 1970 film version. Wuthering Heights Prof.ssa Guidi Claudia - Isiss T. Guerra. School year 2021-22 32

33. 4. Main characters Heathcliff-Catherine relationship Vindictive, violent and possessive ‘ They may bury me twelve feet deep, and throw the church down over me; but I won ’ t rest till you are with me… I never will! ’ (Part I, Ch. 7) Merged identities ‘If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and, if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger. [ …] Nelly, I am Heathcliff! ’ (Part I, Ch. 9) Wuthering Heights 27/10/21 Prof.ssa Guidi Claudia - Isiss T. Guerra. School year 2021-22 33

34. 4. Main characters Heathcliff-Catherine relationship Vitality , authenticity , freedom . Rejection of class values. Heathcliff and Cathy symbolise the instinctual , unconscious forces. Contrasted with ‘ civilised ’ characters: Edgar, Lockwood, Nelly Dean . Robert Brook, Heathcliff and Cathy , from the novel Wuthering Heights , 20th century, Private Collection. Wuthering Heights 27/10/21 Prof.ssa Guidi Claudia - Isiss T. Guerra. School year 2021-22 34

35. 5. Main themes Basic human emotions in a state of purity and concentration love vs hatred . Correspondence between the violent passions of the characters and the wild natural landscape . Death not an end, but a liberation of the spirit . Wuthering Heights 27/10/21 Prof.ssa Guidi Claudia - Isiss T. Guerra. School year 2021-22 35

36. 6. Gothic elements Heathcliff as a Gothic villain in his inhuman treatment of his wife and his son. The sinister atmosphere of Wuthering Heights surrounded by the wilderness. Catherine’s ghost . Wuthering Heights Prof.ssa Guidi Claudia - Isiss T. Guerra. School year 2021-22 36 27/10/21

37. 6. Gothic elements The dreams and superstitions often mentioned. These are not used to frighten the reader, but to convey the struggle between the two opposed principles of love and hate , of order and chaos . Wuthering Heights 27/10/21 Prof.ssa Guidi Claudia - Isiss T. Guerra. School year 2021-22 37

38. 7. Style: narrative structure Non -linear narrative structure. Use of flashback Beginning in medias res . Binary structure. Elicits curiosity in the reader. Invites comparison between the two stories. Bront ë Parsonage in Haworth , where the Bront ë family lived . Implies an active reader . Wuthering Heights 27/10/21 Prof.ssa Guidi Claudia - Isiss T. Guerra. School year 2021-22 38

39. 7. Style: point of view Two frame narrators: Lockwood (as external narrator) and Nelly Dean (as internal narrator). Chinese box structure: stories within stories. Two interpreters; two auditors ( reader and Lockwood closely identified). Wuthering Heights 27/10/21 Prof.ssa Guidi Claudia - Isiss T. Guerra. School year 2021-22 39

40. 7. Style: point of view Nelly Dean’s perspective Conventional  based on morality, religion and superstition. She thinks Cathy is ‘wayward’, ‘ill-tempered’. ‘ I vexed her frequently by trying to bring down her arrogance. ’ (Part I, Ch. 8). ‘ She was too much fond of Heathcliff ’ (Part I Ch. 5). Wuthering Heights 27/10/21 Prof.ssa Guidi Claudia - Isiss T. Guerra. School year 2021-22 40

41. 7. Style: point of view Lockwood’s perspective The voice of conventional society. An unreliable narrator because he does not know all the details of the story. Wuthering Heights 27/10/21 Prof.ssa Guidi Claudia - Isiss T. Guerra. School year 2021-22 41

42. 7. Style: point of view Implications of the multiple narrators Strangeness and ‘otherness’ preserved. Multiple interpretations: no single ‘truth’. Unique interpretation becomes impossible  modern aspect of the novel. Wuthering Heights Prof.ssa Guidi Claudia - Isiss T. Guerra. School year 2021-22 42 27/10/21

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