Brontë Studies

The November issue of Brontë Studies (Volume 30, Number 3) is already available. The table of contents is the following:

Editorial

Editorial pp. iii-iii(1) Author: Duckett, Bob

Articles

In Defence of Madame Beck pp. 185-211(27) Author: Berglund, Birgitta
Abstract:
The aim of this article is to suggest a new reading of Charlotte Brontë's Villette and, above all, to reappraise the character of Madame Beck. It argues that the conventional view of Madame Beck as a cold-hearted, cruel and selfish woman — Lucy Snowe's greatest enemy — is a misreading of the text. This misreading occurs partly because of the unreliability of Lucy, the narrator, and partly because of the habit of reading Charlotte Brontë's texts in general, and Villette in particular, as merely thinly veiled autobiography. Because we know of Charlotte Brontë's feelings for her Brussels teacher M. Heger, readers expect Lucy's story to be Charlotte's story and Lucy's views and opinions to be those of her creator. However, Lucy Snowe is actually constructed as a neurotic person and an unreliable narrator, who is jealous of her employer's personal charm and professional success. Lucy's judgement of Madame Beck cannot therefore be taken at face value. If Madame Beck is regarded from the point of view of what she actually does rather than what Lucy thinks of her actions, a different picture emerges: that of an intelligent, generous, and warm-hearted woman who could, and would, have become Lucy's friend, had Lucy allowed her to be so. In her portrait of these two women Charlotte Brontë created a much more complex portrait of womanhood than has generally been recognized. It is time we admitted this complexity.

William Morgan, B.D. 1782–1858 pp. 213-230(18) Author: Walker, Michael
Abstract:
Born in a Brecknockshire village, William Morgan, as a young man, left his native Wales to take up the position of Curate in the Shropshire town of Wellington. It was here that he met and became friendly with another young curate, Patrick Brontë. This friendship was to last for almost fifty years. William Morgan led an interesting life: Vicar of Christ Church, Bradford, for thirty-six years, he was a dedicated churchman, much loved by his parishioners on whose behalf he worked tirelessly. He was particularly keen on education for the children of the labouring classes and was a major force in setting up schools for this purpose in Bradford and in his last parish, Hulcott. He was also the author of books and pamphlets.

The Parameters of Reason in Wuthering Heights pp. 231-242(12) Author: Tytler, Graeme
Abstract:
'Reason' is a word that one might perhaps readily associate with the presentation of the two main narrators of Wuthering Heights. But if Nelly Dean and Lockwood sometimes seem, through their psychological limitations and their acts of folly, to make poor representatives of a rationality they claim to possess, it would be a mistake to suppose that reason is thereby to be seen in an essentially ironic light. On the contrary, there is evidence to suggest that, amid her scrupulous concern with the workings of the mind, especially in respect to her portrayal of Catherine and Heathcliff, Emily Brontë is intent on reminding us that reason is central to everybody's humanity, and that it is through the uses to which we put our reason, whether in our ways of thinking or in our attitudes to our fellow creatures, that we are to be judged as human beings.

The Artist in Her Studio: The Influence of the Brontës on Women Artists pp. 243-254(12) Author: Sellars, Jane
Abstract:
This article is based on a talk given in Haworth on 14 April 2004.

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall: What Anne Brontë Knew and What Modern Readers Don't pp. 255-257(3) Author: Bellamy, Joan
Abstract:
Anne Brontë placed her novel firmly in the context of women's legal status of her times and the slow changes being brought about. Readers today miss the significance of much of Anne's writing because they are not aware of these issues.

Short Items

Mrs Brontë's Nurse pp. 258-259(2) Author: Dinsdale, Ann
Keywords: MARTHA WRIGHT; PATRICK BRONTE; ELIZABETH GASKELL

Professor Norman Jeffares: A Tribute by Bob Barnard pp. 260-260(1)

Letters pp. 261-261(1)

The Brontë Parsonage Museum: Some Recent Additions pp. 262-266(5) Author: Salter, Polly

Book Reviews

Reviews pp. 267-275(9)

Categories: Journals, Scholar, Villette, Wuthering_Heights, The_Tenant_of_Wildfell_Hall, Charlotte_Brontë, Emily_Brontë, Anne_Brontë