Brontë Studies. Volume 38. Issue 3

The new issue of Brontë Studies (Volume 38, Issue 3, September 2013) is already available online. We provide you with the table of contents and abstracts:

Editorial
pp. iii Author: Adams, Amber M.

‘For her very life’: Duty, Health and the Poisonous Atmosphere of Haworth in Elizabeth Gaskell’s The Life of Charlotte Brontë
pp. 185-194(10)   Author: Morris, Emily
Abstract:
This paper examines Gaskell’s The Life of Charlotte Brontë in terms of women’s presentation of the common nineteenth-century belief that a change of scene could be an important curative measure for both physical and emotional illnesses. It argues that Gaskell believed Charlotte Brontë died because she would not leave Haworth, and that this belief informs The Life, which suggests there is a lesson in Charlotte’s sacrifices. Gaskell’s insistence on indulging illnesses with travel or rest indicates that she felt that an alternative to expectations of constant industry and sacrifice was necessary, and that it could be found in reimaging duty in terms of health.

From ‘Emma’ to Emma Brown: Charlotte Brontë’s Legacies
pp.  195-205(11)      Author:  Tomaiuolo, Saverio
Abstract:
Soon after her death, the artistic legacy of Charlotte Brontë became a matter of debate among her contemporaries — in particular after Elizabeth Gaskell’s biography — and has been contended, interpreted, read and misread by subsequent generations of readers and critics. The so-called ‘Brontë myth’ has been alimented and nurtured by this peculiar fashioning of Charlotte’s life and works. Apart from the numberless rewritings and ‘translations’ of her novels, her unfinished fragment entitled ‘Emma’ has aroused the interest of many writers who have tried to imagine the conclusion of the story. In this respect, Clare Boylan’s Emma Brown (2003) not only represents an ultimate exercise in literary imagination, but also a neo-Victorian novel balanced between a nostalgic glance at the past and a questioning of cogent Victorian issues that are still relevant today.

Heathcliff’s Abject State in Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights
pp. 206-218(13)   Author:  Lodine-Chaffey, Jennifer
Abstract:
Applying Julia Kristeva’s theories of abjection reveals both the development of the character of Heathcliff and his actions within Wuthering Heights. Heathcliff exhibits common attributes of abused children, which is exacerbated when the Earnshaw family treats him as a liminal ‘Other’. As a result of his abjection, Heathcliff exhibits borderline personality traits. He abuses human beings and animals, and constantly rejects social laws. Longing for fulfilment and connection, Heathcliff becomes enmeshed with Catherine Earnshaw. Unable to separate himself from Catherine, despite her death, Heathcliff increasingly spends his time searching for signs of her absent presence in the natural world. Although he seems to realize his abject state and reject his carefully planned revenge at the end of his life, Heathcliff cannot move away from abjection. Instead, Emily Brontë creates a character who fails to construct a boundary between himself and the Other and exemplifies Kristeva’s definition of abjection.

Robinson Reflections Part 3: Paper Chase — The Story of Mary Robinson’s Arranged Marriage
pp. 219-239(21)   Author: Gamble, Bob
Abstract:
‘Paper Chase’ is the third of three complementary articles collected as ‘Robinson Reflections’.* It further examines the reactions of the Robinson and Brontë families in the period following Branwell’s dismissal from Thorp Green Hall in July 1845. By linking the papermaking industry in Airedale to that in Derbyshire’s Derwent valley, the work provides evidence that the arrival in Keighley in late 1848 of the newly-married Mary Robinson/Clapham (daughter of Lydia Robinson) was not an accident of fate, but a deliberately planned arrangement driven by the business and political interests of her uncle, William Evans MP of Allestree Hall.

Passages in the Life of Which Individual?
pp.  240-244(5)      Author: Emberson, Ian M
Abstract:
This essay looks at Anne Brontë’s working methods — firstly in connection with her poetry, then as regards her two novels. It considers the possibility that Passages in the Life of an Individual may be a first draft of what was ultimately to become the middle section of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. It also discusses possible links with Bishop Burnet’s Some Passages of the Life of John, Earl of Rochester.

Religiosity in the Poetry of the Brontë Sisters
pp. 245-250(6)  Author:  Waddington-Feather, John
Abstract:
This paper explores the piety, or religious feeling, expressed in the poems of Anne, Charlotte and Emily Brontë. Anne’s theology, Charlotte’s conventionality and cheerfulness and Emily’s near-pantheism are discussed with excerpts from the poems.

Reviews
pp. 251-254(4)

‘Kitty Bell’ Again
pp. 255-255(1)  Author:  Heywood, Christopher