Brontë Studies. Volume 38. Issue 4

The new issue of Brontë Studies (Volume 38, Issue 4, November 2013) is already available online. We provide you with the table of contents and abstracts:

Introduction: Special Issue: Signs of the Times: The Brontës and Contemporary Society. A Restrospective Collection of Essays from Brontë Society Transactions and Brontë Studies
257-261(5) Author: Smith, K E

Schools and Schooling in the Life and Literature of the Brontë Family (1985)
pp. 262-268(7)   Author: Wilks, Brian
Abstract:
Patrick Brontë’s campaign for a National Society School in Haworth was the product of a life-long concern for education. This dated back to his own self-improving youth and his Cottage Poems of 1811 and later manifested itself in his daughters’ novels. Agnes Grey recounts the ideals and tribulations of governessing, Jane Eyre contains one of the most memorable accounts of schooling in fiction while even Wuthering Heights in its later chapters focuses on a reconciliation carried on through education.

Charlotte Brontë and Roman Catholicism (2000)
pp.  269-280(12)      Author:  Jędrzejewski, Jan
Abstract:
The common perception of Charlotte Brontë’s attitude to Roman Catholicism as one of suspicion and distrust, if not straightforward hostility, is superficial and reductive. The atmosphere of the Brontë household was in that respect one of tolerant indifference rather than outspoken criticism, and references in the juvenilia make Roman Catholicism seem exotic rather than dangerous. It was only the experience of her time in Belgium, reflected in The Professor and Villette, that helped Charlotte Brontë to develop a mature response to Roman Catholicism — one in which her overt hostility hides a sense of interest, attraction, and sometimes even fascination with things Catholic.

Slavery: Idée Fixe of Emily and Charlotte Brontë (2003)
pp. 206-218(13)   Author: Gawthrop, Humphrey
Abstract:
Slavery is a subject common to both Charlotte Brontë’s novel Jane Eyre and Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights. Even where a direct West Indian or African connection is absent, slavery-related themes such as brutality, exploitation, and deprivation are present. This article considers the background to the Brontë family’s knowledge of slavery, and how it manifests itself in their work.

The Economic Background of Shirley (1932)
pp. 290-299(10)    Author: Heaton, Herbert
Abstract:
This article examines the economic and social themes of Shirley. Deciding not to handle contemporary Chartism, Charlotte Brontë went back to the Luddite agitation of her father’s early ministry at Hartshead. The novel portrays a wide social range from the embattled manufacturer Robert Gérard Moore to the antinomian weaver Mike Hartley and the croppers leading the Luddite attacks on machinery. It seeks to understand the motivation both of Moore and of those who oppose him.

The Structure of Shirley (1962)
pp.   300-308(9)       Author: Holgate, Ivy
Abstract:
Under the influence of Francis Butterfield, Charlotte Brontë changed the focus of Shirley from contemporary Chartism to the Luddite agitation of 1811‐12. Her consequent decision to set the novel in the Heavy Woollen area enabled her to draw on the personal and economic history of the Taylor family. Despite Mrs Gaskell’s identification of Shirley with Emily Brontë, Mary Taylor, besides being portrayed as Rose Yorke, also contributes key character traits to Shirley herself. It was mainly after Emily’s death that Charlotte attempted to graft elements of her personality onto the portrait of her heroine, perhaps without complete success.

Wuthering Heights and Violation of Class (1968)
pp. 309-312(4)   Author:  Meier, T K
Abstract:
Though Wuthering Heights contains elements which transcend social class, violations of class are nevertheless central to its plot. Heathcliff, Ellen Dean and Joseph all rise above their stations, while Hareton, Catherine, Hindley and Isabella fall. A related theme is moral decline only reversed by the relationship and re-establishment to their proper sphere of Catherine and Hareton. 

Workers, Gentlemen and Landowners: Identifying Social Class in The Professor and Wuthering Heights (2001)
pp.313-319(7)    Author:  Newman, Neville F
Abstract:
This article interrogates class definition in two nineteenth-century novels: Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, and Charlotte Brontë’s The Professor. In my analysis of The Professor I draw attention to Charlotte Brontë’s preface as a point of departure from which to criticize the novel’s ostensible realism. In Wuthering Heights, I argue, certain characters masquerade as members of the working class while signifying something much different. I show that whereas Wuthering Heights conceals within it a nostalgic desire for an England where the industrial working class as an identifiable, organizable body does not yet exist, in The Professor it is precisely their existence that constitutes that novel’s ‘not said’. I conclude by arguing that on the one hand Emily Brontë contains her unease by retreating into the past, whereas Charlotte Brontë evidences an unease with a sector of society whose existence can never be disputed. She camouflages it not only by privileging the virtues of capitalism but also by showing that it is members of the capitalist class who will inherit an idealized and sanitized England.

Masters and Servants in Wuthering Heights (2008)
pp. 320-329(10)  Author:  Tytler, Graeme
Abstract:
Wuthering Heights is unusual among masterpieces of fiction for its elaborate treatment of the relationship between masters and servants. Such relationships play a significant part both in developing the plot and in revealing character. Although masters (and mistresses) ultimately have the upper hand of their servants, it is noteworthy how much power servants exercise within the sphere of domination to which they are subject. The tendency of servants to be insubordinate for one reason or another highlights the problem of a hierarchical society while raising certain questions of peculiar moral interest. That the author herself seems to call the system of masters and servants in doubt is hinted at throughout the narrative, and more especially through her presentation of Hareton and the younger Catherine. Emily’s ingenious handling of this theme helps us to recognize that her novel is concerned not merely with a singular love relationship but with human relationships in general.

Anne Brontë: A Quiet Feminist (1994)
pp. 330-338(9)    Author:  Shaw, Marion
Abstract:
Traditional images of Anne Brontë do not do justice to her strong-minded and thoughtful feminism. She was particularly concerned with the ideals of manliness and womanliness held out to children, and their consequent effects on adults. In Agnes Grey we find an unhappy marriage based on these mistaken ideals. More radically, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall dramatizes the debate on manhood through the relationship between the two Arthurs, father and son. Helen Huntingdon’s separation of her son and herself from her husband and her self-support through painting are at least as radical as anything in Jane Eyre.

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall: A Woman’s Place? (1988)
pp. 339-347(9)     Author:
Drewery, A JAbstract:
Traditional images of Anne Brontë do not do justice to her strong-minded and thoughtful feminism. She was particularly concerned with the ideals of manliness and womanliness held out to children, and their consequent effects on adults. In Agnes Grey we find an unhappy marriage based on these mistaken ideals. More radically, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall dramatizes the debate on manhood through the relationship between the two Arthurs, father and son. Helen Huntingdon’s separation of her son and herself from her husband and her self-support through painting are at least as radical as anything in Jane Eyre.

Money and the Brontës: 1. The Rev. Patrick Brontë’s Tax Returns (1955)
pp. 348-350(3)     Author:  Crowther, George
Abstract:
Patrick Brontë’s tax returns throw light on his social position, showing that in 1829 and 1831 he paid more tax than only three of his parishioners.

Money and the Brontës:  2. The Rev. Patrick Brontë and the Keighley Savings Bank  (1967)
351-352(2)     Author: Dewhirst, Ian
Abstract:
Patrick Brontë’s duties as a Trustee of the bank were not onerous but show one facet of his community involvement. His withdrawing of money to fund Emily’s education also throws a more personal light on him.

Money and the Brontës:  3. George Hudson and the Brontës (1962)
pp. 355-358(4)    Author: Duckett, Bob
Abstract:
George Hudson made and lost a huge fortune through railway speculation. Among his investors were the Brontë sisters. Emily had the leading role in decisions about the investment. After her death the shares crashed but Charlotte’s response to the loss was calm and accepting.

The Working Classes Read Brontë: Some Examples (2005)
pp. 355-358(3)  Author: Bob Duckett
Abstract:
The effect of the Brontë novels on the development of individual people has been an under-researched topic. In fact the novels already had a working-class readership in the Victorian era but the expiry of copyrights and cheap reprints much expanded this in the early twentieth century. The portrayal of ‘humble individuals’ advancing themselves served as role models for many self-improving men and women. Workers’ libraries often influenced reading and political activists found their mental horizons being expanded by the novels. Some examples of how the Brontë novels have influenced working class people are presented.