Brontë Studies. Volume 41. Issue 2

The new issue of Brontë Studies (Volume 41, Issue 2, April 2016) is already available online. We provide you with the table of contents and abstracts:

Charlotte’s 200th: A Retrospective Collection of Essays from Brontë Society Transactions and Brontë Studies              

Editorial
pp. 95-98 Author: Duckett, Robert

School Days at Roe Head
pp. 99-105    Author:  Nussey, Ellen
Abstract:
An extract from the ‘Reminiscences of Charlotte Brontë’ relating to Ellen Nussey’s memories of Charlotte at Roe Head School (1831–32). Charlotte’s extreme shyness and her excellent academic ability are stressed.

Eyewitness Accounts

1. The Rev. Canon Bardsley, Visitor
pp. 106-107  

2. Miss Frances Wheelwright, Brussels School-fellow
pp. 108-109    

3. Francis Butterfield, Chartist, of Wilsden
pp. 110-111

4. Dr Charles Longley, Bishop of Ripon
pp. 112-116  Author:  Wilks, Brian
Abstract:
Dr Charles Longley, Bishop of Ripon, stayed at the Haworth Parsonage in 1853. A recently discovered letter in from the Bishop to his wife in the Lambeth Palace Archives gives an account of his stay and of his favourable impression of Charlotte. Also included is a poignant letter from Patrick Brontë written after the death of Charlotte two years after.

5. Emily Greenwood’s Father, Sunday School Pupil
pp. 117

Articles

Charlotte Brontë in London
pp. 118-131  Author:  Lee, Sidney
Abstract:
The author of this Address to the Brontë Society was a close colleague of George Smith, Charlotte Brontë’s publisher. In this mixture of reminiscence and analysis he chronicles Charlotte’s many visits to London. Parallels are drawn between her experiences in London, particularly during her stays at the home of George Smith and his mother, and incidents in Charlotte’s novel, Villette. The characters of Dr Graham Bretton and Mrs Bretton are closely modelled on Smith and his mother.

Charlotte Brontë: A Surgeon’s Assessment
pp. 132-138 Author:  Gallagher, H.W.
Abstract:
In this survey of the medical allusions made by Charlotte Brontë in her novels and letters, the author, a consultant surgeon, concludes that Charlotte’s knowledge of medicine was extensive, perceptive, generally accurate, and based on her own experience.

Charlotte Brontë: The Woman and the Feminist
pp. 139-145 Author:  Andrews, Linton
Abstract:
This address by the Chairman of the Brontë Society considers how Charlotte Brontë was concerned to improve the status and achievement of women. This was to be achieved through education, to make women better fitted to participate in society, to be worthy of greater influence, rather than by political action. The address was given on the centenary of Charlotte’s death.

Charlotte Brontë on her Contemporaries
pp. 146-157 Author:  Wood, Butler
Abstract:
A collection of comments made by Charlotte Brontë on other novelists and writers of her time.

A Novelist Looks at the Brontë Novels
pp. 158-165 Author:  Bentley, Phyllis
Abstract:
An address to the Brontë Society in 1948 in which novelist Phyllis Bentley provides an assessment of the Brontë novels in terms of themes, setting, plot, characters and other aspects of the novelist’s craft. The success of a novel can be measured by the kind of impression made and the strength of that impression. A judgement is made of the Brontë novels using these measures. (Note: the assessment of the novels of Emily and Anne Brontë have been omitted.)

The Endings of Charlotte Brontë’s Novels
pp. 166-174 Author:  Hoddinott, Allison
Abstract:
The ending of Villette is one of the most famously ambiguous conclusions in the English novel. It has been less generally recognized that all four of Charlotte Brontë’s novels end with questions to which the reader is invited to provide answers. This article examines the endings of The Professor, Jane Eyre, Shirley and Villette in relation to some of the moral, social and religious issues raised in these novels and argues that, in every case, Charlotte Brontë leaves significant gaps in the narrative and challenges conventional expectations regarding the ‘happy ending’.

Subdued Expectations: Charlotte Brontë’s Marriage Settlement
pp. 175-178 Author:  Barker, Juliet R. V.
Abstract:
An account of the marriage settlement drawn up in May 1854, before the marriage of Charlotte Brontë to Arthur Bell Nicholls. Charlotte’s wealth was put in a trust to which her husband would not have access. The Trustee was Joseph Taylor, brother of Charlotte’s friend, Mary Taylor. A note of Charlotte’s wealth is given.

Charlotte Memorabilia

1. Charlotte Brontë’s Writing Desk
pp. 179-181 Author:  Hopewell, Donald
Abstract:
An account of the marriage settlement drawn up in May 1854, before the marriage of Charlotte Brontë to Arthur Bell Nicholls. Charlotte’s wealth was put in a trust to which her husband would not have access. The Trustee was Joseph Taylor, brother of Charlotte’s friend, Mary Taylor. A note of Charlotte’s wealth is given.

2. A Brontë Notebook
pp. 182-186 Author:  Wroot, Herbert E.
Abstract:
A description of the contents of a tiny notebook in which Charlotte Brontë noted items of expenditure incurred on her visit to London with Anne in 1848 and of the journey to Scarborough with Anne Brontë and Ellen Nussey in 1849.

What Jane Austen Might Have Said
pp. 187-189 Author:  Dudgeon, Patrick
Abstract:
On encouraging two students to visit Jane Austen’s home at Chawton in Hampshire and Charlotte Brontë’s home at Haworth in Yorkshire, the author, in light-hearted mood, and knowing what Charlotte said of Jane, poses the question of what Jane Austen might have said of Charlotte Brontë.