Where Freud, the 21-st Century Woman Reader and Feminism collide

More examples of recent Brontë-related scholar work:

Charlotte Brontë: 'Nín Jane Eyre ve Emíly Brontë' Nín Wutheríng Heíghts Ronlarini Psíkanalítík Yorumu
Ayşenur Íplíkçí Özden
Sosyal Bilimler Araştırmaları Dergisi, Year 2016, Volume 11 , Issue 1, Pages 207 - 228

The aim of this study is to examine Charlotte Brontë‟s Jane Eyre and Emily Brontë‟s Wuthering Heights using Sigmund Freud‟s psychoanalytical approach which has been influential for long years on a great many fields of study among which literature exists as well. Heathcliff‟s – the protagonist of Wuthering Heights – examination through Freud‟s Oedipus complex and Jane‟s – the protagonist of Jane Eyre – analysis through Jung‟s Electra complex are significantly important. Apart from this, the characters‟ hidden feelings and desires that were engraved in their subconscious are important psychoanalytical elements which direct their behaviour. The reflections of their childhood experiences can be observed in the rest of their lives, thus emphasizing the importance Freud gives to past experiences. While Jane tries to fulfil her hidden desires by loving a protecting man and trying to have freedom throughout her life, Heathcliff tries to satisfy his inner instincts by tormenting those who caused him to suffer. In analysing the novels, particularly repressed thoughts and id, ego and superego which are the three main systems of the structural identity theory in psychoanalysis are significant. In short, the objective of this study is to analyse the above-mentioned novels with Freud‟s psychoanalytical approach and to examine characters‟ inner selves and the reasons for their attitudes.

Searching for Identity in Villette: Charlotte Brontë, Lucy Snowe and the 21st-Century Woman Reader
Sandal, Hilde Rui
University of Oslo, 2019

This thesis argues that there are parallels between the situation of women today and Lucy Snowe in Charlotte Brontë’s novel Villette (1853). Based on reception studies, feminist theory and an historically informed close reading of the novel, my ambition has been to explore how Villette has been received by Victorian and 20th-century critics, as well as to examine the text-internal factors that may have contributed to the novel’s continued appeal. In addition to this I have wanted to understand how it is being read today. Although readers’ horizons of expectation have changed since Villette was published, many features of the reception remain conspicuously similar. The novel’s reception shows that the predicament women have found themselves in as ‘the Other’ remains fundamentally stable. Due to new digital resources that give access to ordinary readers’ responses, this thesis presents fresh insights into the modern readers’ experiences of reading Villette. This thesis argues that the novel provides a female perspective that women in particular can relate to: they are able to identify with Lucy’s double and ambiguous self in their own battle for self-definition.

Feminism in Jean Rhys Wide Sargasso SeaM Kulkarni - Sanshodhan, 2019