The Orphan Child

Recent Brontë-relate paprs:

Different Representations of the Orphan Child: A Character Analysis of Emily Brontë’s Heathcliff and Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre 
Patricia Loggarfve
Degree project in English Literature

Lund University, Sweden

This bachelor essay aims to discuss and analyse the main characters in the novels Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights written by the sisters Charlotte and Emily Brontë, respectively. Both novels written in 1847, during a time when orphan narratives were popular, have orphans as the central protagonists. This investigation bases the analysis on the orphans’ background and further compares their personalities and actions, both as children and adults. My discussion is mainly about the characters’ childhood as well as how they are affected by love and death as adults. It also discusses the importance of narrative structure and religion. The main findings in my investigation are that Jane and Heathcliff develop to be two completely different characters and that this has to do with them having different experiences of love, death and religion. The results further reveal that the narrative structure has an impact on how the characters are perceived, and it stresses the importance of telling one’s own story.

Natsume Soseki and Charlotte Brontë : A Comparative Study
本間 賢史郎 Homma Kenshiro
Studies in language and culture 6(2), 201-223, 2003-12