Colonialist Fantasies

New examples of Brontë-related papers and theses:

The Others in Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre: A Postcolonial-Orientalist and Feminist Reading 
Filiz Barın Akman
Ana Sayfa > Sayı 41 (2019)

There are different forms of othering in Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre:  one which results from Jane’s ambiguous position in terms of class hierarchies and another generated by Bertha’s presence as a colonized subject. In both cases, femininity amplifies gender-specific repercussions in these othering processes. However, while Brontë creates a female character in Jane who triumphs over the challenges posed by Victorian society’s class and gender hierarchies, i.e., the status as other of governesses and women, problematic as it is in its final solidification of the status quo, Bertha reflects the dominant, Eurocentric ideologies of nineteenth century England concerning race and the racial other. She is the colonized and racial other, a madwoman who threatens British men as embodied in Mr. Rochester, and women embodied as in Jane, and her final self-destruction for Jane’s sake are poignant plot devices to this end.  This paper offers a comparative reading of two female characters’ othered status in Victorian British society in relation to the dominant ideologies of the era concerning gender, class and race. I argue that whereas Brontë, following a feminist reading of her novel, fictively assuages the othered status of British women in the characterization of Jane, who triumphs in resisting society’s rigid class boundaries and women’s subordinate position in terms of legal and financial matters, does not grant a similarly fictive emancipatory view to Bertha as the colonized and racial other. This is an obvious and clear indication of Brontë’s limitations concerning feminist activism and inclusiveness as her implication in advancing the dominant, imperialist discourse.

Wilson, Kristian Nicole, "Reading Charlotte and Branwell Brontë’s Early Writings as Colonialist Fantasy" (2019). All Theses. 3112.
https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_theses/311

Charlotte and Branwell Brontë’s collaborative writing project, the Glass Town saga, is rarely the subject of academic examination that does not analyze it as either a derivative of the works of Sir Walter Scott or a precursor to Jane Eyre and The Professor. This paper instead considers Glass Town as a work of early fantasy, a reading which allows for an examination of colonialism’s relationship to the genre in its infant stages. Connecting Glass Town to nineteenth-century European theories of African history and development, and to articles of African exploration and conquest, I contextualize the colonialist messages contained in the Brontës’ early writings. Establishing Glass Town as a created fantasy world, I show how the Faerie elements of the Brontës’ stories support their fictional, British heroes’ occupation and domination of West Africa. This work calls for a new consideration of the Glass Town saga, not as juvenilia, nor in terms of its relationship to Scott and the later works of Charlotte Brontë, but as a precursor to early twentieth-century fantasy epics. Such an analysis allows for further examination of fantasy’s relationship to nineteenth-century British colonial expansion. 

A Comparative Study: Cultural Aspects In The Select Novels Of Charlotte Brontë And Margaret Atwood
R. Poonguzhaly
JELLY (International Journal of English Language, Literature in Humanities), [S.l.], v. 7, n. 5, p. 13, May 2019

The present paper aims to focus on the comparative cultural aspects in the select novels of Charlotte Brontë and Margaret Atwood. It also aims to compare and contrast the nineteenth and twentieth centuries from various perspectives such as social, racial, landscape, language and religion. All these aspects play vital role at the time of building culture in the novels. Another important reason for studying the novels with respect to culture is that they are from particular races, castes, classes, societies as well as landscape. It is not a single thought emerging from a single discipline. It has acquired wide range and scope in the field of culture, sociology, and other disciplines and in literature. The types of characters, their roles in social, cultural, religious and moral context are explored to arrive at an authentic interpretation. Both Charlottes Brontë and Margaret Atwood deal with very vital issues of human life in their respective countries. Brontë (1831-1855) belongs to British literature. She is a nineteenth century novelist. Brontë in her novel Shirley exposes the culture of hero worship for women, suggesting that the desire for a great man is anti-democratic and a part of regressive narcissism at both national and individual levels. Atwood (1939- living) is a Canadian writer, she hails from twentieth century. Atwood’s protagonist in her novel, The Handmaid’s Tale (1985) understands that the only way to survive is to abdicate her values from her former life in America and assimilate, at least outwardly, into her new role. The protagonist of both the authors is socially committed dealing with caste, creed, class, gender and ethnicity. The comparative study of the characters in their novels generates interest in the readers and enriches their interpretative ability. They both express their about nature, science and its development. Brontë is able to make her protagonist succeed  in achieving  their  longing for financial security.