Villette (Barnes & Noble Classics) - Charlotte Bronte [283]
CRITICISM
Alexander, Christine, and Jane Sellars. The Art of the Brontës. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1995. A beautifully illustrated critical study of the Brontës’ art and the influence of visual culture on their writing.
Alexander, Christine, and Margaret Smith. The Oxford Companion to the Brontës. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. Everything you need to know about the Brontes’ lives and works in an accessible format.
Brownstein, Rachel. Tragic Muse: Rachel of the Comédie-Française. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1993. Brownstein’s lively study of the French actress Rachel (Elisa Félix), the model for Brontë’s Vashti.
—. Becoming a Heroine: Reading about Women in Novels. New York: Viking Press, 1982. Brownstein pays particular attention to Villette in these excellent studies.
Eagleton, Terry. Myths of Power: A Marxist Study of the Brontës. London: Macmillan, 1975. An important Marxist analysis of the Brontë’s work in terms of its relationship to material culture.
Glen, Heather. Charlotte Brontë: The Imagination in History. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. A study of Brontë’s relationship to Victorian literature and society.
Lane, Christopher. Hatred and Civility: The Antisocial Life in Victorian England. New York: Columbia University Press, 2003. Explores the antisocial dynamics of Victorian culture; includes a compelling chapter on Charlotte Brontë.
Miller, Lucasta. The Brontë Myth. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2004. Part biography, part literary criticism, this wonderful study looks at the ways in which the Brontës have been mythologized both in their day and in contemporary culture.
Peters, Margot. Charlotte Brontë: Style in the Novel. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1973. An analysis of the form and artistry of Brontë’s narratives.
Shuttleworth, Sally. Charlotte Brontë and Victorian Psychology. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996. A critical study that examines the influence of nineteenth-century psychology in Brontë’s works.
a
Bed hidden by draperies.
b
That is, was an aristocrat.
c
Originally designed as small boxes for men’s shirt collars; also used as luggage for hats and clothing.
d
Term for an Ottoman sultan.
e
Irish and Scottish legend about a supernatural being that cries underneath the home of a person who is about to die.
f
Coarse gray cloth.
g
That is, London, seen here as a venue of sins and transgressions, particularly for women.
h
Of St. Paul’s Cathedral.
i
In the Bible (Jonah 4:5-6), when Jonah leaves the city, God creates a small, fast-growing tree to give him shelter from the elements.
j
In Greek mythology Charon is the ferryman who rowed the dead across the River Styx to the underworld.
k
Quakers, members of a sect known as the Society of Friends that arose in mid-seventeenth-century England, dressed plainly, often in gray.
l
Unaffected (French; translations are from French unless otherwise noted).
m
Passengers on a sea voyage who travel at the cheapest rate.
n
Lovely maiden (German).
o
Thing.
p
One who is not actively serving or who is retired.
q
Fortunately, I can make things happen on my own.
r
Quote from Richard Lovelace’s (1618-1657) “To Althea, from Prison.”
s
Dining room in a hotel.
t
What’s going on here? That’s my trunk!
u
Ladies’ Boarding School.
v
Only Englishwomen would do these sorts of things; they are completely shameless.
w
That is the call for evening prayers.
x
And what do you say? Well, lots of things.
y
Well, it will always be a good deed.
z
It was a tradition among Irish and Scotch nobility to give a child to a tenant to be nursed and brought up.
aa
Goddess of the dawn.
ab
Tyrant king of Crete.
ac
Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556) founded the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) .
ad
Silent shoes.
ae
Vacation days.
af
Primer.
ag
Biblical saying (2 Samuel 1:20) that means “Don’t let your enemies hear you.”
ah
Tell me then, are you really feeling that weak?
ai
Onward.
aj
They are Labassecouriennes,