Charlotte Bronte: Jane Eyre and Villette

What is the course about?

This course explores two novels by Charlotte Brontë: Jane Eyre (1847) and Villette (1853). We will develop an appreciation of Brontë’s narrative methods and concerns through close analysis of her language, alongside engaging with the literary, historical and critical contexts of these novels. We will also acknowledge the ‘Brontë mythology’ and consider how that might impact upon our understanding of her work.

What will we cover?

We start with Jane Eyre, exploring the tension between passion and self-control in the novel, and how that is informed by Victorian psychology and competing modes of autobiography. We will consider how Brontë develops the Gothic in new, resonant ways, and touch upon the figure of the governess and attitudes to childhood. We will also explore critical responses to Bertha, the ‘madwoman in the attic’. Finally, we will compare some screen adaptations of ‘Jane Eyre’ and consider the ways in which adaptations have contributed to our perception of this novel.

We then move on to Villette, (a reworking of her earlier novel, The Professor). With this novel Brontë returns (after her Condition of England novel, Shirley) to an intense first-person exploration of the psychology of its heroine – in this instance, Lucy Snowe. Many consider this to be Brontë’s finest novel: George Eliot wrote “I am only just returned to a sense of real wonder about me, for I have just been reading Villette… There is something preternatural about its power”. Reflecting on how this most unreliable of narrators offers us insights into isolation and loneliness, we consider the novel’s depiction of melancholia in the context of the time.

Finally, we will also acknowledge the ‘Brontë mythology’ – looking at some of the ways in which Charlotte (and her siblings) have been ‘mythologised’ – and consider how that might impact upon our understanding of her work.

What will I achieve?
By the end of this course you should be able to...

• Have an increased understanding and appreciation of Charlotte Brontë’s narrative methods and concerns.

• Have an increased understanding and appreciation of the literary, historical and critical contexts of these novels, and how they may illuminate our understanding of them.

• Have an increased understanding of the reception and ‘afterlives’ of Charlotte Brontë’s novels.

What level is the course and do I need any particular skills?

The course is open to all; you do not need to have prior knowledge to participate.

How will I be taught, and will there be any work outside the class?

The course will be taught through close reading of textual extracts, visual slides, short video clips and class discussion.

Please begin to read Jane Eyre before the first class. Thereafter, it is strongly recommended that you read each text before the relevant class for maximum enjoyment. A handout of key extracts will be provided online shortly before the course starts.

Are there any other costs? Is there anything I need to bring?

You will need to have (or buy) your own copies of Jane Eyre and Villette. You can use any edition (as a handout of key extracts for discussion will be provided for easy reference in class); the following editions are recommended: Jane Eyre (Oxford World Classics); Villette (Penguin Classics).

When I've finished, what course can I do next?

The tutor will also be teaching HLT319 George Eliot: Middlemarch. Look for this and other literature courses under History, Culture and Writing on our website at www.citylit.ac.uk.