Victorian inquisitiveness about sleep and dysfunctions of sleep is exemplified in novels published during the fifty-year period from Jane Eyre (1847) to Dracula (1897). This inquisitiveness foreshadows modern medical sleep science and immerses the reading public in a body of popular literature that subverts the concept of "normal" sleep. My dissertation explores the ways in which Victorian fiction brings physiological and psychological female concerns to the fore through the plot devices of sleep and sleeplessness. I examine the Victorians' diverse interpretations of illness, physical and sexual vulnerability, moral insanity, criminality, and anxiety to determine the thematic and narratological ways in which these issues are linked to sleeping and waking states. Drawing on feminist literary criticism, cultural historicism, and medical insight from the early nineteenth-century to the present, I argue that Charlotte Brontë, Wilkie Collins, and Bram Stoker use sleep and wakefulness as vehicles to navigate gendered fluctuations of power and loss. Jane Eyre, The Woman in White, and Dracula each present sleep as a gendered space in which power is contested. I argue that sleeplessness and restlessness are the methods women adopt, either on purpose or unintentionally, to realize self-sufficiency and protect themselves from patriarchal jurisdiction and other social restrictions on women. Women must reject their instinctual desires for a certain amount of sleep so that they can maintain agency and authority over their bodies and narratives. Implicit in the novels is the idea that deep sleep is a mechanism for achieving health and moral strength of character. However, explicitly and without apology, the novels use the trope of sleep for women as a violent instrument of loss, infection, powerlessness, and weakness. The cultural and medical artifacts of the time suggest that deep, indulgent sleep is the only way to achieve or maintain health. Yet Victorian authors write sleep as a sure road to incapacitation and subjugation. Brontë, Collins, and Stoker demonstrate that a woman's mind is only as healthy as her sleep, while her body is always safer awake.

This analysis examines Jane Eyre and Wide Sargasso Sea through the lens of lunar imagery and the irrational feminine, arguing that both texts are aspects of an extended, collective narrative in which both heroines rescue and reclaim their feminine essence from the construction of a masculine idealism.

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For the last forty years, Jane Eyre criticism has understandably focused on Bertha Mason Rochester as a marginalized, abused, and silenced mixed-race woman. Although Jane's childhood friend Helen Burns is a very different and much less controversial character, she and Bertha suffer similar deaths from the culpable neglect of their guardians. Both women serve as the impetus of a bystanders dilemma: the perennial question of whether a person is obligated to protect another's life or dignity at the risk of his or her own. Because contemporary law imposed no duty to rescue upon bystanders, this paper uses the commentary of Victorian legal theorist John Austin to create a standard against which to judge the ethical merit of the choices made by bystanders throughout the novel. Maria Temple, superintendent of Lowood, is a bystander to the fatal abuse heaped upon her students; she has the power to expose the schools brutal conditions, but chooses to remain silent so that she can keep her job and her limited power. Her choice, while practical, makes her complicit in Helen's death. When Jane becomes bystander to Bertha's dangerously negligent captivity, she chooses to flee Thornfield rather than intervene. Though many critics have decried her selfishness, Jane makes a practical and ethical choice because she has so little chance of helping Bertha and so much to lose in the attempt. Just as Miss Temple is able to protect Jane because of her self-serving decisions, Jane in turn is able to protect Adele. Yet all these successes are predicated upon earlier neglect of persons unable to protect themselves, as Helen and Bertha remind us. There is no comfortable solution to the bystanders dilemma.

This study examines the theme of hybridity in Charlotte Brontë’s novel Jane Eyre and Jordan Peele’s film Get Out. Both the narrative text in the novel and the script with visual elements of the film use the concept of hybridity through Gothic motifs: a mad non-white woman in the attic in Jane Eyre and a psychological place in Get Out, where members of a white family hypnotise black people in order to exploit their physical capabilities. This is employed to disrupt dominant discourses of authoritative class, revealing the ways in which these discourses are constructed through the exclusion of certain identities. Bertha Mason, the Creole wife of Edward Rochester in Jane Eyre, and Chris Washington, the African American protagonist of Get Out, both embody a sense of hybridity that challenges established norms of individuality and representation. Through a comparative analysis of these characters, this essay argues that hybridity serves as a means of exposing and subverting the power structures that reinforce presiding stereotypes of othered characters. By deconstructing these sovereign discourses, hybridity creates space for alternative voices and perspectives that are often excluded from ascendant literatures. Ultimately, this essay accentuates the importance of inspecting the intersectional identities of characters in literature and film, as a means of challenging prepotent discourses and promoting social justice.

No description available.

This thesis attempts to clarify how the authors incorporated their theological beliefs in their writing to more clearly discover, although modern audiences often enjoy both authors, why Charlotte Bronte was unimpressed with Jane Austen. The thesis is an examination of the ways in which Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte interact with the Evangelical Reformation within the Anglican Church in their novels Mansfield Park and Jane Eyre, respectively. Both authors, as daughters of Anglican clergymen, were aware of and influenced by the movement, but at varying degrees. This project begins with a brief explanation of the state of the Anglian Church and beginnings of the Evangelical Reformation. The thesis then examines George Austen's influence on his daughter and the characters and text of Mansfield Park to observe the ways in which traditional Anglicanism and tenets of Evangelicalism are discussed in the novel, revealing more clearly where Austen's personal beliefs aligned. Similarly, the project then analyzes Patrick Bronte's influence on Charlotte Bronte and evaluates the characters and text of Jane Eyre to mark the significance of the Evangelical movement on Charlotte Bronte. After studying these works and religious components of their lives, the thesis argues that Austen's traditionally Anglican subtlety with the subject of religion did not appeal to Bronte's passion for the subject, clearly inspired by the Evangelical Reformation. / Master of Arts / Charlotte Brontë was unimpressed with the writing of Jane Austen, which is surprising as the audience for one author usually also enjoys the other author as well. Although the specific reason for Brontë’s distaste for Austen is unknown, this thesis proposes that Brontë disagreed with how Austen portrayed Evangelicalism. Both Brontë and Austen were Anglican clergymen’s daughters, and they both grew up with an awareness of the Evangelical Reformation occurring in the Anglican Church. Brontë was influenced by the movement more, which this thesis shows after first outlining the Evangelical Reformation, exploring Austen’s relationship with it and how it appears in Mansfield Park, and then examining Brontë’s relationship with the Reformation and how it appears in Jane Eyre as well. This thesis contains brief historical and biographical sketches of the authors and their families, literary examinations of the novels Mansfield Park and Jane Eyre to study how the authors interacted with the Evangelical ideals, and an analysis that looks at faith in these two novels in a comparative way to explain why Brontë might have disagreed with and therefore disliked Austen’s writing.

O objetivo desta dissertação é apresentar uma leitura de O Morro dos Ventos Uivantes (1847), de Emily Brontë, e de Jane Eyre (1847), de Charlotte Brontë, com foco nas convenções góticas contidas nas duas obras e observando as maneiras como tais convenções interferem nos movimentos das duas protagonistas, Catherine e Jane, cada uma lutando para se adaptar ao seu espaço e, ao mesmo tempo, para realizar seus anseios. Apesar de as duas obras serem estruturalmente diferentes uma da outra, ambas compartilham uma atmosfera gótica intensa, bem como uma consequente densidade psicológica que influencia a disposição mental das duas protagonistas. A leitura dos dois romances foi conduzida com a finalidade de explorar as relações encontradas entre os aspectos estruturais, sociais e psicológicos envolvidos, ressaltando os elementos góticos que representam os desafios que Catherine e Jane são forçadas a enfrentar. A obra The Coherence of Gothic Conventions (1986), da crítica literária Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, é utilizada para identificar e contextualizar a capacidade que as imagens góticas têm de traduzir o peso imposto pelas convenções sociais sobre o processo natural de crescimento das duas protagonistas. Considerando que esse peso é consideravelmente ampliado pelas práticas sociais ligadas a questões de gênero, foi explorado o conceito de Gótico Feminino, como apresentado pela Professora Carol Margaret Davison. Especial atenção é reservada para as imagens relacionadas com espaço – o espaço psicológico necessário para o crescimento emocional das protagonistas; e o espaço físico, que determina onde e como elas devem se movimentar. Aqui o suporte teórico é oferecido pelas poéticas dos elementos primitivos, de Gaston Bachelard, para análise do corpo de imagens apresentadas nos dois romances. A conclusão comenta as soluções encontradas por Catherine Earnshaw e Jane Eyre para abrir caminho e superar os obstáculos que se lhes apresentam; e também ressalta o quanto as convenções góticas conseguem revelar sobre a estrutura social que elas representam. / This thesis consists of a reading of Emily Brontë‘s Wuthering Heights (1847) and Charlotte Brontë‘s, Jane Eyre (1847), focusing on the body of Gothic conventions they hold, and the ways in which such conventions interfere with the movements of the two female protagonists, Catherine and Jane, each struggling to fit into their space, while trying to accomplish their desires. Although the two works are structurally different in several ways, they share an intense Gothic atmosphere and its consequent psychological density, which influences the mental frame of the two protagonists. In order to explore the relations among the structural, social and psychological aspects involved, a reading of the novels has been conducted, focusing on the presence of Gothic elements that stand for the challenges Catherine and Jane are bound to face. Literary critic Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick‘s work The Coherence of Gothic Conventions (1986) is used to identify and contextualise the capacity of Gothic imagery to reveal the weight of social conventions upon the natural process of growth of the two protagonists. Inasmuch as the pressure becomes intensified by the rules of gender settlements, the concept of Female Gothic is explored, as presented by Professor Carol Margaret Davison. Particular attention is paid to the imagery related to space – psychological space for the protagonists to grow emotionally, and physical space, as determinant of where and how they must move. Here the theoretical support is offered by Gaston Bachelard‘s poetics of the primitive elements, unveiling the body of images presented in the two novels. The conclusion indicates the solutions found by Catherine Earnshaw and by Jane Eyre to find their way and overcome the obstacles they meet; with comments on how revealing Gothic imagery is of the social conventions it represents.

O presente trabalho explora a interdisciplinaridade ao analisar as heroínas de Jane Eyre de Charlotte Brontë e Pride and Prejudice de Jane Austen, bem como suas respectivas recriações em adaptações para o cinema e para a televisão. Evidenciando as retomadas dos romances para as mídias cinematográfica e televisiva, a pesquisa perpassou o olhar por filmes e seriados de 1934 a 2011, porém o estudo faz um recorte e analisa dois filmes e duas minisséries, entre outras, que recriam as personagens principais, tendo em vista a proximidade temporal das produções e o gosto pessoal da investigadora desta pesquisa. As protagonistas Jane Eyre e Elizabeth Bennet constituem-se em figuras femininas e literárias marcantes que continuam a viver no imaginário tanto do público leitor quanto do espectador, bem como são fontes de estudos da academia e de fruição em geral, reunindo interessados e admiradores sem restrições. Desta forma, o foco repousa nos romances, na minissérie Jane Eyre, de 2006, da diretora Susanna White; no filme homônimo, de 2011, do diretor Cary Fukunaga; na minissérie Pride and Prejudice, de 1995, de Simon Lang; e no filme de 2005, sob a direção de Joe Wright. Esta investigação lança um olhar, em um primeiro momento, ao interesse dirigido à busca dos textos das autoras como material para adaptações, focando as protagonistas como o cerne de tais retomadas. Além disso, neste trabalho investigativo, se realiza uma leitura crítica particular dos romances, dos filmes e dos seriados. Não se buscam tanto os pontos de contato e de afastamento entre as heroínas e suas respectivas recriações ou entre as mídias envolvidas quanto se procuram os elementos denotadores dos efeitos na leitora e na espectadora personificadas na autora da pesquisa em relação às construções das personagens principais, bem como no que concerne às suas recriações em imagens na cultura ocidental do século XX e XXI. Na tentativa de iluminar com maior profundidade a permanência das heroínas por meio das narrativas tanto literárias quanto fílmicas e televisivas ao longo do tempo, o presente exame se debruça sobre a relação entre leitor e romance, bem como entre espectador, filme e seriado. A abordagem focaliza, desta forma, na esteira do pensamento de Iser, que se baseou nos postulados de Ingarden; a questão dos espaços vazios. A projeção do preenchimento dos vazios do texto dialoga, diretamente, com a mídia fílmica, visto que o espectador, entendido como ser ativo, necessita, também, contrabalançar possíveis lacunas. Num segundo momento, o estudo se dirige propriamente à caracterização e à apreensão do que compõe Jane Eyre e Elizabeth Bennet, tanto as personagens dos romances quanto as recriações nos filmes e nas minisséries componentes do corpus desta pesquisa. Ao almejar a compreensão das nuances que formam as personalidades das heroínas, o que é determinante em suas ações, a análise contempla elementos que representam papéis marcantes para se conhecer as particularidades componentes das protagonistas. Em terceiro lugar, o enfoque passa a ser o contexto, em suas variadas acepções, tais como social, comportamental e, mesmo, geográfico, a serviço do entendimento de quem são essas heroínas, tendo em vista que o espaço que as envolve é crucial na revelação do que as torna ímpares. Contando com excertos e fragmentos retirados das seis narrativas, examina-se as facetas de comportamento que as autoras imprimem em seus textos para se possam distinguir os recursos que os diretores utilizam, juntamente com suas equipes, nas recriações, na cultura ocidental, das protagonistas dentro de cenários que as marcam em cada uma das narrativas. Assim, busca-se a essência do que as tornam referenciais para leitores e espectadores. / The present study explores interdisciplinarity by analyzing the heroines of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë and Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, as well as their respective recreations in cinema and television adaptations. Evincing the transit of novels to cinema and television media, the study looked at films and series from 1934 to 2011, focusing, however, on two films and two miniseries, among others, that recreate the main characters, in view of the temporal proximity of the productions and the personal taste of the researcher of this study. The protagonists Jane Eyre and Elizabeth Bennet are remarkable literary female figures who continue to live in the minds of both the reader and the spectator, and are sources for academic studies and general enjoyment. Thus, the focus lies on the novels; on the 2006 miniseries Jane Eyre, directed by Susanna White; on the 2011 film with the same title, directed by Cary Fukunaga; on the 1995 miniseries Pride and Prejudice, by Simon Lang; and on the 2005 film, directed by Joe Wright. Firstly, this study focuses on the interest for the works of the authors as materials for adaptations, focusing on the protagonists as the center of such adaptations. Furthermore, a particular critical reading of the novels, the films and the series is carried out, seeking not so much the contact and distance points between the heroines and their respective recreations, or between the media involved, but seeking the elements that show the effects on the reader and spectator, personified here in the author of this research, concerning the constructions of the main characters, as well as with regard to their recreations in images to the western culture of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. In an attempt to shed light on the permanence of the heroines through both literary and filmic narratives over time, the research looks at the relationship between reader and novel, as well as between spectator and film and series. The approach focuses, therefore, in the light of Iser’s thought, which was based on the postulates of Ingarden, on the issue of blank spaces. The projection of filling in the empty spaces of the text are directly convergent to reading/interpreting filmic media, since the viewer, seen as an active being, also needs to counterbalance possible gaps. Secondly, the study addresses the characterization and the understanding of what comprises Jane Eyre and Elizabeth Bennet in the novels and in the films and miniseries adaptations which are part of the corpus of this research. By trying to understand the nuances that form and individualize the personalities of the heroines, which is decisive in their actions, the analysis includes elements that represent roles that are significant to know the particularities of the protagonists. Thirdly, the focus shifts to the context in its many traits, such as social, behavioral, and even geographical, in order to understand who these heroines are, considering that the space that surrounds them is crucial in the revelation of what makes them unique. Relying on excerpts and fragments taken from the six narratives, the facets of behavior that the authors impress in their texts are examined to distinguish the resources that the directors and their teams use in the recreations, for the contemporary western culture, of the protagonists in the scenarios that mark them in each of the narratives. Thus, the aim is the search for the essence of what makes them an updated reference for readers and spectators.

O objetivo desta dissertação é apresentar uma leitura de O Morro dos Ventos Uivantes (1847), de Emily Brontë, e de Jane Eyre (1847), de Charlotte Brontë, com foco nas convenções góticas contidas nas duas obras e observando as maneiras como tais convenções interferem nos movimentos das duas protagonistas, Catherine e Jane, cada uma lutando para se adaptar ao seu espaço e, ao mesmo tempo, para realizar seus anseios. Apesar de as duas obras serem estruturalmente diferentes uma da outra, ambas compartilham uma atmosfera gótica intensa, bem como uma consequente densidade psicológica que influencia a disposição mental das duas protagonistas. A leitura dos dois romances foi conduzida com a finalidade de explorar as relações encontradas entre os aspectos estruturais, sociais e psicológicos envolvidos, ressaltando os elementos góticos que representam os desafios que Catherine e Jane são forçadas a enfrentar. A obra The Coherence of Gothic Conventions (1986), da crítica literária Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, é utilizada para identificar e contextualizar a capacidade que as imagens góticas têm de traduzir o peso imposto pelas convenções sociais sobre o processo natural de crescimento das duas protagonistas. Considerando que esse peso é consideravelmente ampliado pelas práticas sociais ligadas a questões de gênero, foi explorado o conceito de Gótico Feminino, como apresentado pela Professora Carol Margaret Davison. Especial atenção é reservada para as imagens relacionadas com espaço – o espaço psicológico necessário para o crescimento emocional das protagonistas; e o espaço físico, que determina onde e como elas devem se movimentar. Aqui o suporte teórico é oferecido pelas poéticas dos elementos primitivos, de Gaston Bachelard, para análise do corpo de imagens apresentadas nos dois romances. A conclusão comenta as soluções encontradas por Catherine Earnshaw e Jane Eyre para abrir caminho e superar os obstáculos que se lhes apresentam; e também ressalta o quanto as convenções góticas conseguem revelar sobre a estrutura social que elas representam. / This thesis consists of a reading of Emily Brontë‘s Wuthering Heights (1847) and Charlotte Brontë‘s, Jane Eyre (1847), focusing on the body of Gothic conventions they hold, and the ways in which such conventions interfere with the movements of the two female protagonists, Catherine and Jane, each struggling to fit into their space, while trying to accomplish their desires. Although the two works are structurally different in several ways, they share an intense Gothic atmosphere and its consequent psychological density, which influences the mental frame of the two protagonists. In order to explore the relations among the structural, social and psychological aspects involved, a reading of the novels has been conducted, focusing on the presence of Gothic elements that stand for the challenges Catherine and Jane are bound to face. Literary critic Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick‘s work The Coherence of Gothic Conventions (1986) is used to identify and contextualise the capacity of Gothic imagery to reveal the weight of social conventions upon the natural process of growth of the two protagonists. Inasmuch as the pressure becomes intensified by the rules of gender settlements, the concept of Female Gothic is explored, as presented by Professor Carol Margaret Davison. Particular attention is paid to the imagery related to space – psychological space for the protagonists to grow emotionally, and physical space, as determinant of where and how they must move. Here the theoretical support is offered by Gaston Bachelard‘s poetics of the primitive elements, unveiling the body of images presented in the two novels. The conclusion indicates the solutions found by Catherine Earnshaw and by Jane Eyre to find their way and overcome the obstacles they meet; with comments on how revealing Gothic imagery is of the social conventions it represents.