In this thesis, I use G.W.F. Hegel?s notions of self-consciousness and self-awareness to examine the function of the gaze in two of Charlotte Brontë?s early novels, The Professor and Jane Eyre. The first chapter of the thesis discusses William Crimsworth?s intimate relationship with two women, Mademoiselle Zoraide Reuter and Frances Evans Henri. The first relationship with Mademoiselle Reuter does not result in a balance of power, but is essential in understanding his relationship with Frances, which does ultimately result in a balance of power. The second chapter of the thesis discusses the relationship of Fairfax Rochester and Jane Eyre. While this relationship is fraught with a great deal of complexity, I argue that ultimately Jane and Rochester achieve a balance of power in the gaze. Through the discussion of the lover?s gaze in each of these novels, I demonstrate that, contrary to Jean--Paul Sartre?s influential but very negative rendering of the power dynamics implicit in the gaze, in Brontë?s works we see an affirmative, mutual reinforcing exchange in the lover?s gaze.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:NCSU/oai:NCSU:etd-05102004-190955 |
| Date | 24 May 2004 |
| Creators | Whittington, Elizabeth Michelle |
| Contributors | Dr. Sharon Setzer, Dr. Patricia Lynne, Dr. Leila May |
| Publisher | NCSU |
| Source Sets | North Carolina State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/theses/available/etd-05102004-190955/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to NC State University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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