English 436 Final Paper

Grant Wengeler

Dr. Torgerson

2/11/2020

Final Paper

Charlotte Bronte and the Construction of Female Literature

Female literature exists within the world of literature as a whole, but with the important distinction of perpetuating and strengthening female identity. In Victorian England the authority on female identity in literature is held by Charlotte Bronte because her works expose elements of Victorian society which are unfavorable to women, and by doing so persuades male readers to consider the plight of their female counterparts. This application of ideology through literature helps to open minds and transform societies, and this impact is not lost on the modern reader either. Academics have analyzed Charlotte Bronte’s work with vigor since its foundation, and the supplements provided by Elizebeth Gaskell, including The Life of Charlotte Bronte, has lent insight to Bronte's efforts. The construction of female literature was heavily dependent on the works of Bronte as well as Bronte herself. Ultimately, the world of female literature is constructed by the cooperation of female writers and the validation of female identity within literature as a whole. 

While competition drives advancements within traditionally masculine structures the feminine identity within Victorian literature is advanced through cooperation. “In the Life, sisterly cooperation, rather than competition, is set as the norm” (Peterson, 904). Gaskell’s Life of Charlotte Bronte dictates norms separate from that of society which serves to invoke change upon that society. After all, a biography is a form of narrative. As a narrative, The Life serves to fabricate a representation of Bronte and her work. The representation is inevitably separated from what it represents. The Life is a signifier, but Bronte’s actual life is the signified. Representations are incapable of being completely accurate, but this is not a weakness. Gaskell’s representation is important because by being removed from reality it becomes capable of both describing reality and improving on it. At the very least Gaskell’s efforts perpetuate the efforts of Bronte, and at most it revolutionizes the reader’s understanding of Bronte and her works. Either way both women are benefitting from each other’s efforts and thus advancing the feminine identity within Victorian literature. 

Gaskell’s use of the narrative as a representation helps drive the cooperation of female authors. As Linda Peterson’s Triangulation, Desire, and Discontent in ‘The Life of Charlotte Brontë describes, “Gaskell’s distinction between the writer and the work is one technique she invokes for overcoming literary rivalry and emphasizing cooperation between women writers” (904). Bronte’s art has a large impact on the world, and logistically more people will have contact with her work than they will with her personally. For this reason, a representation of Bronte within Gaskell’s biography is necessary when exposing readers to Bronte when otherwise they would only know her through the medium of her own work. In fact, through letters and sharing of works authors such as Harriet Martineau and Gaskell, Bronte was able to achieve high praise and support from fellow female writers. Cooperation is not achieved through silence, and Gaskell’s analysis and propagation of Bronte’s life and works is a form of cooperation. 

Gaskell paved the way for readers to analyze Bronte’s life as a source for understanding her work. Analyzing Bronte’s life leads the reader to draw connections between her experiences and her narratives. “Seeing the downward career of their brother, on whom they might have relied, only strengthened their [Emily and Charlotte Bronte’s] sense of duty and necessity” (Buchmann,164). The Bronte sisters together grew stronger and more resilient in the face of detriment, and thus Charlotte achieved greater in life because of her ability to overcome. It stands to reason that overcoming hardship is itself a beneficial endeavor, and as such it becomes clear that such endeavors are worth undertaking. The same logic applies to the purpose of strengthening the female identity in literature. 

Literature, like most art, is a reflection of the real world. In many ways this reflection has a similar effect back onto the world. When people see the world through the lense of literature they begin to shape the world into that same image. In this case,  it stands to reason that suppression of the female identity within literature would support the continued naturalization of female oppression within society. Bronte’s Jane Eyre, for example, combats this by adopting a focalization where the reader sees the world through the eyes of Jane Eyre. Jane is representative of the female identity, and at the time it was uncommon for such a perspective in literature. By creating this female identity Bronte is causing an effect where this identity and its perspective become naturalized.  “In women’s fiction, we can trace an emergent rebellious structure of feelings about inequities of power between men and women and economic inequities as well” (Sangeeta, 2). Bronte gives readers the beginnings of Sangeeta’s “rebellion.” By putting the female identity into the public eye Bronte gave validation to the women in real society, and thus challenged the social norm of female suppression. 

The Analysis of Bronte’s life also lends validation to the female identity. A fictional character such as Jane is a fabricated representation of the female identity, but Bronte herself is the real thing. The widespread fascination with Bronte over the years has given reader an intimate perspective on her as a person.“The close connection between a particular diagnosis and a thesis about Bronte’s mental health generally is made clear by the fact that the presumption of death by neurosis had been made in the earliest psychoanalytic study of Bronte” (Maynard, 69). Maynard’s psychoanalysis on Bronte’s life shows that there’s both a demand for and willingness to accept Bronte’s female identity. Ironically, she first deluded the public by publishing her as Currer Bell. By using this pen name Bronte deconstructed preconceptions of the value of a woman writer. If readers enjoyed the works of Currer Bell, then they cannot dismiss Bronte. Still, the focus on Bronte herself validates her female identity which subsequently helps to naturalize the acceptance of female writers into the world of literature. 

Naturalization of the female identity within literature is necessary because the exclusion of it denies the possibilities and benefits of women’s literary efforts. This exclusion of female identity in literature supports the suppression of women in society. Suppression implies the non-acceptance of the female perspective in literature, and through this exclusion creates a hierarchy among gender lines. “The Life of Charlotte Bronte- and perhaps the genre of biography more generally- belongs to [a] long overlooked chapter of modern cultural history, and evokes a kind of power relationship comparable to that cultivated by internal colonialism” (Frawley, 8). An unbalanced power relationship within society and within literature is detrimental to the advancement of humanity because the female identity is a massive part of human identity as a whole. Art is a reflection of reality, and Bronte’s art shows the reader something about themselves as a human being. She gives the reader a sense of shared humanity through the eyes of Jane. Through Jane's struggles she invokes feelings of empathy which are strengthened by the first-person focalization which draws the reader into the struggle themselves. When an unacquainted mind is exposed so intimately with a female perspective it becomes naturalized into part of the reader’s understanding of humanity, and thus the world, as a whole. This naturalization of female identity serves to lift the weight of suppression.

In conclusion, the world of female literature is constructed by the cooperation of female writers and the validation of female identity within literature as a whole. Gaskell’s use of the narrative as a representation of femenine identity helps drive the cooperation of female authors. This cooperation gives the women involved validation through each other much like how Gaskell built off the life and work of Bronte, which simultaneously  perpetuates the impact of Bronte’s work by expanding on it. By putting the female identity into the public eye Bronte gave validation to the women in real society, and thus challenged the social norm of female suppression. Naturalization of the female identity within literature is necessary because the exclusion of it denies the possibilities and benefits of women’s literary efforts. Also, the inclusion of femenine identity within literature helps to increase a reader’s understanding of humanity as a whole. When limited to the male perspective and excluding the female literature and understanding suffer. Validation through exposure in literature promotes the female identity and helps to naturalize it within society. The Analysis of Bronte’s life also lends validation to the female identity. By creating Bronte’s biography Gaskell further legitimizes Bronte herself as an author and full-fledged human, thus also legitimizing the female identity in the world of literature. 

Work Cited

Peterson, Linda H. “Triangulation, Desire, and Discontent in ‘The Life of Charlotte Brontë.’” Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, vol. 47, no. 4, 2007, pp. 901–920. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/4625146. Accessed 9 Mar. 2020.

Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. New York: Carleton. 1974. Web.

Buchmann, Margret. “Teacher, Author, Book, and Life: Charlotte Brontë.” Teacher Education Quarterly, vol. 21, no. 1, 1994, pp. 159–175. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/23475540. Accessed 9 Mar. 2020.

Maynard, John. “The Diagnosis of Charlotte Brontë's Final Illness.” Biography, vol. 6, no. 1, 1983, pp. 68–75. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/23539178. Accessed 9 Mar. 2020.

Dutta, Sangeeta. “Charlotte Bronte and the Woman Question.” Economic and Political Weekly, vol. 26, no. 40, 1991, pp. 2311–2316. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/41625509. Accessed 15 Mar. 2020.

Frawley, Maria H. “Elizabeth Gaskell's Ethnographic Imagination in ‘The Life of Charlotte Brontë.’” Biography, vol. 21, no. 2, 1998, pp. 175–194. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/23539929. Accessed 16 Mar. 2020.