Landscape and Gender in the Novels of Charlotte Brontë, George Eliot, and Thomas Hardy: The Body of Nature (The Nineteenth Century Series)

101 Pages·2011·1.643 MB·English

by  Eithne Henson

LANDSCAPE AND GENDER IN THE
NOVELS OF CHARLOTTE BRONTË,
GEORGE ELIOT, AND THOMAS HARDY
Examining a wide range of representations of physical, metaphorical, and dream
landscapes in Charlotte Brontë, George Eliot, and Thomas Hardy, Eithne Henson
explores the way in which gender attitudes are expressed, both in descriptions of
landscape as the human body and in ideas of nature. Henson discusses the influence
7 of eighteenth-century aesthetic theory, particularly on Brontë and Eliot, and
1
0 argues that Ruskinian aesthetics, Darwinism, and other scientific preoccupations
2
t of an industrializing economy, changed constructions of landscape in the later
s
u nineteenth century.
g
u Henson examines the conventions of reading landscape, including the implied
A
8 expectations of the reader, the question of the gendered narrator, how place defines
2 the kind of action and characters in the novels, the importance of landscape in
8
5 creating mood, the pastoral as a moral marker for readers, and the influence of
:
3 changing aesthetic theory on the implied painterly models that the three authors
1
t reproduce in their work. She also considers how each writer defines the concept
a
6 of Englishness against an internal or colonial Other. Alongside these concerns,
5
1 Henson interrogates the ancient trope that equates woman with nature, and the
5. effect of comparing women to natural objects or offering them as objects of the
0
1 male gaze, typically to diminish or control them. Informed by close readings,
5.
0 Henson’s study offers an original approach to the significances of landscape in the
1
5. ‘realist’ nineteenth-century novel.
0
1
y
b
d
e
d
a
o
l
n
w
o
D
The Nineteenth Century Series
General Editors’ Preface
The aim of the series is to reflect, develop and extend the great burgeoning of interest
in the nineteenth century that has been an inevitable feature of recent years, as that
former epoch has come more sharply into focus as a locus for our understanding
not only of the past but of the contours of our modernity. It centres primarily
7
1 upon major authors and subjects within Romantic and Victorian literature. It also
0
2 includes studies of other British writers and issues, where these are matters of
st current debate: for example, biography and autobiography, journalism, periodical
u
g literature, travel writing, book production, gender, non-canonical writing. We are
u
A dedicated principally to publishing original monographs and symposia; our policy
8 is to embrace a broad scope in chronology, approach and range of concern, and
2
8 both to recognize and cut innovatively across such parameters as those suggested
5
: by the designations ‘Romantic’ and ‘Victorian’. We welcome new ideas and
3
1 theories, while valuing traditional scholarship. It is hoped that the world which
at predates yet so forcibly predicts and engages our own will emerge in parts, in
6
5 the wider sweep, and in the lively streams of disputation and change that are so
1
5. manifest an aspect of its intellectual, artistic and social landscape.
0
1
5. Vincent Newey
0
1 Joanne Shattock
5. University of Leicester
0
1
y
b
d
e
d
a
o
l
n
w
o
D
Landscape and Gender in the
Novels of Charlotte Brontë,
George Eliot, and Thomas Hardy
The Body of Nature
7
1
0
2
t
s
u
g
u
A
8
2
8 EITHNE HENSON
5 Wensley, Yorkshire, UK
:
3
1
t
a
6
5
1
5.
0
1
5.
0
1
5.
0
1
y
b
d
e
d
a
o
l
n
w
o
D
First Published 2011 by Ashgate Publisher
Published 2016 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
Copyright © Eithne Henson 2011
Eithne Henson has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be
7
1 identified as the author of this work.
0
2
t All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised
s
u in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or
g
u hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information
A
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
8
2
8 Notice:
5 Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are
:
3 used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
1
t
a
6
5 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
1 Henson, Eithne, 1934–
5.
0 Landscape and gender in the novels of Charlotte Brontë, George Eliot, and Thomas Hardy:
1 the body of nature. – (The nineteenth century series)
5.
0 1. Brontë, Charlotte, 1816–1855 – Criticism and interpretation. 2. Eliot, George, 1819–1880 –
1 Criticism and interpretation. 3. Hardy, Thomas, 1840–1928 – Criticism and interpretation.
5. 4. Landscapes in literature. 5. Women and literature – Great Britain – History – 19th century.
0
1 6. Authorship – Sex differences – History – 19th century. 7. English fiction – 19th century –
y History and criticism. 8. Authors, English – 19th century – Aesthetics.
b
d I. Title II. Series
e 823.8’0936-dc22
d
a
o
l Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
n
w Henson, Eithne, 1934–
o Landscape and gender in the novels of Charlotte Brontë, George Eliot, and Thomas Hardy:
D
the body of nature / by Eithne Henson.
p. cm. — (The nineteenth century series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4094-3214-2 (hardcover: alk. paper)
1. English fiction—19th century—History and criticism. 2. Landscapes in literature. 3. Nature
in literature. 4. Gender identity in literature. 5. Social role in literature. 6. Brontë, Charlotte, 1816–
1855—Criticism and interpretation. 7. Eliot, George, 1819–1880—Criticism and interpretation.
8. Hardy, Thomas, 1840–1928—Criticism and interpretation. I. Title.
PR878.L34H46 2011
823’.809—dc23
2011022377
ISBN: 9781409432142 (hbk)
7 For Sandy
1
0
2
t
s
u
g
u
A
8
2
8
5
:
3
1
t
a
6
5
1
5.
0
1
5.
0
1
5.
0
1
y
b
d
e
d
a
o
l
n
w
o
D
7
1
0
2
t
s
u
g
u
A
8
2
8
5
:
3
1
t
a
6
5
1
5.
0
1
5.
0
1
5.
0
1
y
b
d
e
d
a
o
l
n
w
o
D
Contents
List of Figures ix
Acknowledgments xi
1 Fields of Enquiry 1
2 Charlotte Brontë 27
3 George Eliot 75
7
1 4 Thomas Hardy 127
0
2
t 5 Conclusion 203
s
u
g
u Bibliography 227
A
8 Index 243
2
8
5
:
3
1
t
a
6
5
1
5.
0
1
5.
0
1
5.
0
1
y
b
d
e
d
a
o
l
n
w
o
D
7
1
0
2
t
s
u
g
u
A
8
2
8
5
:
3
1
t
a
6
5
1
5.
0
1
5.
0
1
5.
0
1
y
b
d
e
d
a
o
l
n
w
o
D
List of Figures
1 William Gilpin ‘Non-Picturesque and Picturesque Mountain
Landscapes’ from Three Essays (1792: plates from 1908 ed.).
© V&A Images, 218.E.6 comp, Victoria and Albert Museum,
London. 15
7
1
0
2
t
s
u
g
u
A
8
2
8
5
:
3
1
t
a
6
5
1
5.
0
1
5.
0
1
5.
0
1
y
b
d
e
d
a
o
l
n
w
o
D
7
1
0
2
t
s
u
g
u
A
8
2
8
5
:
3
1
t
a
6
5
1
5.
0
1
5.
0
1
5.
0
1
y
b
d
e
d
a
o
l
n
w
o
D