Hello, everyone! I'm currently taking a graduate level victorian novel class and loving it. But I've been so enjoying the books, I haven't thought enough about paper topics
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If you're comparing it to CB's other novels, of course you'll know Jane Eyre, everyone does, but have you looked at The Professor as well? It's got those themes running through it, helpfully discussed in the intro in my edition (Penguin Classics), and the narrator is yet another Bronte Male Git, quite a weird one. I've not read Villette in years but it sounds like a good approach. There are suggestions of homoeroticism with Lucy and some of the pupils, aren't there, especially when she cross-dresses for the play?
Ahh... thank you so much, you triggered the other idea that I had had. Yes, there was the connection between her and Ginevra, but the cross-dressing scene reminded me of Sarrazine, which I have read through the filter of S/Z. That might be a good way to take the project.
Unfortunately, I have actually not read Jane Eyre. Embarrassing... I will correct that this summer, I'm sure, but probably not before the paper.
You may want to spoil the plot and read a synopsis plus a few key scenes, because I suspect that any crit on CB is bound to refer to JE and there is so much in there. Basically, CB seems to have a thing for really shitty men who play power games like there's no tomorrow.
The name Sarrazine rings bells, but I can't remember what it is. Would you elaborate?
It's a story by Balzac about a castrati. There is a rather erotic scene where the narrator is watching him on stage and thinks he is a woman. Roland Barthes uses the story in S/Z to talk about Sarrasine/Sarrazine as a figure that occupies a sort of third space... neither male nor female.
Ah yes, I thought it was that one. The sweet little old man who's more or less retired from our Eng Lit dept mentioned it when we met up for tea to talk about music/lit crossover. Unfortunately the library doesn't have the translation, and my French is abysmal these days.
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Unfortunately, I have actually not read Jane Eyre. Embarrassing... I will correct that this summer, I'm sure, but probably not before the paper.
Thanks!
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You may want to spoil the plot and read a synopsis plus a few key scenes, because I suspect that any crit on CB is bound to refer to JE and there is so much in there. Basically, CB seems to have a thing for really shitty men who play power games like there's no tomorrow.
The name Sarrazine rings bells, but I can't remember what it is. Would you elaborate?
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