Jane Eyre and the Novel Tradition

You will Discover• Tradition: working within

and against• George Eliot’s blame and

praise for women writers• What is a “Mary Sue”?

Example?• The Gothic romance plot• The Harlequin romance plot

We will Discuss• “There was no possibility of

taking a walk that day”

Alas! If the heroine of one novel be not patronized by the heroine of another, from whom can she expect protection and regard?

Jane Austen Northanger Abbey

Female Gothic

• Gothic “paraphernalia”• Historical or archaic setting• Supernatural• Heroine• Male tyrant• Other woman• Good lover

The Metonymy of Gloom and Horror

• Wind, especially howling

• Doors on rusty hinges• Footsteps• Lights in abandoned

rooms• Characters trapped in a

room• Ruined buildings• Thunder and lightning

• Rain, especially blowing• Sighs, moans, howls,

eerie sounds• Clanking chains• Gusts of wind blowing

out lights• Doors slamming shut• Baying of dogs• Crazed laughter

Harlequin (Courtship) Plot

• Exotic setting• Shy virgin (usually poor)• Harsh Byronic man (usually rich)• Vampy/slutty woman• Wimpy lover of heroine