Master's Thesis
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FACULTY OF ARTS AND EDUCATION MASTER’S THESIS Programme of study: Spring semester, 2016 Master in Literacy Studies Open Author: Gro Mehla ………………………………………… (Author’s signature) Supervisor: Janne Stigen Drangsholt Thesis title: The Cultural Significance of the Governess in Agnes Grey, Jane Eyre and The Turn of the Screw Keywords: No. of pages: 103 + appendices/other: 13 The Victorian Era Governess Patriarchy Stavanger, May 12, 2016 Unwoman Acknowledgements I would like to thank my brilliant supervisor Janne Stigen Drangsholt for her insightful comments, constructive criticism and quick wit throughout the year. I also want to thank my lecturers Brita Strand Rangnes, Jena Habegger-Conti, Aidan Keally Conti, Eric Dean Rasmussen and Ion Drew for making my three years at UIS a truly inspiring period. In addition, I am ever grateful to my fantastic and caring family. You fed me when I forgot to eat, gave me inspiration when I was exhausted, and motivated me by planning exciting post-thesis adventures. Last but not least, I want to thank my supporting friends and colleagues and my encouraging fellow students Ida and Kurt. There would be no thesis without your help. 2 Abstract My thesis explores how Victorian society viewed the women who did not live up to the female ideal created by patriarchy. I base my study on Anne Brontë’s (1820-1849) Agnes Grey (1847), Charlotte Brontë’s (1816-1855) Jane Eyre (1847) and Henry James’ (1843-1916) The Turn of the Screw (1898). I investigate and analyse the governess protagonists in these three novels in order to question the representation of women in Victorian novels. I primarily base my theoretical work on feminist criticism, stretching from early feminist Mary Wollstonecraft’s (1759-1797) views on the domestication of women, to current critique on gender ideology as presented by Toril Moi. My chosen theorists contribute with their thoughts on patriarchy, traditional gender roles and the concept of the unwoman, or women as the nonsignificant other. As member of the middle-class, the governess, who typically did not marry and who entered the work market, was considered unfeminine and therefore a potential unwoman. She gives insight into the sociological and psychological factors that influenced Victorian women’s lives and psyches in a patriarchal society. The governess is among the few women who are in a position to cast a light on women’s life both in the domestic and in the public sphere. My studies show that the governess enters the work force either as an escape from the domestic sphere, or because it is the only tolerably respectable way of making a living as an unmarried middle-class woman. In her position, she experiences stigmatization and great isolation. The Brontës attempt to reduce the governess’ otherness whereas Henry James’ novel portray her as a neurotic, sexually repressed woman. Public interest in the governess was apparent during the Victorian era, and the fascination with the governess as a literary character is still evident today. 3 Table of Contents 1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 7 2. Literary review ................................................................................................................. 10 2.1 The ideal ...................................................................................................................... 10 2.2 The unwoman .............................................................................................................. 14 2.3 The Victorian novel ..................................................................................................... 18 2.4 My novels and their authors ........................................................................................ 20 2.5 Theory .......................................................................................................................... 25 3. Agnes Grey ....................................................................................................................... 29 3.1 Formal education ......................................................................................................... 31 3.1.1 The Victorian woman and love .......................................................................... 35 3.2 Personal education ....................................................................................................... 39 3.2.1 The personal education of Agnes ....................................................................... 39 3.2.2 Influential women .............................................................................................. 42 3.2.3 Agnes’ anger ...................................................................................................... 46 4. Jane Eyre .......................................................................................................................... 50 4.1 The power and passion of Jane Eyre ........................................................................... 51 4.2 Jane Eyre’s narrative ................................................................................................... 52 4.3 Gateshead .................................................................................................................... 55 4.3.1 The Gateshead atmosphere ................................................................................ 55 4.3.2 Formal and personal education at Gateshead ..................................................... 57 4 4.3.3 Questionable friends and antagonists at Gateshead ........................................... 59 4.4 Lowood ........................................................................................................................ 61 4.4.1 Formal and personal education through antagonists and friends ....................... 62 4.5 Thornfield .................................................................................................................... 65 4.5.1 The Thornfield atmosphere ................................................................................ 65 4.5.2 Formal and personal education at Thornfield .................................................... 66 4.5.3 Jane and Rochester ............................................................................................. 67 4.5.4 Friends and antagonists at Thornfield ................................................................ 70 4.5.5 Bertha Mason – Antagonist or ally? .................................................................. 72 4.6 Marsh End ................................................................................................................... 76 4.6.1 Formal and personal education through antagonists and friends ....................... 76 4.7 Ferndean ...................................................................................................................... 79 4.7.1 Formal and personal education at Ferndean ...................................................... 79 5. The Turn of the Screw .................................................................................................... 82 5.1 The new governess ...................................................................................................... 85 5.1.1 James’ portrayal of the governess ...................................................................... 86 5.1.2 The governess as other ....................................................................................... 89 5.2 Female sexuality .......................................................................................................... 92 5.3 Whose authority? ......................................................................................................... 94 5.3.1 Author authority ................................................................................................. 94 5.4 James’ uncanny novel .................................................................................................. 98 5.4.1 Repetition ........................................................................................................... 99 5.4.2 Automatism ...................................................................................................... 100 5 5.4.3 Death ................................................................................................................ 101 5.4.4 Ghosts .............................................................................................................. 102 5.4.5 Silence .............................................................................................................. 103 5.4.6 Language .......................................................................................................... 104 6. Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 106 Bibliography ...................................................................................................................... 110 6 1. Introduction Not a mother, the governess nevertheless performed the mother's tasks; not a prostitute, she was nevertheless suspiciously close to other sexualized women; not a lunatic, she was nevertheless deviant simply because she was a middle-class woman who had to work. (Poovey 2007: 14) The inspiration for this thesis was the figure of the Victorian governess. Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre first sparked my fascination with this character. In Jane,