“Let me look at your face: turn to the moonlight…I want to read your countenance” (340). Throughout the novel Bronte alludes to phrenology, the “belief that character traits manifest themselves in the shape of the head” (Plattsburgh). Jane does not accept Mr. Rochester’s proposal of marriage until she reads his face. She must determine that Mr. Rochester is truly sincere. Charlotte Bronte and her sister include the idea of phrenology throughout many of their works of literature, as it was most likely studied in their own lives.
"Bront." Plattsburgh State Faculty and Research Web Sites. Web. 02 Dec. 2009. http://faculty.plattsburgh.edu/peter.friesen/default.asp?go=217.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
interesting -- where else in the novel does this emerge? Why would Bronte be so particular as to use this phrenology idea throughout the novel?
ReplyDelete