Marić, Gabrijela.
(2016).
The image of Belgium in Charlotte Brontë´s novels “The Professor” and “Shirley”: a comparative analysis.
Diploma Thesis. Filozofski fakultet u Zagrebu, Department of English Language and Literature.
[mentor Jukić Gregurić, Tatjana].
Abstract
The main point of my thesis was to analyse how cultural and socio-political differences between England and Belgium influenced the dynamics of the private life under the middle-class domestic woman´s authority. More precisely, my aim was to show the manner in which the image of Belgium, and consequently, England was constructed through the agency of the domestic woman. In order to do so, I referred to Nancy Armstrong´s Desire and Domestic Fiction (1987) and her definition of the institution of marriage, i.e. “the sexual contract”, explanation of its logic and function, and more importantly, of the new middle-class domestic woman´s role who, by virtue of certain inner qualities, had to domesticate her husband and transform him into a respectable man. Being the centripetal force of the nuclear family, she was responsible for its functioning and, on a broader scale, for the functioning of the society. After giving a brief historical overview of Anglo-Belgian contacts in the 19th century, this paper dealt with the role of the domestic woman in The Professor and Shirley, her characteristics and relationships with others, especially men, first in courtship procedures, then in marriage. In these two novels, domestication extended itself from the sphere of home to the sphere of the nation by assuming a broader meaning of colonisation, or Anglicisation. The focus of my analysis was on the manner in which it was performed, who was in charge of it, and what its consequences were. Also, I examined the case where a male character assumed a female role of domestication/colonisation and illustrated his consequent femininity. Additionally, I related the unmarried state of certain characters to their failed domestication. On the whole, this work demonstrated the constant process of transposition from the public into the private sphere, which enabled not only the definition of gender roles, but also of national identities, equating a desired gender ideal with a desired national ideal.
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