Literary Criticism
"Imlay...displays a rich, sensitive
understanding."
Oxford Today
"To argue the point so well
that critical skepticism vanishes, as new possibilities arise,
is remarkable indeed."
Cauda Pavonis
Charlotte Brontë and the Mysteries of
Love
Myth and Allegory in Jane Eyre
by Elizabeth Imlay
This illustrated study looks at Jane Eyre 'in terms of the culture from which it sprang'. Charlotte Brontë was a highly educated writer. By extensive research into her reading, and close attention to the text of Jane Eyre, Imlay interprets the novel as a brilliant reworking of the classical fairy-tale Cupid and Psyche.
Brontë used the story, related to the Platonic mystery tradition, to describe a 19th-century soul in search of passionate love.
Entirely original criticism shows how the wandering heroine passes through earth, air, fire and water (body, spirit, passion and reason) in the first four sections of Jane Eyre, to arrive in the fifth as the 'quintessence', or human soul, united with Love both spiritual and physical. It is Brontë's own model of personality.
Imlay further discusses how Brontë boldly manipulates the Platonic tradition to feminist ends, by rearranging the paradigm, making 'air' a female element.
To review Brontë's full, profound intelligence and methods of composition, read this book.
Price: £10.00
ISBN:0-9520842-0-1
Paperback, illustrated
230pp
216 mm x 148 mm