The French aire in Jane Eyre
This article examines how Brontë makes French into a kind of licence for freedom of speech issued to both the eponymous heroine of the novel and the novelist herself. Jane’s knowledge of French qualifies her for the post of governess to Parisian born Adèle, and thus offers her an income and some ind...
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Presses Universitaires de la Méditerranée
2013-09-01
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Series: | Cahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens |
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Online Access: | http://journals.openedition.org/cve/839 |
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doaj-88225aa6706440139e7d70f990b03bd02020-11-24T21:47:06ZengPresses Universitaires de la MéditerranéeCahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens0220-56102271-61492013-09-0110.4000/cve.839The French aire in Jane EyreEmily EellsThis article examines how Brontë makes French into a kind of licence for freedom of speech issued to both the eponymous heroine of the novel and the novelist herself. Jane’s knowledge of French qualifies her for the post of governess to Parisian born Adèle, and thus offers her an income and some independence. Significantly, the first French verb Jane learns is être, as if the foreign language were offering her a new life. At Thornfield, she finds herself in a small community of French speaking women. Adèle’s frivolity and clothes-consciousness typify French stereotypes which contrast with Jane’s earnestness and self-government. Rochester calls on his command of French in an attempt to define his non-conventional relationship with Jane. Thanks to the French language, Brontë’s heroine succeeds in constructing her own space in the Victorian domestic world.http://journals.openedition.org/cve/839Brontë (Charlotte)disciplinefemale BildungsromanFrench languageFrench-speaking community of womenJane Eyre |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Emily Eells |
spellingShingle |
Emily Eells The French aire in Jane Eyre Cahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens Brontë (Charlotte) discipline female Bildungsroman French language French-speaking community of women Jane Eyre |
author_facet |
Emily Eells |
author_sort |
Emily Eells |
title |
The French aire in Jane Eyre |
title_short |
The French aire in Jane Eyre |
title_full |
The French aire in Jane Eyre |
title_fullStr |
The French aire in Jane Eyre |
title_full_unstemmed |
The French aire in Jane Eyre |
title_sort |
french aire in jane eyre |
publisher |
Presses Universitaires de la Méditerranée |
series |
Cahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens |
issn |
0220-5610 2271-6149 |
publishDate |
2013-09-01 |
description |
This article examines how Brontë makes French into a kind of licence for freedom of speech issued to both the eponymous heroine of the novel and the novelist herself. Jane’s knowledge of French qualifies her for the post of governess to Parisian born Adèle, and thus offers her an income and some independence. Significantly, the first French verb Jane learns is être, as if the foreign language were offering her a new life. At Thornfield, she finds herself in a small community of French speaking women. Adèle’s frivolity and clothes-consciousness typify French stereotypes which contrast with Jane’s earnestness and self-government. Rochester calls on his command of French in an attempt to define his non-conventional relationship with Jane. Thanks to the French language, Brontë’s heroine succeeds in constructing her own space in the Victorian domestic world. |
topic |
Brontë (Charlotte) discipline female Bildungsroman French language French-speaking community of women Jane Eyre |
url |
http://journals.openedition.org/cve/839 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT emilyeells thefrenchaireinjaneeyre AT emilyeells frenchaireinjaneeyre |
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