Overlooked or dismissed by critics in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Jane Eyre first began to attract serious critical attention in the 1970s as New Critical, formalist and feminist critics began to re-evaluate Charlotte Bronte's achievement.
Charlotte Bronte's writings are examined through new interpretations that highlight her engagement with contemporary issues and her aesthetic sophistication. Heather Glen presents a more nuanced understanding of Bronte, showcasing her awareness of her historical context and challenging the conventional perceptions of her work. This study invites readers to reconsider Bronte's literary contributions and the complexities within her texts.
This interpretation offers a fresh and thought-provoking perspective on poems frequently regarded as belonging to a conventional literary tradition. It challenges readers to reconsider established views and encourages a deeper understanding of the complexities within these works. The analysis aims to highlight the unique qualities and nuances of the poems, prompting a reevaluation of their significance and place in literary discourse.
This representative selection includes five tales of very different kinds written in the 1850s and the longer Cousin Phillis. Immensely readable and sophisticated works of art, they show Gaskell's mastery of the genre, in an edition that celebrates her achievements in shorter fiction and the context in which they first appeared.