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WOMENS CONTROL OF PASSION: LOUISA MAY ALCOTT'S REVISION OF CHARLOTTE BRONTE'S JANE EYRE AND SOCIETAL RESTRICTIONS OF PASSION IN THE NINTEENTH-CENTURY

Cicero-Erkkila, Erica Eileen
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=csu1398184267

Abstract Details

2014, Master of Arts in English, Cleveland State University, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences.
Louisa May Alcott's revision of the representation of passion in Behind a Mask, or a Woman's Power (1866) in connection with Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre (1847) is something that has not been widely discussed in scholarly studies since the reintroduction of these Blood and Thunder novels by Madaline Stern in 1975. Both Bronte and Alcott demonstrate in their novels that passion is a positive attribute, but, through Jane, Bronte demonstrates that hysterical passion must be sincerely controlled and internalized in order to positively contribute to a woman's life. Alcott, on the other hand, suggests that women merely need to act as proper gentlewomen and use their passionate ways in assisting them to do so. Jane Eyre and Behind a Mask are two texts that represent women with very passionate personalities, which are portrayed as positive aspects of these characters. Alcott's suggests through Jean, that passion should be a tool used by women to achieve happiness; which is very different than Bronte's demonstration of controlled passion and proper Christian, gentle behavior. Through the analysis of passion and the different representations of passion in these two texts we can see that Alcott's work is revising the idea of passion compared to Bronte's earlier representation of internalized control in Jane Eyre.
Rachel Carnell, Ph.D (Committee Chair)
Adam Sonstegard, Ph.D (Committee Member)
James Marino, Ph.D (Committee Member)
56 p.
Gender; Gender Studies; Language Arts
Louisa May Alcott; Charlotte Bronte; Jane Eyre; Behind a Mask, or a Womans Power; Passion; Financial; Gender; Society; Culture; Restrictions; Nineteenth-Century; Revision; Commentary; Virginia Woolf

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Cicero-Erkkila, E. E. (2014). WOMENS CONTROL OF PASSION: LOUISA MAY ALCOTT'S REVISION OF CHARLOTTE BRONTE'S JANE EYRE AND SOCIETAL RESTRICTIONS OF PASSION IN THE NINTEENTH-CENTURY [Master's thesis, Cleveland State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=csu1398184267

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Cicero-Erkkila, Erica. WOMENS CONTROL OF PASSION: LOUISA MAY ALCOTT'S REVISION OF CHARLOTTE BRONTE'S JANE EYRE AND SOCIETAL RESTRICTIONS OF PASSION IN THE NINTEENTH-CENTURY. 2014. Cleveland State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=csu1398184267.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Cicero-Erkkila, Erica. "WOMENS CONTROL OF PASSION: LOUISA MAY ALCOTT'S REVISION OF CHARLOTTE BRONTE'S JANE EYRE AND SOCIETAL RESTRICTIONS OF PASSION IN THE NINTEENTH-CENTURY." Master's thesis, Cleveland State University, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=csu1398184267

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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