Date Thesis Awarded
5-2023
Access Type
Honors Thesis -- Access Restricted On-Campus Only
Degree Name
Bachelors of Arts (BA)
Department
English
Advisor
Deborah Morse
Committee Members
Elizabeth Barnes
Francesca Sawaya
Xin Conan Wu
Abstract
thesis examines how windows function in two novels by two sisters—WH by Emily Bronte and Villette by Charlotte Bronte. In both novels windows are metaphorically situated to offer (through expanded vision) the possibility for insight into the psyche or transcendence beyond one current reality into another. Emily and Charlotte’s characters respond to this possibility somewhat differently. Heathcliff and Cathy yearn for the transcendence that windows offer, but in Villette the heroine Lucy Snowe betrays an anxiety about this very phenomenon, seeking to repress her inner world.
Recommended Citation
Kornreich, Mariana, "Haunted Panes and Psychic Casements: Windows in Wuthering Heights and Villette" (2023). Undergraduate Honors Theses. William & Mary. Paper 2001.
https://scholarworks.wm.edu/honorstheses/2001
