Author: Bertrandias, Bernadette

Source: Bronte Studies, Volume 34, Number 2, July 2009 , pp. 138-146(9)

Publisher: Maney Publishing

Abstract:

Patricia Beer's view of the significance of costume in Charlotte Brontė's novels points the way to a further analysis of the representations of ambivalent gender identity, and even of the staging of a recurring masquerade, in which woman's aspirations to develop a masculine persona are projected; but while the masks allow the secret dream of androgyny to surface, they also confirm its limited, if not altogether delusory nature.

Keywords: SHIRLEY; PATRICIA BEER; TRANSVESTISM; COSTUME; JANE EYRE; GENDER IDENTITY; MASQUERADE; VILLETTE

Document Type: Research Article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1179/147489309X431539

Affiliations: Honorary Professor of English Literature at the Université Blaise-Pascal in Clermont-Ferrand, France

Publication date: 2009-07-01

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