Inside Out: Jane Eyre on the Victorian Stage

Author: Stoneman, Patsy¹

Source: Bronte Studies, Volume 34, Number 2, July 2009 , pp. 147-154(8)

Publisher: Maney Publishing

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Abstract:

Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre is now valued as a subtle retrospective narrative of its heroine's inner life, but its melodramatic elements proved enticing for the Victorian popular stage. This paper describes the eight stage versions of Jane Eyre which appeared on the British and American stage between 1848 and 1882, and argues that the conventions of stage melodrama turn Jane's story 'inside out', translating it from inward analysis to soliloquy and dialogue, from a private 'autobiography' shared with the discerning reader to a public declaration of grievance delivered in a voice, as Dickens put it, 'audible half a mile off'.

Keywords: JANE EYRE; THEATRE; MELODRAMA; ADAPTATION

Document Type: Research article

DOI: 10.1179/147489309X431575

Affiliations: 1: Emeritus Reader in English at the University of Hull

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