Charlotte Bronte: Fictions of Empire > Bronte’s engagement with colonial history.
The Professor
Written 1845-6, published posthumously in 1857.
A first person, male narrator.
Begins with a letter, which goes unanswered- so Crimsworth continues the story. (device of
letter is regarded as clumsy by critics)
o Crimsworth’s shift// Bronte’s shift >> a move from early writings.
Novel explores the intersection between nation, sexuality, and race.
The idea of self-denial and self-control is important in the novel.
o Sally Shuttleworth looks at this in a medical context- sees metaphors for denial of
sexuality.
o Acton- concerned with the sexual economy of the male- sexual expenditures i.e.
linking the sexual to the financial e.g. orgasm- ‘to spend’.
o Crimsworth’s sexual self-control is privileged.
o A connection is established between sexual repression and English masculinity.
Difference between Pelet and Crimsworth >> different nations have different attitudes towards
sexuality.
(Note: is Crimsworth a reliable narrator? No- he says one thing and means another)
Crimsworth’s fear of contamination from Pelet- fears of a national infection AND
racial contamination.
- Do we believe Crimsworth here?
o Sexuality is associated with the orient- disturbing, unsettling.
o Indulging in sexuality, would undo Crimsworth’s Englishness.
o Crimsworth’s repressed sexuality- evident in Zoraide’s school- when he is prohibited
from seeing them- ch.10.
o The female students have an excessive sexuality.
- *** C is a xenophobic and misogynistic narrator ***
- C claims an objectivity, an apparent authority. BUT he is a professor, and thus professes what
he sees >> may not be true – could reveal something about himself? > his sexual paranoia? >
doesn’t want to recognise the sexuality within himself.
- Crimsworth is pained by his own pleasure.
o Zoraide gives into her own desires- she is enslaved to the pursuit of sexual pleasure-
associated with the orient.
o CF. Frances- an antidote to Crimsworth’s problems- a double for C.
Frances is the personification of self-denial and self-control > qualities that
Crimsworth privileges.
Frances- the living embodiment of split between 2 nations Anglo-Swiss- what
Crimsworth struggles with.
o Hypochondria presented as a sexualised figure for C-haunting.
The Professor
Written 1845-6, published posthumously in 1857.
A first person, male narrator.
Begins with a letter, which goes unanswered- so Crimsworth continues the story. (device of
letter is regarded as clumsy by critics)
o Crimsworth’s shift// Bronte’s shift >> a move from early writings.
Novel explores the intersection between nation, sexuality, and race.
The idea of self-denial and self-control is important in the novel.
o Sally Shuttleworth looks at this in a medical context- sees metaphors for denial of
sexuality.
o Acton- concerned with the sexual economy of the male- sexual expenditures i.e.
linking the sexual to the financial e.g. orgasm- ‘to spend’.
o Crimsworth’s sexual self-control is privileged.
o A connection is established between sexual repression and English masculinity.
Difference between Pelet and Crimsworth >> different nations have different attitudes towards
sexuality.
(Note: is Crimsworth a reliable narrator? No- he says one thing and means another)
Crimsworth’s fear of contamination from Pelet- fears of a national infection AND
racial contamination.
- Do we believe Crimsworth here?
o Sexuality is associated with the orient- disturbing, unsettling.
o Indulging in sexuality, would undo Crimsworth’s Englishness.
o Crimsworth’s repressed sexuality- evident in Zoraide’s school- when he is prohibited
from seeing them- ch.10.
o The female students have an excessive sexuality.
- *** C is a xenophobic and misogynistic narrator ***
- C claims an objectivity, an apparent authority. BUT he is a professor, and thus professes what
he sees >> may not be true – could reveal something about himself? > his sexual paranoia? >
doesn’t want to recognise the sexuality within himself.
- Crimsworth is pained by his own pleasure.
o Zoraide gives into her own desires- she is enslaved to the pursuit of sexual pleasure-
associated with the orient.
o CF. Frances- an antidote to Crimsworth’s problems- a double for C.
Frances is the personification of self-denial and self-control > qualities that
Crimsworth privileges.
Frances- the living embodiment of split between 2 nations Anglo-Swiss- what
Crimsworth struggles with.
o Hypochondria presented as a sexualised figure for C-haunting.
