Gothic Introspection: How Villette Nurtures Empathy and Reader Identity

Abstract

While Charlotte Brontë is considered one of the foremost nineteenth-century writers of Gothic psychological realism, scholars have paid little attention to how a reading of the psychologies of her characters may impact readers’ thoughts on their own identity and mental state. This article redresses this gap by combining the field of Gothic Studies with narrative empathy studies to posit that Brontë’s use of Victorian Gothic motifs in her novel Villette (1853), such as the doppelgänger, excess and the abject, prompts readers into considering the struggles of their psychological well-being and how it affects their identity. Through entering a reflection on personal psychological adversity, readers are encouraged to consider how Villette teaches audiences the power of understanding how psychological maladies impact selfhood. This article will analyse how Lucy’s narration, her relationship with the Nun and the novel’s ending connect to Lucy’s psychology and, therefore, create empathetic connections with readers who can better understand their own experiences and mental well-being after reading Villette.

Keywords:

• Brontë
• Victorian
• Gothic
• Villette
• psychology
• realism
• narrative empathy
• doppelgänger

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 The scrutiny that women were put under to contain their emotions can be seen in Honora ‘Nora’ Fitzgerald’s case, in which she was described as having a ‘very flighty state, talking irrationally and very noisy and troublesome in conduct’ (Wallis 2020, 2) and was put into Fremantle Lunatic Asylum.

2 The Gothic genre is known for its privileging of emotion over rationality. Fred Botting writes that in the Gothic, ‘emotional effects exceed reason’ and that these effects constitute the Gothic as ‘a writing of excess’ (1996, 1).

3 David Punter notes that a major characteristic of the Gothic is the ‘attempt to deploy and perfect techniques of literary suspense’ ([1996] 2014, 7), suggesting that it is partially for suspense and terror that readers seek out the Gothic. The first-person perspective’s ability to create an empathetic bond between reader and character (Miall 1988, 54) deepens this suspense.

4 As Mayer suggests, in Villette, ‘the narrator’s priorities take clear precedence over the reader’s desire for narrative fulfilment’ (2013, 13), thus creating a disjunction between a reader’s assumptions around narration and Lucy’s actual narration.

5 Vrettos specifically identifies ‘rainstorms and ocean tempests both express and provoke the violence of Lucy’s illness’ (1990, 15). This will be later explored with the novel’s ending.

6 Hoddinott furthers her analysis by adding that Lucy often hints at the death of a loved one throughout her narration, suggesting that the death of M. Paul still haunts her by the time she recounts the story of Villette (2016, 8).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Rachel Baldacchino

Rachel Baldacchino is an Australian PhD candidate at Macquarie University. Rachel completed her Master of Research in 2022, where her research interests were primarily Victorian, Brontë and Gothic studies. Her PhD more specifically focuses on nineteenth-century children’s literature, with her love of the Victorian era spanning both thesis projects.