Authors
Newbold, AlisonAffiliation
University of ChesterPublication Date
2024-05-28
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During the Victorian period, the expansion of the domestic sphere into the garden afforded women greater agency within their own physical and psychological landscapes. The Pensionnat in Charlotte Brontë’s Villette (1853) provides Lucy Snowe, the protagonist, with access to a forbidden avenue within the school garden, initially providing her with shelter and solitude. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, this article reads the novel through the lens of the ‘prospect–refuge’ theory developed by the aesthetic geographer Jay Appleton, which considers people’s emotional and psychological responses to their environment. It explores the symbolic uses of the garden space to convey the emotional landscape of characters as well as examining how Brontë positions her protagonist in the garden to allow Lucy freedoms not easily afforded within formal indoor settings.Citation
Newbold, A. (2024). Prospect and Refuge in Villette’s Forbidden Garden. Brontë Studies, 49(3), 193-206. https://doi.org/10.1080/14748932.2024.2347392Publisher
Taylor & FrancisJournal
Brontë StudiesAdditional Links
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14748932.2024.2347392Type
ArticleISSN
1474-8932EISSN
1745-8226Sponsors
Unfundedae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1080/14748932.2024.2347392
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Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/