Charlotte Bront? and Victorian Psychology

ThisinnovativeandcriticallyacclaimedstudysuccessfullychallengesthetraditionalviewthatCharlotteBront?existedinahistoricalvacuum,bysettingherworkfirmlywithinthecontextofVictorianpsychologicaldebate.Basedonextensivelocalresearch,usingtextsrangingfromlocalnewspapercopytothemedicaltomesintheReverendPatrickBront?'slibrary,SallyShuttleworthexplorestheinterpenetrationofeconomic,social,andpsychologicaldiscourseintheearlyandmid-nineteenthcentury,andtracesthewaysinwhichCharlotteBront?'stextsoperateinrelationtothiscomplex,oftencontradictory,discursiveframework.ShuttleworthoffersadetailedanalysisofBront?'sfiction,informedbyanewunderstandingofVictorianconstructionsofsexualityandinsanity,andtheoperationsofmedicalandpsychologicalsurveillance.