The Depiction of Trauma and its Effect on Character Development in the Brontë Fiction

Abstract

The novels written by the Brontë sisters remain popular today and as authors they are highly regarded for their ability to express powerful emotions in their characters. This article analyses the portrayal of trauma in the form of child abuse and domestic violence in three key texts: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë. The authors' intuitive understanding of trauma, both in its realistic depiction and its effect on character development is detailed with reference to modern psychological insights and recent literature on the psychological impact of trauma.keywords Brontës, child abuse, domestic violence, psychology, traumaThe Brontë sisters are renowned as writers who had the ability to express the deepest emotions of their characters in powerful and affecting ways. This ability to express, and indeed their affinity for, powerful emotional responses is one of the reasons their works have retained a resonance and popularity today, more than 150 years after they were written. Not only has there been a passage of years but there have been dramatic changes in Western society over that time, probably most notably in the role of women in society. We have progressed from the avowedly patriarchal society in which and about which the Brontës wrote to one in which gender equality is entrenched in law and women have far more legal rights and educational and work opportunities. This is particularly relevant to the Brontës' work where we are usually presented with a female perspective to society, often from a position of severe disadvantage.The issues of trauma in the form of child abuse and domestic violence in the Brontës' novels are prominent concerns in a number of their works. The three critical texts in the Brontë canon which deal with the issue of traumatic experiences are Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë. The fact that each sister has written a novel which foregrounds these issues allows an analysis of how the traumatic experiences of child

The boarding school testimony of Charlotte Brontë

“…Australian psychiatrist Patrick Morris made the first and only application of trauma theory to Jane Eyre . He begins with the “terrible child abuse” Jane experiences in her foster home (Morris, 2013, p. 158) followed by Lowood school as “an environment of systematic neglect, abuse and violence” (Morris, 2013, p. 162). What Morris does not draw upon is the growing body of psychological research into boarding school trauma that has emerged in recent years.…”