Lessons in Love The Role of the Mentor-Lover in Nineteenth-Century Women's Novels.

Date of Award

2007

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Wallace, Miriam

Keywords

Bronte, Charlotte, Alcott, Louisa May, Willette, Little Women, Mentor-Lover, Education, Relationships, Character Development

Area of Concentration

British and American Literature

Abstract

The role of the mentor-lover in nineteenth century novels was to educate a young woman to better fit the expectations and roles society prescribed her. Drawing from their unrequited loves for their mentors, Charlotte Bronte and Louisa May Alcott rewrote theirs lives, casting themselves as heroines who successfully earn the love and respect of the fictionalized versions of their mentors. By examining the mentor-lover relationships of Lucy Snowe and M. Paul in Bronte's Villette and Jo March and Professor Bhaer in Alcott's Little Women, I wish to explore how the dynamics of these relationships actually create equal lovers, by allowing the mentor and protege to learn from one another. By embedding lessons in a mentor-lover relationship, Bronte and Alcott both teach their readers ideas they believe to be important. While these ideas come off as strong and true, what can actually be taken from them since they are found in autobiographical rewrites of their own failed relationships?

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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