Charlotte Brontë and Contagion: Myths, Memes, and the Politics of Infection (Palgrave Studies in Literature, Science and Medicine)

This book argues for the significance of contagious disease in critical and biographical assessment of Charlotte Brontë’s work. Waugh argues that contagion, infection, and quarantining strategies are central themes in Jane Eyre (1847), Shirley (1849), and Villette (1853). This book establishes the ways in which Charlotte Brontë was closely engaged with the political and social contexts in which she wrote, extending this to the representation and metaphorical import of illness in Brontë’s novels. Waugh also posits that although miasmatic theories are often assumed to have been entirely in the ascendant in the late 1840s, the relationship between miasma and contagion was a complex one and contagion in fact remained a crucial way for Charlotte Brontë to represent disease itself, as well as to explore the relationships between the individual and social, political, and cultural contexts. Contagion and its metaphors are central to Charlotte Brontë’s construction of subjectivity and of the responsibilities of the individual and the group. Acknowledgments Contents Chapter 1: Introduction: Charlotte Brontë and Contagion “High Noon” and “Engrossing Debate”: Contagion and Miasma in the 1840s and After Theorizing and Narrating Miasma and Contagion Charlotte Brontë, Contagion, and Health Chapter Summaries Works Cited Chapter 2: Modern Medical Knowledge: Brontë Biography and the Deaths of the Authors The Brontës, Biographers, and “The Last Brontë Novel” The Death of Charlotte Brontë: Wet Feet to Hyperemesis Gravidarum Branwell, Emily, and Anne: Consumption and Character Tuberculosis in the 1940s Biography and Scholarship at the Centenaries: Consumption and “Summary” Works Cited Chapter 3: “One of the Most Insidious, and Fatal Diseases Incident to Humanity”: Fearing The “Flattering Malady” Emily Brontë’s Sleeves Romantic Consumption Taints, Myths, and The Medical Gaze Domestic Medicines and the “Flattering Malady” Labourers, Weaklings, Socialites, and Surplus Women: Coquetry, Poverty, and Attritional Consumption in the Brontës’ Novels Beautiful but Untrue: Helen Burns Works Cited Chapter 4: Typhus and “Common Brotherhood”: Jane Eyre (1847), Contagion, Community, and Leadership Typhus in the 1840s Metaphors and Moral Lessons Typhus 1847: Community, Brotherhood, Sacrifice Typhus, Heroism, and Community in Jane Eyre Contagion, Connection, Sisterhood Works Cited Chapter 5: Ferment, Frenzy, Boundaries, and Barriers: Rabies in Shirley (1849) Rabies in the 1840s Fermenting Fear: Spurious Rabies and Rabid Symptoms Preventive Measures The Animal Ideal Works Cited Chapter 6: “Living Barometers,” “Dreary Fellowship,” “Petulant People,” and “Silly Fancies”: Weather, Equilibrium, and Health in Elizabeth Gaskell’s The Life of Charlotte Brontë (1857) and Charlotte Brontë’s Villette (1853) Environment and Equilibrium: Climate, Weather, Health “Strangely Trying”: Charlotte Brontë and the “Living Barometer” The Life of Charlotte Brontë: Atmospheric Conditions, Weather Wisdom, and Weather Sensitivity Villette: Health, Exposure, Risk, Connections Works Cited Chapter 7: Epilogue and Conclusion: “Jane Eyre Fever,” Virality, Endemicity, and Contagion Feverish Reading Brontë Memes Jane Eyre Merchandise: Material Memes Conclusion Works Cited Index