WOMEN'S IMAGES OF BRONTE'S WORKS: TYPOLOGICAL ASPECT

Abstract

Abstract Background.  The problem of typology of female images in the creative works of Charlotte Bronte is quite actual in the context of socio-political transformations in English society of the XIX century, in particular, in the emergence and active development of the women's movement, the spread of the ideas of feminism. The appeal to the creative work of Ch.Bronte makes it possible to trace the transformation in her female images of the traditions of romanticism, as well as the formation of new features inherent in realistic aesthetics; expands literary ideas about the author's work. Female images of the English novelist Charlotte Bronte, as a rule, were studied only as one of the components of the semantics of texts, and not as a special subject of study, which reveals the aesthetic originality of the writer's work. The proposed study is the first attempt to consider the poetics of the female images of Bronte's novels in its variability and evolution from the early works by Charlotte Bronte to the novels of her mature period.                          The purpose of the study – to clear up the specifics of the typology of female images created by Ch. Bronte. Methods. The article objective requires application of comparative method as well as the inductive one. Results. The analysis of the evolution of female images in Bronte`s novels, which started in her early works, identified the presence of two types of female images related to the Romanticism, based on the decisive contrast, embodied in both external and internal characteristics of heroines. At an early stage of her literary work Ch. Bronte imitates primarily romantic canons. This is proved by the presence in her sagas of romantically contrasting pairs of female characters (Marina and Lady Celsius, Marien Hume and Lady Zenobia Ellrington). The technique of contrast is used both in the structure of the image of one heroine and in the whole image system of works. Passionate, outwardly restrained Marina and Marien Hume are opposed by passionate, bright ladies who seek fame and recognition (Celsius, Zenobia, Louise Dance). These two types are also similar in their interest, feelings for the same character, forming a kind of «love triangle» (Marina – Albion – Celsius, Marien – Arthur Douro – Zenobia, Mina Lowry – Adrian Zamorna – Mary Percy).    Discussion. The peculiarities of Ch. Bronte's female images are embodied in a combination of original and traditional, typical characteristics inherent in female images of contemporary literature. In the early works of the writer there are two types of female images characteristic of romanticism, which are based on the defining contrast for romantics, embodied in both external and internal characteristics of the heroines. Contingently defining them as «European» and «Eastern» types, we divide the early heroines of Ch. Bronte in accordance with this principle of romantic typology. The sources of this convention lie in the very essence of the romantic worldview, the symbolization of reality and a person, the special content of the concept of «east», «eastern» as the opposite of what is associated with «European». Keywords: female images, Charlotte Bronte, typology, types of heroines, romantic character