A Bakhtinian Perspective on the Nineteenth Century Chronotope: Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre as a Chronotopic Counterpart for Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary

Abstract

This paper revisits Jane Eyre and Madame Bovary in the light of Mikhail Bakhtin's theory of literary chronotope, highlighting the importance of time and space; it aims to suggest that that despite living in different times and spaces, both protagonists eventually approximate similar catastrophic ends as manifest in Emma’s literal and Jane’s symbolic deaths. Jane seems to be a historical counterpart for the French Madame Bovary – as both women seem to share a highly romanticized view of the world, unconsciously craving prosperity, passion, and high society. On the other hand, however, both women are oddities in their respective historical contexts, struggling for an idealized life beyond the norms of the nineteenth-century society. This paper suggests that despite living in different times and spaces, both character dynamics tend to eventually approximate similar catastrophic endpoints.