Abstract
In The Foundling (1833), Charlotte Brontë introduces Finic as a ‘deaf-mute’ dwarf whose body acts as a microcosm of nineteenth-century views on disability and race. Influenced by Sir Walter Scott’s The Black Dwarf, Charlotte Brontë renders her dwarf deaf, and then in A Leaf from an Unopened Volume (1834) she links his disabilities to miscegenation. Whereas Finic’s disabled body is portrayed as abject, Charlotte Brontë elevates other physical disabilities, such as the storyteller’s club feet, for his disability connects him to Byron and Scott. Representations of disability in Charlotte Brontë’s juvenilia also inform her later portrayals of disability in Jane Eyre and Villette.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
