〞Loverless and Inexpectant of Love〞: The Brontëan Heroine as Idolatrous Collectors and Curious Collectibles

Abstract

This paper explores the Brontean heroine's relationships with men by examining the sense of 〞curiosity〞 and 〞curiousness〞 inherent in the system of objects-especially mementos-throughout Charlotte Bronte's texts. Within Bronte's narratives mementos are rendered 〞curious,〞 for they are often displaced, hidden, or described in excessive detail: they are defamiliarized. The collections of such curious mementos illuminate the paradoxical emotions of idolatry that Bronte's heroines are characteristic of. Meanwhile, as far as men are concerned, women are often delineated as curious objects themselves, inviting the curious male gaze. This paper first seeks to observe the curiousness of souvenirs-especially the mementos of hair and flowers-contained, or, rather, hidden, in tiny spaces by women, in order to analyze the sense of disavowal and self-denial that characterize Bronte's idolatrous heroines. From women-as-collectors this paper then moves on to discuss women as cabinets of curiosities and, eventually, curiosities themselves. As curious objects, the Brontean heroine can at once attract the curious male gaze and skirt around it, forever maintaining the tension inherent in the mechanism of female exhibition/male penetration. Within such system of curious gazes, where the Brontean heroine is both the curious collector of mementos and the 〞curious〞 collectibles, the seemingly paradoxical structure of their romantic relationships can be explicated.