Fictional Sisters: An examination of sisters and sisterhood in I Capture the Castle and The Brontës Went to Woolworths

This essay tries to explore the dynamics of sisterhood as an important narrative aspect in Dodie Smith´s I Capture the Castle (1949) and Rachel Ferguson´s The Brontës Went to Woolworths (1931). Sisters mirror each other both within and outside the family. They can serve as convenient character types with distinct capabilities, strengths or weaknesses, while the family setting makes for excellent possibilities of chamber drama but also for great scenes of affection and sacrifice. But there is also a possible destructive side of the family, a darker theme of entrapment and illusion that runs back to the Brontë connection. This essay will follow the different paths of sisterhood in both novels and investigate how they interact with and discern themselves from earlier ideals