Presentation of women in selected novels of Charles Dickens and Charlotte Bronte.

Charlotte Bronte was under the influence of Charles Dickens and he was an inspiration for her, especially when social issues were concerned. They were both interested in creating a wide range of characters. Charles Dickens created hundreds of more or less memorable characters in his novels. We can even say that his novels brim over multitude of characters. On the other hand, Charlotte Bronte’s range of characters is much narrower. But what needs to be emphasized is the similarity of configurations in which they placed their heroines in their works. In my MA thesis I have described the presentation of women and made an attempt to define the identities of women in selected works of Dickens and Charlotte Bronte. I have also discussed the configurations in which these women had to function. When it comes to the presentation of women, Dickens and Charlotte Bronte presented them from different perspectives. And in my MA thesis I have focused on that particular difference. While tracing what the critics have said about the characters’ identities , on the whole, it can be said that in Dickens women characters have fixed, stable identities. Their roles in the novels are predictable and the repertoire of situations in which women are placed is more or less fix. Women characters in Dickens do not develop their identities. They have the same nature at the beginning as well as at the end of the novel. However, Charlotte Bronte’s character Jane Eyre is not the same character as she was in the beginning. In my work I have applied a close reading technique and I have re-examined the critics’ opinions. In Dickens’s Great Expectations, Oliver Twist and David Copperfield I have established the following character types: angelic/melodramatic heroines, Dickens’s comic villains and victimized fallen women. However, as the work progressed I have noticed that even these categories have certain nuances. In David Copperfield we have two main heroines, Dora Spenlow and Agnes Wickfield, who can be characterized as the angelic/melodramatic heroines; in Oliver Twist it is the case of Rose Maylie. David Copperfield falls in love with his boss's daughter, Dora Spenlow, at first sight. And, quite frankly, we're not quite sure why. “I was a captive and a slave. I loved Dora Spenlow to distraction! She was more than human to me. She was a Fairy, a Sylph, I don't know what she was--anything that no one ever saw, and everything that everybody ever wanted”. He is trapped by her beautiful image, and indeed she is nothing more than an image, an ideal with no real substance. To his mind she is some kind of magical being, some kind of fairy, something out of this world. She is everything he imagined, at the first impression, yet she is not someone who David truly "saw" for who she really was. Dora is childish and doll-like, immature, and not really ready to be David's wife. She asks David to think of her as not a mature wife, but a “child-wife”, so that he will be somewhat more forgiving of her faults. Agnes, on the other hand, is a model of the nineteenth century ideal of the "angel in the home," the woman who keeps her husband's house peacefully and calmly while he goes out into the brutal and chaotic public life in order to shape his position, character and his name in the public sphere. Her support enables him to obtain the happy family life he has always wanted. The immature Dora was very much criticized during her life for not being able to keep David's house. Agnes, by contrast, is very good at keeping the house that she supports. Agnes as an ideal of womanhood in Dickens’ world. In Oliver Twist we are introduced to the character of Rose Maylie who is also a representative of the angelic/melodramatic character. Rose Maylie, the idealised woman sets high moral standards in the world of Oliver Twist. In Dickens’s novelsCharlotte Bronte was under the influence of Charles Dickens and he was an inspiration for her, especially when social issues were concerned. They were both interested in creating a wide range of characters. Charles Dickens created hundreds of more or less memorable characters in his novels. We can even say that his novels brim over multitude of characters. On the other hand, Charlotte Bronte’s range of characters is much narrower. But what needs to be emphasized is the similarity of configurations in which they placed their heroines in their works. In my MA thesis I have described the presentation of women and made an attempt to define the identities of women in selected works of Dickens and Charlotte Bronte. I have also discussed the configurations in which these women had to function. When it comes to the presentation of women, Dickens and Charlotte Bronte presented them from different perspectives. And in my MA thesis I have focused on that particular difference. While tracing what the critics have said about the characters’ identities , on the whole, it can be said that in Dickens women characters have fixed, stable identities. Their roles in the novels are predictable and the repertoire of situations in which women are placed is more or less fix. Women characters in Dickens do not develop their identities. They have the same nature at the beginning as well as at the end of the novel. However, Charlotte Bronte’s character Jane Eyre is not the same character as she was in the beginning. In my work I have applied a close reading technique and I have re-examined the critics’ opinions. In Dickens’s Great Expectations, Oliver Twist and David Copperfield I have established the following character types: angelic/melodramatic heroines, Dickens’s comic villains and victimized fallen women. However, as the work progressed I have noticed that even these categories have certain nuances. In David Copperfield we have two main heroines, Dora Spenlow and Agnes Wickfield, who can be characterized as the angelic/melodramatic heroines; in Oliver Twist it is the case of Rose Maylie. David Copperfield falls in love with his boss's daughter, Dora Spenlow, at first sight. And, quite frankly, we're not quite sure why. “I was a captive and a slave. I loved Dora Spenlow to distraction! She was more than human to me. She was a Fairy, a Sylph, I don't know what she was--anything that no one ever saw, and everything that everybody ever wanted”. He is trapped by her beautiful image, and indeed she is nothing more than an image, an ideal with no real substance. To his mind she is some kind of magical being, some kind of fairy, something out of this world. She is everything he imagined, at the first impression, yet she is not someone who David truly "saw" for who she really was. Dora is childish and doll-like, immature, and not really ready to be David's wife. She asks David to think of her as not a mature wife, but a “child-wife”, so that he will be somewhat more forgiving of her faults. Agnes, on the other hand, is a model of the nineteenth century ideal of the "angel in the home," the woman who keeps her husband's house peacefully and calmly while he goes out into the brutal and chaotic public life in order to shape his position, character and his name in the public sphere. Her support enables him to obtain the happy family life he has always wanted. The immature Dora was very much criticized during her life for not being able to keep David's house. Agnes, by contrast, is very good at keeping the house that she supports. Agnes as an ideal of womanhood in Dickens’ world. In Oliver Twist we are introduced to the character of Rose Maylie who is also a representative of the angelic/melodramatic character. Rose Maylie, the idealised woman sets high moral standards in the world of Oliver Twist. In Dickens’s novels