The Uses of Obscurity: Jane Eyre, Lucy Snowe, and the Disposition against Display

This second chapter from Subjects on Display: Psychoanalysis, Social Expectation, and Victorian Femininity by Beth Newman is a lengthy one spanning 36 pages. Since this is a lot of ground to cover in a short amount of words, I would like to briefly highlight key points from each section to give an expansive overview of the chapter. In this chapter, Newman focus on Jane Eyre and Lucy Snowe, Bronte’s two most memorable heroines who seem to "disappear into the very furniture of the room" (25). Both women to some degree seem to embrace their obscure existence, noting that they do not look striking or stand out amongst other women. However, Newman notes there is one important difference. Jane views her obscurity as a virtue and even plays with it to her advantage, whereas Lucy seems to see it as a "liability" despite seemingly choosing to be inconspicuous. Newman then goes on to break down the manner in which her chapter will be written, through exploring Jane and Lucy as "equivocal representations of an idealized femininity" but also by doing so she hopes to consider them through the lens of Foucault and raise questions about Bronte’s narrative arcs, representations of women as objects rather than subjects, discuss discourse on the "desirable women" and tackle other such related issues. Overall, claims Newman, "an ideal femininity defined against spectacle needs to be reimagined and replayed because it was never fully embraced, neither by the men who were supposed to desire this kind of femininity in women nor by the women who were supposed to desire to embody it" (25-26). In the first section, entitled "Poor, Obscure, Plain, and Little, Newman outlines for us that by portraying her heroine as inconspicuous, not only is Bronte sticking up for the plain women she is also tackling an ideological and moral issue, thereby combining social and moral attributes to create a "kind of paradoxically conspicuous inconspicuousness. However, Newman delineates this from similar previous notions. First, Jane escapes a didactic and fervent Christian framework to instead create a Post Reform middle class. Next, Jane makes her obscurity admirable and attractive. By refusing to view herself as an object under what Newman calls "the gaze", this allows the middle class values to triumph over those with much affluence. This in turn helps us understand how literary texts function within the ideological structures and debates of the time. In addition, this triumph of the poor, obscure, plain and little heroine combines social aggression with an erotic component, both of which are embodied in Jane's interactions with Mr. Rochester.
In the next section, "The Red Room as the Site of the Gaze" Newman alerts us to the Jane's established propensity to seek enclosed spaces and observe from behind the draperies where she can "observe without being observed" (29). Through her lack of visible presence Jane then becomes seen as anti-aristocratic. In addition, this recession is a naturally ingrained part of her character and she does not shy away from it. In addition, Newman introduces to us the notion of the "gaze" with the example of Jane's other worldly experience of a gleam of light in the Red Room. In essence, this example exemplifies the notion that "what we are foes not coincide with what we can see and know of ourselves; that we are not equivalent to our own conscious perception; that we in some ways exceed the limits of our own apprehension and in others fall short; and that we do so in ways visible only from outside the self-that is, from the place of the other" (32).
In the third section, Through the Looking Glass: From the Red Room to the Outside World, she contextualizes the notion of the gaze, from Lacaan, as concerning subjectivity, rather than objectivity, as a mode of being . She first addresses Lacaan notion, a kind of deconstruction: "it seeks to dislodge the self from the embarrassing position" of the philosophical idealist, for whom, "nothing of the world appears except" the things or phenomena represented in his own mind" (33). She then introduces another view of this gaze through Kaja Silverman, "in which every subject of vision is also its object, the screen is the place where meaning intervenes, interpreting the subject for him or herself..." (33). Newman then applies these concepts to tie the first several sections, on obscurity, back into the mix, "But at this moment in Jane's life the effort is doomed to failure, as the 'great looking-glass', amid the room's other 'high, dark' furnishings, dwarfs her. It returns to her an image of herself as the Reeds see her-precisely as other, devalued, tiny, insignificant, not worthy of being seen" (38).
In the fourth section, Scopophilia, Art, and Distinction: The Psychical and Social Meanings of Jane's paintings, Newman again focuses in on surveillance. "Jane Eyre further suggests that the scopic drive, like all manifestations of the drive, works both ways, taking both the active form of looking and the 'passive' form of exhibitionism, the please in being looked at. Newman then claims that Jane channels these exhibitionist qualities into a display that is not really a display-her art. Newman's aforementioned physical manifestations of ideal femininity are not enough, the historical-social, a she calls it, must also be explored. Jane's art is not just a channel for her in artistic development; it reveals her participation in semiotics to assert her social standing. But not only does she use artistic impulse to show worth and standing, she attempts to pain the sublime and defy idealized femininity. Then through Rochester's questioning of her work, we can see the ambiguity of whether domesticity is part of Jane's nature or if it is by achievement and attainment of skill.
The fifth section, The Divided Ideal of Social Duty", the emphasis is taken off of the novel, briefly, to focus on the social and cultural implications. As evangelical fervor was slowly unwound to secularization, the middle class gained both economically and culturally and so it became convenient and necessary to focus on worldly issues rather than spiritual ones. Credit depended on reputation and vice versa and in 19th century England, what better way to show credit than to manipulate dress, consumption, etiquette, etc to show the wealth of a family? And who better to display these displays than the young woman of the family, the focus of social ties. However, despite these social changes, the Christian notions still held some ground, such as in Jane's refusal of Rochester's offer to dress her in fine clothes and jewels. And this originality that Rochester sees is the decidedly newly constructed English, non-aristocratic ideal feminization of women.
Finally, Newman dedicates the remaining sections, and last 15 pages, to Lucy Snowe of Villette. She asserts that the notions of seeing and being seen, as displayed above in Jane Eyre are again central to Villette, but with much more ambivalence. Here, Newman outlines several key differences between Jane and Lucy; that the men in Jane Eyre are different versions of English masculine desirability and in Villette M. Paul with his strange and alien Catholicism cannot help to define Lucy's ideal femininity. In addition, in Villette, Bronte does more than display the screen and instead chooses to use it to expose vulnerabilities and limits produced by it, "If the essence of the (modern) self lies in being conceived as interiority, as Bronte's fiction has repeatedly been shown to insist, and if women's power in the social world depends on the richness of their interior selves, especially if they are marked by what Lucy calls 'outward deficiency' (483), what if that interior itself were fundamentally a vacancy?" (48).
Newman then outlines the role of surveillance as it is in Jane Eyre, but instead of watching and not being watched, Villette instead has an active engagement from both Lucy and M. Paul, "Pleasure, in other words, can lean on power without simply feeding it-at least in Villette, despite the pervasiveness of surveillance in the text. By constructing M.Paul's flirtation as a form of supervision-which it partly is- Lucy finds a way for her own repressed desire for 'notice' to achieve satisfaction. If, as I have argued, soliciting the other's attention has negative, even disastrous, meaning in her unconscious, the surest way for attentions to become acceptable to her would be for them to present themselves as chastisement" (55). In addition, in the final section entitled Writing and Display, Newman again differentiates Villette from the clean and optimistic control of her audience-that is to say Jane is controlling her subjectivity (who looks at her, how she is looked at, etc),demonstrated in Bronte's other novel. In Villette, rather Lucy limits the information that is included to her audience, thereby limiting how much of her subjectivity she wishes to display. She seems to only address the reader directly when it seems integral to the story and at no other points. In addition, the actual concept of the artist, such as Lucy writing and Bronte writing Lucy is put on display, through Vashti, without actually putting women on display, thereby again carefully limiting personal subjectivity. Finally, Newman ties up this chapter by expressing the bind between objectivity and subjectivity and how each plays its crucial role, as noted above, in idealizing Victorian notions of femininity.

Character Analysis: Mr. Tulkinghorn

After our class exercise today, I would like to focus in on a character that although we have not paid him much attention so far in our discussions, is an interesting and integral character to Dickens world of Bleak House: Mr. Tulkinghorn. Although he at first seems to be someone we can trust, as he is friends with the Deadlocks whom despite their abundant affluence, seem to be still genuinely good people. However, we learn that Tulkinghorn can and will use anything and anyone to gain advantage, such as using Jo for information and acquiring the letters that belonged to Lady Deadlock and Captain Hawdon to keep Lady Deadlock in silence. He is one of the most corrupt in my mind because his flaws are plentiful. He is a user, deceiver, schemer, prier, money seeker and lender, retracts his word and the list goes on. However, the actual reasons behind his flaws are not always clear. We do not know much about his childhood or early life and so cannot use that as an excuse as to the cause of his flaws. However, I would say that much of the influence on his flaws is for personal gain, especially for material wealth and/or favors from others through learning information to use against others, like threatening Lady Deadlock with information about Esther in order to keep her silenced. In addition, he is a lawyer for the Jarndyce and Jarndyce case so his motives are always ulterior and for his own gain. In considering whether or not he is a sympathetic character there is not really much to consider. There is not a single redeeming quality about him and I feel that this is a unanimous view of his character.

When we look at the larger picture of what Dickens is trying to show us through Tulkinghorn, I believe there are several concepts at work. First, Dickens is showing us the corruption of the legal system with Tulkinghorn being a prime example from the Jarndyce case. In addition, I think Tulkinghorn is definitely one of the characters that embodies all the wrong qualities of human nature: lying, cheating, using, etc with Skimpole’s flaws being another example from the story. In addition, Dickens is showing us what power, influence and money can not only do to someone but how these things entitle and enable people to control others. Dickens criticism of those with money is biting and harsh in that like others in the story, Tulkinghorn is corrupted by power and greed which is in harsh contrast to characters like say poor little Jo and Jenny who have no one and nothing and do not really fit anywhere in the class divide. In addition, combined with his actions, Tulkinghorn has a very disagreeable personality. His temperament is harsh and his loyalty lays with no one, not even his old and trusted friends the Deadlocks. He uses their trust in him to his advantage and knows that he can manipulate people through this covenant of secrecy and trust.   

Narrative and Writing Style

            When considering narrative style, I would like to focus on the qualities of Esther as our narrator. Although Esther seems to embody the qualities of a sort of omniscient observer, as that of Lucy, she appears to be less judgmental and quick to stick to first impressions. She seems to have her own opinions, such as the identity of the lady in the veil, but she is open to listening to and considering what others have to say. Due to her personal demeanor as quiet, observant and inwardly drawn and focused, along with trustworthy, she seems to be the ideal narrator for our story. However, with a story so complex, with all of its distinct characters and sub plots it is impossible to have one character witness all of the action, hence the omniscient overview of all the characters. This is still a very popular style even today, such as in the works of the Harry Potter novels, and seems to be a reaction against works of others such as the Bronte sisters who employ a single narrative style with focus on the feelings, thoughts and observations of the protagonist.

            Now when considering action and plot construction, it really intrigues me that not only is this Esther’s story, it is the story of all those in Jarndyce and Jarndyce and the whole of London and its surrounding communities at large. This is an effective technique for gaining the attention of the audience in that the actions of one character are not the constant focus, thereby gripping the reader to continue to learn the fate of each character. In addition, this technique is not very prevalent in the following century, especially with the modernists and up through the current post modern movements, with focus on the fate of a single individual who comes to interact with others throughout the story. I also find the withholding of information, which in this case predates Hemingway’s “Iceberg Theory”, to be another effective technique that Dickens utilizes. By maintaining an air of mystery for much of the novel with regards to the Jarndyce case and adding other elements of mystery such as disguises, secret letters, etc Dickens is able to not only engage in the story in both an active (drawing conclusions, making assumptions and connecting information) and passive way (absorbing information, following complex narrative lines, etc). Finally, with specific emphasis on plot construction, Dickens employs one final technique that, in my view, gives the novel a sense of realism that has thus far been absent from Victorian works we have studied. In Dickens portrayal, he includes all walks of life from children to adults, poor to rich, men and women, etc. This provides a broad overview of the economic, social and political forces of the time unlike the portrayal of only middle class white society with comfortable means of living and no real societal problems other than marriage for security. Dickens, instead, attempts to portray the wide disparity between those who have everything and those who have nothing, as was the actual reality as a result of industrialization.  

Musings on Class and Femininity

            When considering class in the novel, it is important to note that Dickens, unlike Bronte, portrays the real divides of socioeconomics and real tales of trouble and woe, forgiving my cliché description. He depicts the very poor such as Jo and the very lavish and elegant, such as Sir Leicester and Lady Deadlock. Bronte portrays a girl, in this case Lucy, of small fortune but who suffers no considerable hardships other than familial loss, and she is always given a way to make means for herself. Bronte’s focus for her novel’s settings are in serene, clean and pleasant building and property’s surrounded by nature whereas Dickens focus is on the harsh and dirty reality of industrialization, in order to emphasize the growing disparity amongst classes in England’s urban progress. In addition, Dickens characters are vividly distinct and come from all walks of life, and yet are still interconnected in some sort of cosmic way whereas Bronte focuses on mostly middle class domestic women and working men who do not mingle much outside their own social standing. Lucy even goes so far as to call the young disabled girl she is to look after over vacation a “cretin” and that this girl makes her “depressed”. It seems that her judgment of others, based on little evidence, knows no bounds. Now, this is not to say that Dickens does not have characters of judgment by any means, but merely, his portrayal of these types of characters, such as Mr. Tulkinghorn, is not something to be admired, nor are they the protagonist. Overall, Dickens representations of people, no matter their class, is much more realistic and therefore appealing to a reader in that his attempt is to convey people as they are, not as he thinks they are, thinks they should be, or wants them to be.

            Now it is impossible to consider class without exploring the gender roles and divide that accompany class. Unlike, Bronte, who rejected the domestic and motherly duties expected of a woman of no large fortune, she made no attempt at all, to liberate her characters, either Jane or Lucy, from this same fate. Instead, she writes characters who are contented to a life of being told where their place is and how they should live. Dickens does not attempt to break this norm much either, even with Esther who is “abnormal” compared to other women, her only role of trust is as head housekeeper/lady of the house/companion to Ada. This is not much different from Jane or Lucy except that unlike the other two who wish so much independence, Esther is actually pleased to serve others. It would seem to me then that even though the rest of society was in a revolutionary period of economics, of social standing and even the very fiber of how society was organized, women’s roles lagged far behind as they always have and still do. I am truly disturbed by the lack, thus far into the course, of women, either as characters or as authors, speaking out against the unfair and unjust treatment that they receive. I place my hopes now on Esther to reject the role of mother, wife and domestic, but for now, we must wait and see how the novel will unfold.

Entry 1: First Impressions

My first impressions of Bleak House are the stark contrast it is in comparison to Villette. First and foremost, Villette is a gothic novel with minimal characters which takes a lengthy amount of time to fully comprehend the deeper motives and personalities of each individual. Bleak House, on the other hand, is filled with distinct characters right from the get go, and first impressions are easily stable or unstable within the first six chapters of the novel. In addition, Villette's focus in on the problems of a woman of small fortune but who does not suffer greatly and still lives a comfortable life with means of sustenance such as a roof, food and work. Bleak House, however, focuses on the middle and higher class yes, but also paints a realistic portrait of the lower and poor classes, giving the novel a more relatable and realistic feel than Villette. In addition, the problems, actions and overt judgments by Miss Lucy Snowe, in Villette, are dramatic, overstated and tire the reader with the intense focus and scrutiny upon the same character who is static throughout the duration of the novel. Bleak House, on the other hand, paints a vibrant fabric of characters who, although do not seem connected now; I am sure will be before the end of the novel. Each character is distinctly portrayed and each contains a unique place and name in life. Finally, Bronte seems much more concerned with the fate of the individual in an ever changing society and more concerned with the roles of women particularly, while Dickens seems more concerned with the fate of society upon the individuals involved and how society, as a cultural, political and economic force, shapes lives.

However, I did notice an interesting thing about a correlation between the works of Bronte and Dickens. Each main character, Lucy, Jane (Of Jane Eyre) and Esther all share a similar back story. Each woman is removed from her family at a young age, either by choice or by death and must make her way in the world, often working as a ladies maid or caretaker of the children. In addition, much mystery surrounds their family and we are not often told the entire story at any point in the work, leaving much to the reader’s active faculties to attempt to piece their own interpretation together. This seems to be a technique that is unique to writers of the Victorian Era and is an intriguing one in that the reader hopes, by continuing with the novel, to eventually learn the truth, despite the often disappointing reality that he/she does not. But, nonetheless, this character’s vision colors the world that the author has created and, it is through this lens that our perceptions and judgments pass. However, as see above, we must not always take the protagonists perceptions as the truth and must always be vigilant in questioning the motives and judgments that she passes upon us about others. It is my belief that here is truly where the essence of the reliable versus the unreliable narrator originates. But, as much of the novel still remains, we cannot know anything about how the plot, characters or perceptions of culture, society or economics will yet play out.