Time, Space, and Place in Charlotte Brontë

Book excerpt: Organized thematically around the themes of time, space, and place, this collection examines Charlotte Brontë in relationship to her own historical context and to her later critical reception, takes up the literal and metaphorical spaces of her literary output, and sheds light on place as both a psychic and geographical phenomenon in her novels and their adaptations. Foregrounding both a historical and a broad cultural approach, the contributors also follow the evolution of Brontë's literary reputation in essays that place her work in conversation with authors such as Samuel Richardson, Walter Scott, and George Sand and offer insights into the cultural and critical contexts that influenced her status as a canonical writer. Taken together, the essays in this volume reflect the resurgence of popular and scholarly interest in Charlotte Brontë and the robust expansion of Brontë studies that is currently under way.