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題名 Jane Eyre, Horticulture and the Fern
作者 吳易道
Wu, Yih-Dau
貢獻者 英文系
關鍵詞 Jane Eyre; John Loudon; garden; Wardian case; fern
日期 2025-07
上傳時間 2025-11-14
摘要 This article explores the interplay between the fern and Charlotte Brontë’s horticultural imagination in Jane Eyre (1847). The novel apparently shares an obvious ideological affinity with Victorian horticulture. Both Brontë’s Bildungsroman and Victorian horticulture are concerned with the development and improvement of an organic life. However, horticulture does not only bear on Brontë’s text metaphorically. This article shows that whenever Brontë alludes to the fern in the novel, she evokes real-life horticultural practices, such as John Loudon’s plant houses, Jane Loudon’s gardening lessons and Nathaniel Ward’s glazed cases. The novel engages with contemporary horticulture most subtly by describing how the fern transforms disciplinary regimes and restrictive enclosures calculated to restrain the heroine’s passionate nature. Consistently reconfiguring the claustrophobic environment with which Jane Eyre grapples, centring analysis on the fern invites a fresh understanding of her circumscribed existence. Examing the fern in Jane Eyre reveals how Brontë’s horticultural knowledge informs the feminist and colonial aspects of the novel.
關聯 Brontë Studies, Vol.50, No.3, pp.212-226
資料類型 article
DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/14748932.2024.2425863
dc.contributor 英文系
dc.creator (作者) 吳易道
dc.creator (作者) Wu, Yih-Dau
dc.date (日期) 2025-07
dc.date.accessioned 2025-11-14-
dc.date.available 2025-11-14-
dc.date.issued (上傳時間) 2025-11-14-
dc.identifier.uri (URI) https://ah.lib.nccu.edu.tw/item?item_id=179772-
dc.description.abstract (摘要) This article explores the interplay between the fern and Charlotte Brontë’s horticultural imagination in Jane Eyre (1847). The novel apparently shares an obvious ideological affinity with Victorian horticulture. Both Brontë’s Bildungsroman and Victorian horticulture are concerned with the development and improvement of an organic life. However, horticulture does not only bear on Brontë’s text metaphorically. This article shows that whenever Brontë alludes to the fern in the novel, she evokes real-life horticultural practices, such as John Loudon’s plant houses, Jane Loudon’s gardening lessons and Nathaniel Ward’s glazed cases. The novel engages with contemporary horticulture most subtly by describing how the fern transforms disciplinary regimes and restrictive enclosures calculated to restrain the heroine’s passionate nature. Consistently reconfiguring the claustrophobic environment with which Jane Eyre grapples, centring analysis on the fern invites a fresh understanding of her circumscribed existence. Examing the fern in Jane Eyre reveals how Brontë’s horticultural knowledge informs the feminist and colonial aspects of the novel.
dc.format.extent 109 bytes-
dc.format.mimetype text/html-
dc.relation (關聯) Brontë Studies, Vol.50, No.3, pp.212-226
dc.subject (關鍵詞) Jane Eyre; John Loudon; garden; Wardian case; fern
dc.title (題名) Jane Eyre, Horticulture and the Fern
dc.type (資料類型) article
dc.identifier.doi (DOI) 10.1080/14748932.2024.2425863
dc.doi.uri (DOI) https://doi.org/10.1080/14748932.2024.2425863