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Jane Eyre's Sisters: How Women Live and Write the Heroine's Story
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Jane Eyre's Sisters: How Women Live and Write the Heroine's Story
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Overview
In Jane Eyre's Sisters: How Women Live and Write the Heroine's Story, cultural mythologist Jody Gentian Bower looks at novels by womenand some menas well as biographies of women that tell the story of the Aletis, the wandering heroine. She finds a similar pattern in works spanning the centuries, from Lady Mary Wroth and William Shakespeare in the 1600s to Sue Monk Kidd, Suzanne Collins, and Philip Pullman in the current century, including works by Jane Austen, the Brontë sisters, George Eliot, Elizabeth Gaskell, Charles Dickens, Kate Chopin, Virginia Woolf, Doris Lessing, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Alice Walker, to name just a few. She also discusses myths and folk tales that follow the same pattern.
Dr. Bower argues that the Aletis represents an archetypal character that has to date received surprisingly little scholarly recognition despite her central role in many of the greatest works of Western fiction. Using an engaging, down-to-earth writing style, Dr. Bower outlines the stages and cast of characters of the Aletis story with many examples from the literature. She discusses how the Aletis story differs from the hero's quest, how it has changed over the centuries as women gained more independence, and what heroines of novels and movies might be like in the future. She gives examples from the lives of real women and scatters stories that illustrate many of her points throughout the book. In the end, she concludes, authors of the Aletis story use their imagination to give us characters who serve as role models for how a woman can live a full and free life.
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9780835609340 |
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Publisher: | Quest Books |
Publication date: | 03/01/2015 |
Pages: | 256 |
Product dimensions: | 5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d) |
About the Author
Table of Contents
Foreword xiii
Acknowledgments xvii
Introduction 1
Idyll: Jane Eyre's Journey 9
Chapter 1 The Wandering Heroine 11
Archetypes 12
The Archetype of the Aletis 15
Chapter 2 The Power of Story and the Imagination 19
How Stories Change Reality 21
How Writers Change Reality 24
Overcoming Tradition 26
Reimagining Women's Lives 31
Idyll: The Goddess's Underworld Journey 37
Chapter 3 Heroic Quests and Heroine Journeys 41
Yin and Yang 48
The Search for the Heroine's Journey 51
The Descent Journey 60
Chapter 4 The Aletis Story 67
The Aletis Is Not a Hero 67
To Be a Woman 70
Idyll: Éowyn's Journey 73
Chapter 5 Parents
The Lost Golden Time 77
The Misfit Girl 77
Problematic Parents and Guardians 81
The Problematic Mother 85
The Problematic Father 90
Chapter 6 Other Relationships at Home 103
The Sweet Sister-Friend 103
The Mean Girl 109
The Frenemy 114
Mentors 115
Menial Work 117
Idyll: Dorothea's Journey 119
Chapter 7 The Wrong Husband 121
Marrying a Fantasy 122
Marrying Unconsciously 127
Idyll: Inez Haynes Irwin's Journey 131
Chapter 8 Leaving 133
Refusing the Wrong Husband 136
Refusing the House 138
Refusing on Principle 139
Refusing Obligations 142
Stealing Away 143
Idyll: Allerleirauh's Journey 145
Chapter 9 Into the Wild 147
Disguise 149
Reclaiming "Virgin Time" 151
The Forest 153
The Uncharted Place 155
Idyll: Vasilisa's Journey 159
Chapter 10 The Woman of Power 163
The Witch 169
The Madwoman 172
Chapter 11 The Time of Learning 175
Sorting the Seeds: Learning Discrimination 182
The Magic Helper 184
The Secret Chamber: Cleaning Up 185
Stirring the Pot: Alchemical Transformation 187
Idyll: Flora Poste's Journey 189
Chapter 12 On Her Own Terms 191
The Odd Woman 192
The Loose Woman 193
Stepping Up 199
Speaking Up 202
Teaching 205
Idyll: The Lute-Playing Queen's Journey 207
Chapter 13 A New Life 211
The Home of One's Own 211
The True Lover 212
Relationship as Opportunity 214
Children 215
Idyll: Uta dy Chalion's Journey 219
Chapter 14 Creativity 221
The Handless Maiden 222
Weaving 225
Art 227
Writing 229
Idyll: Merida's Journey 233
Chapter 15 Transforming the World 235
Sovereignty 235
Transforming Communities 238
Leaving a Legacy 241
Transforming Gender Identities 243
Forming New Partnerships 245
And the Story Continues 246
Notes 251
Works Cited 261
Additional Bibliography 265
Archetypal and Depth Psychology 265
Literary Analysis 266
Mythology and Folk and Fairy Tales 267
Neuroscience and Mainstream Psychology 268
Philosophy, Culture, and Social Studies 268
Works of Fiction, Autobiography, and Biography 269
Index 273