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Raisa Dyadkina

Professor Kahn

The Victorian Period

14 December 2014

Hysterics of the Victorian Woman in Charlotte Brontë’s Villette

Charlotte Brontë’s last and most autobiographical novel Villette, has many similarities to

Brontë’s life, however it is important to recognize that “the naked facts and circumstances’ of

Brontë’s past are not as important as ‘the actual suffering and experience” (Dolin, xv). These

experiences, as described in the novel by the narrator Lucy Snowe, have the power “to disturb

and irritate us, press and move on” (Dolin, xv). Villette was a new form of literature for the

world - it introduced the mentality of a woman leading a non-traditional life full of suffering and

mental disturbance - this was a radically different book than Jane Eyre. Villette delved into the

domain of female consciousness and sexuality - Charlotte Brontë introduced the readers to

confessions of a narrator who is unreliable and generally disagreeable. Charlotte Brontë depicts

Lucy Snow’s mental fixations and obsessions as what many Victorian readers would describe as

‘hysterical’ as an attempt to find her authoritative voice in a patriarchal society, and to

consequently find a cure for the ‘hysteria’ that many presumably ‘hysteric’ women suffered

from.

According to the English Oxford Dictionary, the noun hysteria has two definitions: the

first is “exaggerated or uncontrollable emotion or excitement”, while the second definition is

“An old-fashioned term for a psychological disorder characterized by conversion of

psychological stress into physical symptoms (somatization) or a change in self-awareness”

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(Hysteria). It is interesting to note the example sentence for the second definition - “They never

talk about a disorder called hysteria, they talk about the womb wandering.” The Greek origin for

hysteria is hustera, which translates to “womb.” During the Victorian Period, hysteria was

thought to be associated specifically to women and their wombs - however specific symptoms

were never actually defined. Doctors and reformers of the Victorian society attributed hysteria,

or madness, to anxiety regarding poverty, economic status, or simply to the “three w’s - worry,

want, and wickedness” (Showalter, 162). Thus, ‘hysteria’ could be applied to practically any

woman that suffered from any of a wide range of diseases, actual or presumable. Using Victorian

literature, filled with madness and nervous illnesses, the Victorian female readers became

familiar with the supposed symptoms and remedies (Ruijter, 4). These female readers often

found it difficult to find their own voice and state their life intentions and dreams, when society

“instructs them to break down” (Ruijter, 4). Charlotte Brontë’s Lucy Snow attempts to find this

same voice, while trying to cure her own hysteria.

Charlotte Brontë introduced the readers to confessional writing - subtle confessions and

sophisticated writing to introduce the Victorian reader to the mentality of a woman (Dolin, xvi).

Lucy Snowe expresses a deep obsession with hysteria and ‘madness’ that woman were

supposedly pre-disposed to. ‘Hysteria’ and ‘hysterical’ is mentioned eight times in the novel,

while ‘nerves’ and ‘nervous’ are mentioned fifty-one times (Ruijter, 5). This suggests that Lucy

Snow is knowledgeable of mental illnesses, and also suggests her masochistic obsession with her

own mental stability as well as the mental stability of others. She also often associates her overall

health with her state of nerves: her observations of other individuals’ sanity and nerves, also

associates with those individuals’ overall health. After the death of Miss Marchmont, Lucy

Snowe states that she is “a very little, shaken in nerves. I grant I was not looking well, but on the
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contrary, thin, haggard, and hollow eyed…” (Brontë, 43). This connection of ‘nerves’ to health is

especially apparent during the time that she was left alone at Madame Beck’s school.

Lucy Snowe is left alone at Madame Beck’s boarding school, and for some time she takes

care of a disabled student, but once the student leaves, Lucy begins her descent into ‘hysteria.’

Lucy Snowe describes that “her spirits had long been gradually sinking…” and that for her to

“look forward was not to hope; the dumb future spoke no comfort, offered no promise, have no

inducement to bear present evil in reliance on future good” (Brontë, 156). Once again, Lucy

Snowe attributed “nerves getting over-stretched; my mind has suffered somewhat too much’ a

malady is growing upon it,” to her physical health, and her depression was thus succeeded by

physical illness (Brontë, 159). Lucy Snowe believing that she was of sane mind, left the school,

confessed to a Catholic priest (thereby committing heresy,) and collapsed from exhaustion in the

streets of Villette. This connection between the state of ‘nerves’ and physical health was once

again evident, however when she is presented with medical authority, she attempts to disregard

it.

Doctor John states that he cannot help Lucy Snowe because she must help herself find

some sort of happiness through “cheerful society” and “change of air - change of scene…” due

to her “nervous system b[earing] a good share of the suffering” (Brontë, 183). Lucy Snowe

denies the fact that she was experiencing any sort of mental distress by stating that her erratic

behavior was due to a fever (Brontë, 185). It is interesting to note that Doctor John states that

Lucy Snowe suffers from a “nervous fever”, whereas Lucy Snowe states that she suffers from

“fever of the nerves” - perhaps it is not that she denies that she is experiencing mental distress,

rather Lucy attempts to hold authority of her sanity (Hodge, 901). The type of recommendation
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that Doctor John gave Lucy Snowe was typical of the Victorian Period medicine - most

‘nervous’ patient were prescribed “a change of air” (Ruijter, 7).

Lucy Snowe seems to be a competent lay neurologist - more than capable of conversing

in the vocabulary of the neurologist profession (Hodge, 902). Lucy Snowe can diagnose neurotic

behavior as precisely as Doctor John, yet she does not adhere to every single idea that neurology

would entail, for that would mean that men would have to write her case history for her (Hodge,

902). Also, if Lucy Snowe was truly a ‘hysteric,’ a ‘madwoman’ – she would not be able to

determine her own treatment – something that she aspires to do throughout the novel. She

ignores Doctor John’s prescription is cultivated happiness, rather Lucy Snowe states that such

advice is simply mockery for “happiness is not a potato, to be planted in mould, and tilled with

manure” (Brontë, 250). Lucy Snowe’s self-treatment for her own diagnosis is perhaps the

narrative that the reader comprehends in Villette.

Lucy Snowe maintains her sanity without the “cultivation of happiness,” rather it is the

confession of one’s life found in this narrative. As suggested by Nestor, Charlotte Brontë shows

resistance to Victorian medicine by impeding the Victorian doctors’ understanding of Lucy

Snow’s symptoms (183). Narrating one’s life through the confession of feelings and thoughts is a

way to shower power over one’s own life (Ruijter, 9). The diagnosis of ‘hysteria’ is thus further

complicated because a narration of one’s life shows that the narrator, Lucy Snow is forced to

admit the responsibility for her actions – but hysteria, by definition states that one’s actions are

uncontrollable and thus cannot be narrated (9). Through Lucy Snow’s narration, she becomes

aware of her own mentality and voice in society, and she becomes “conscious of her own power

in narrative her own life (10). Her obsessive and sadistic desire of “conquest of knowledge” and

her sanity is the discourse of Villette (Hodges, 911). The ambiguous ending of the novel also
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suggests that Lucy Snowe has reached the epitome of her consciousness, knowledge, and sanity

– the ending of her narrative leaves her as an independent protagonist of her life, apart from the

patriarchal society.
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Works Cited

Hodge, Jon. ""Villette"'s Compulsory Education." Studies in English Literature 1500-1900.Vol.

45, No. 4, The Nineteenth Century (2005): 899-916. JSTOR. Web. 10 Dec. 2014. Showalter,

Elaine. "Victorian Women And Insanity." Victorian Studies 23.2 (1980): 157. Academic Search

Premier. Web. 14 Dec. 2014.

"Hysteric." : Definition of in Oxford Dictionary (American English) (US). N.p., n.d. Web. 14

Dec. 2014.

Nestor, Pauline. Female Friendships and Communities: Charlotte Brontë, George Eliot, Elizabeth

Gaskell. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1985.

Ruitjer, Lenneke. "Female Hysteria in Charlotte Brontë's 'Villette'" Female Hysteria in Charlotte

Brontë's 'Villette' Language and Culture Studies; Modern Literature & Gender Studies, 22 Nov.

2010. Web. 14 Dec. 2014.