Abstract

While reading Villette, published by Charlotte Brontë in 1853, one cannot help thinking of Jane Eyre, the eponymous heroine of the novel published by the same author in 1847. The link means much more than the thematic and stylistic unity of a writer’s works. Lucy Snowe, the heroine of Villette, constitutes in fact the rewriting of Jane Eyre. Such rewriting is characterized by continuity as can be shown by the physical appearance, the strength of character and the progression of both heroines. However, there would be no interest in reproducing Jane Eyre identically and the outcome of the two novels presents a clear rupture, a rupture which has to be deciphered in order to understand the purpose of Charlotte Brontë in creating the filiation between Lucy Snowe and Jane Eyre.