Surveillance in Charlotte Brontes Villette

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In this essay I will discuss ‘surveillance’ in Charlotte Bronte’s 19th Century novel, Villette. By examining the concept of the ‘Panopticon’ as proposed by Jeremy Bentham and the study ‘Discipline and Punish’ by Michel Foucault, we can see the origins and execution of social surveillance and understand the use of symbolism within the novel. Using examples I will highlight the level of observation the drawing from key works written on the novel, focusing on works by Joseph A. Boone and Margaret L. Shaw, including surveillance itself within Villette I will attempt to highlight the elements of the novel that focus on the concept of surveillance. Including key characters, such as Madame Beck, M. Paul, and Lucy Snowe herself. In my closing statement I will attempt to briefly sum up the key theme of surveillance in Charlotte Bronte’s Villette. In Michel Foucault’s ‘Discipline and Punish’, he explains the concept of the Panopticon as set out by Jeremy Bentham. The Panopticon was a mechanical and architectural design of a prison that’s objective was to create the illusion of surveillance at all times. Foucault applied this mechanism to society and concluded that. He suggests that there is an internalization of social control that is used to monitor society itself. In his writings he explains that “visibility is a trap” as the individual is an “object of information” as what is represented on the surface is what they communicate, however the individual is “never an object of communication”. The concept of the watchtower as proposed in Bentham’s design is “permanent in its effect, even if it is discontinuous in it action” . This is a key concept in Charlotte Bronte’s Villete as surveillance, in many areas of the novel is unverifiable and influences the behaviour of those who are subjected to it. The key here is that knowledge is power. “Bentham laid down the principle

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