Villette, Charlotte Brontë’s final masterpiece of 1853, evinces the intersection between literature and medicine in mid-Victorian culture, in which the two disciplines became increasingly specialized and also discursively interdependent at the same time.1¹ The connection between the two distinct fields present in the novel is unequivocally illustrated by its narrative preoccupation with mental and physical illnesses. The subject of insanity, in particular, constitutes one of its overriding concerns. Indeed, Villette offers a revealing glimpse into the human psyche at its most complex with its subtexts layered with a plethora of disturbing images of the mind. In the novel one comes across numerous references and allusions to mental disorders including neurosis, hysteria, amnesia, depression, hypochondria, and schizophrenia, which makes Villette look like a collection of case studies of psychiatry. Yet, studies on insanity in the novel have almost exclusively centered on Lucy Snowe, the protagonist-narrator.2² While her clinical condition has been extensively discussed, little has been explored about that of the other characters. In effect, the lesser heroines in Villette like Madame Beck, Paulina Home or Ginevra Fanshawe all exhibit symptoms of mental irregularities of one kind or another.

中文翻译：

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贝克夫人在Villette中的医学诊断

维莱特，夏洛特勃朗特1853最终力作，没有表现出对培养中期的维多利亚文学和医学之间的交点，其中所述两个学科变得越来越专业化，并在同一time.1也话语相互依赖¹的两个不同的字段存在于之间的连接小说对精神和身体疾病的叙述很明确地说明了这部小说。精神错乱的主题尤其构成其压倒一切的关注之一。的确，维莱特它的潜台词与大量令人不安的心灵形象层叠在一起，以最复杂的方式提供对人类心理的一瞥。在小说中，有很多关于精神障碍的参考文献和典故，包括神经症，歇斯底里症，健忘症，抑郁症，软骨病和精神分裂症，这使维莱特看起来像是一组精神病学案例研究。然而，就在小说精神错乱的研究几乎完全集中在露西·斯诺，主角-narrator.2 ²虽然她的临床状况进行了广泛的讨论，但很少有研究有关的其他字符。实际上，维莱特（Villette）中的次要女主角 像贝克夫人，宝琳娜·霍姆（Paulina Home）或吉内夫拉·范肖（Ginevra Fanshawe）一样，都表现出一种或多种精神异常的症状。