Navigating Trauma Through Brontë’s Thresholds
Charlotte Brontë’s Villette is a novel shaped by uncertainty, isolation, and psychological resilience. Its protagonist, Lucy Snowe, moves through liminal spaces—on the edges of social circles, between cultures, and within shifting states of consciousness. These in-between spaces are central to Kailey Piré’s thesis. A second-year MA student in English and Media Studies, Kailey is examining how Lucy navigates physical and metaphysical thresholds as she reckons with trauma and seeks agency.
Kailey’s research builds on an essay they wrote for Dr. Shanyn Fiske’s course last spring, which led them to explore Villette further in their thesis. Now, with Dr. Fiske—Graduate Program Director for English and Media Studies—as their advisor, they are continuing to examine how Brontë engages with trauma and liminality in the novel.
The memorialization of thesis topics in the English and Media Studies MA program is a project led by second-year student Kayla Oswald, who is working to document and showcase the range of research emerging from the program. Kailey’s work is part of this broader effort to highlight the scholarship shaping literary studies within the program.
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Crafting Stories, Analyzing Media: Explore the MA in English and Media Studies
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