SOURCE: “Incest Patterns in Two Victorian Novels,” in Literature and Psychology, Vol. XV, No. 3, Summer, 1965, pp. 135-62.

In the following essay, Smith argues that incest is a central theme in both Jane Eyre, where Jane struggles against her incestuous feelings for father figure Rochester, and Mill on the Floss, where the controversial flood-death scene and the passionate embrace between brother and sister illuminate the incestuous undercurrent of the novel.

1. Her Master's Voice: Jane Eyre and the Incest Taboo

Even the initial reading of Jane Eyre¹ will reveal that the central organizing element is Jane's psychic conflict concerning her relationship with Rochester. I shall attempt to show that this conflict is much deeper and more fundamental than she (or probably Charlotte Brontë) realized. Whether Jane realized it or not (and I think she did not) and whether Charlotte realized it or not (and I suspect she did not), Jane's...