Kimberly Hallows
Professor Dodwell
English 3113
February 10, 2012
Female Ambition and Refusal of Paternal Figures in Charlotte Bronte’s The Professor
In The Professor by Charlotte Bronte, William Crimsworth describes a chain of events that lead him to marry a student of his, Frances Henri. Williams’ account of the story leads the reader to believe that Henri solely accepts him as a paternal male figure, however, “Both her pronounced independence and her unmistakable emotional separateness from him do not correspond to Crimsworth’s portrait view of her” (Tromly 116). Henri is a very intelligent, independent young woman, whom I argue marries William Crimsworth in order to fabricate a life that she could not, as a woman in the nineteenth century, create on her own.


In her critical essay on The Professor, Annette Tromly claims that Frances Henri marries William because, “spending life alone would mean abandoning her career ambitions”(116-117). During the time period in which The Professor is written, women were not considered equal to men and were unable to pursue the same accomplishments as men. A common notion was that women could not control their emotions and should not be able to make choices without the guidance of a man. “Women were not- of sound decision-making and effective action” (Ingham 147). This ideology reflected in Crimsworth’s belief that he should take care of Henri, being a paternal figure in her life that would shelter and nurture her. Henri however, is different from the other women Crimsworth encounters.
When Henri and Crimsworth first begin to interact, he compares her intelligence and esthetic qualities to his other female students’. He does this mainly through the use of physiognomy, a popular science of their time, in which facial features were read in order to assign character traits and intelligence to an individual. “The shape of her head too was different, the superior part more developed, the base considerably less” (Bronte 97).  In The Brontes and the Psyche: Mind and Body, Ingham states that the “upper features (eyes, forehead) were markers of intellectual faculties; lower features (mouth, nose, chin) were indicators of ‘the organs of sense” (157).  Henri’s intelligence, which Crimsworth reads in her facial features, made her unique and attracted Crimsworth to her. Crimsworth’s other female students failed to show the same ambition as Henri; “The brand of mental inferiority was considered by them as no disgrace, their hopes for the future being based solely on their personal attractions” (Bronte 96). These women follow societies expectation for them to attract a paternal figure using their looks alone.
Henri initially struggles with the lessons Crimsworth teaches in French but she does not give up. Henri’s  “perseverance and a sense of duty” impressed William (Bronte 104). He pushes Henri by giving her extensive lessons in English, rather than French and she soon gains confidence in herself. She is not boastful though, which adds to Crimsworth’s attraction to her. “She could look at me, it seemed, when perplexed and bewildered, but not when gratified; I thought that scarcely fair” (Bronte 98). Her ability to remain modest while gaining confidence in her literary abilities impresses Crimsworth.
When pupils in the school begin to notice the change in Henri, Crimsworth feels as though he is fulfilling a paternal role. “To me it was not difficult to discover how I could best foster my pupil, cherish her starved feelings, and induce the outward manifestation of that inward vigour which sunless drought and blighting blast had hitherto forbidden to expand” (Bronte 118). Crimsworth believes that he has filled in a paternal gap. Despite Henri’s hard work and dedication, Crimsworth takes the credit for her achievement and she is still perceived as incapable of achieving anything beyond her role as a teacher or wife. “Her status as a social and educational inferior provides easy superiority for Crimsworth” (Tromly 118).
Henri is not only a woman but is without proper education or high social status, making her even less of a human in society and therefore unable to pursue a writing career. “The way that society was structured left few options for women and built perceived inferiority into the system” (Ingham 51). As intelligent and hard working as Frances is, society didn’t allow women to aspire to careers and even her head mistress doesn’t believe that she should, as a woman, possess aspirations and rely on her studies in order to secure her future.
Mlle Reutter, head mistress at the all girls’ school discourages Crimsworth from further encouraging Henri’s aspirations, claiming, “literary ambition especially, is not a feeling to be cherished in the mind of a woman” (Bronte 120). Reutter explains to William that the confidence he is giving her will eventually leave her disappointed since she is of lower social status than her peers and therefore will not achieve much. “Her sphere of life is somewhat beneath theirs; under these circumstances, a public distinction, conferred upon Mlle Henri, may be the means of suggesting comparisons, and exciting feelings such as would be far from advantageous to the individual forming their object” (Bronte 120).
It was uncommon, at this time, for a woman to hold a prestigious position without a man’s assistance. Reuter goes as far as to say, “even in celibacy it would be better for her to retain the character and habits of a respectable decorous female” (Bronte 120). She’s saying that Henri should not aspire to write with or without a husband, because even as an unmarried woman she does not hold a high enough social status to succeed.
When Reuter relieves Henri of the school, Crimsworth has already become attached to her and is very upset that she is no longer in his presence. He decides that he has to find and marry her, fulfilling his paternal responsibilities. He finds Henri in the cemetery where her recently deceased aunt has been buried. Knowing that this was her only relative and she is now alone, Crimsworth sees her state of vulnerability as his prime opportunity to claim his paternal hold over her. “Leading her from the graveyard, Crimsworth saw himself as effecting a rebirth- a victory over the forces of poverty, death and an antagonistic world” (Tromly122). Reuter relieves Henri of her teaching position leaving Henri with no income. Soon thereafter, Henri’s aunt dies, whom is her sole provider and only living relative. Marrying William would give Henri financial security and a family. Tromly states that, “Her status as a social and educational inferior provides easy superiority for Crimsworth” (118).  Crimsworth leads the reader to assume that Henri will suffer unless he comes to her rescue and marries her.
William must wait to propose because he dismisses himself from both Reuters’ female school and the boys’ school of M.Pelet, becoming unemployed and without financial resources. He refers to his situation saying, “the placeless usher, bare of resource, and unsupported by connections, must not think of this; such a sentiment as love, such a word as marriage, were misplaced in his heart and on his lips” (Bronte 153). He cannot be a paternal figure in Henri’s life without any means to support her and refuses to marry her until he has found another career.
Meanwhile, Henri finds a new teaching position and no longer struggles to support herself, something Crimsworth doesn’t initially reveal to the reader as an option. “Both her pronounced independence and her unmistakable emotional separateness from him do not correspond to Crimsworth’s portrait view of her” (Tromly 116). She writes to Crimsworth telling him about her employment. She does not write a love letter nor does she state a need for his presence. She has found success on her own but she still has to be married in order to achieve anything beyond her teaching position.
When Crimsworth finds another job, he feels confident that he has the ability to “get that Genevese girl for [his] wife” and he goes to propose (Bronte 139). There is a lack of romance in the excerpt describing his proposal and Henri seems hesitant in giving him an answer. While Henri ponders the proposal Crimsworth notices that, “Some moments were taken for reflection” during which time he “desired to consult the eye but sheltering lash and lid forbade” (Bronte 176).
Henri’s hesitation and her action which doesn’t allow Crimsworth to see the reluctance in her eyes shows the reader that she may not be completely sure about marrying him. Crimsworth masks Henri’s feelings by simply ignoring them. “Frances’ thoughts, during this interval, I know not, nor did I attempt to guess them; I was occupied in searching her countenance, nor in otherwise troubling her composure” (Bronte 177). He could have known of her uncertainty had he paid the slightest attention to how she was feeling. She finally does answer his proposal saying “I should be glad to live with you always” (Bronte 177). There is no evidence that she is happy about her future with him and it is easy to assume that to live with him she will be able to broaden her literary achievements, which makes marrying him necessary. “ She accepts the marriage proposal as the most attractive of several very limited options open to her” (Tromly 117).
Upon her acceptance of the proposal, Crimsworth makes an attempt to convince Henri that she will no longer need to work. This is a great example of his desire to hold a paternal dominance over her.  He explains, “There is something flattering to man’s strength, something constant to his honourable pride, in the idea of becoming the providence of what he loves – feeding and clothing it, as God does the lilies of the field” (Bronte 178). Henri cannot accept becoming a domestic housewife; she is marrying so that she can broaden her career, not end it.  She responds to his insistence, ”Think of my marrying you to be kept by you, monsieur! I could not do it; and how dull my days would be!” (Bronte 178). Henri is not the kind of woman who would be content as a housewife and for Crimsworth to ask her to do so is interesting, since it is her intelligence and drive that attracted him to her in the first place.
             After some convincing, Crimsworth agrees to allow Henri to keep her position and they are married, however the wedding day seems gloomy. Henri and Williams, “Marriage is not to be a flight from reality into a world of sunshine and sensuality but a partnership in which both persons through their endeavors and perseverance establish for themselves a niche in the prosaic world of labor” (Linder 9) Linder argues, “The love portrayed is practical rather than sensual” (10). This is accurate based on Henri’s desire to achieve what she can only achieve through her marriage to Crimsworth.
On their wedding day, Henri seems to have a looming anxiety but she refuses to explain the cause of her sadness to Crimsworth. She is not happy that she is marrying yet she realizes that she must do it. She behaves “like one who was eager to get some formidable piece of business over” (Bronte 192). Their marriage is a business contract where Henri desires to be an equal investor rather than a dependent.
In the end, both Henri and William get what they want. After saving money from their combined income, they are able to move to England and open a school together. “Frances realized the dream of her lifetime” (Bronte 201). This had been Henri’s hope throughout the novel but was she could not have done it on her own. Henri proposes opening a school to William and he tells her, “you have my free consent, and wherever and whenever my assistance is wanted, ask and you shall have” (195). Without his approval, Frances could not have been able to “rise in her profession” (Bronte 194). Henri married Crimsworth in order to fulfill her ambitions while he married her to act as a paternal male. 
Works Cited
Bronte, Charlotte. The Professor. London: Arcturus Publishing Limited, 
     2010. Print.
Ingham, Patricia. The Brontes. New York: Oxford University Press Inc.,
     2008. Print.
Linder, Cynthia A. Romantic Imagery in the Novels of Charlotte 
     Bronte. New York: Harper and Row Publishers, Inc., 1978. Print.
Tromly, Annette. “The Professor.” Critical Essays on Charlotte 
     Bronte. Ed. Barbara Timm Gates. Boston: G.K. Hall & Co., 1990. 
     103-125. Print.