"The Professor" by Charlotte Bronte

Yesterday I read the chapter on "The Professor" in Janet Gezari's book on Charlotte Bronte's, and it was very helpful. Professor Gezari, who is an old friend and a parent of a former student of mine, discusses the motif of "hands" that threads its way through the entire story, something I certainly had not noticed. She points out that Bronte repeatedly describes characters shaking hands, touching hands, waving with their hands (or not), clenching their hands in anger or tension,  holding another's hands in friendship or love, and even just looking at another's hands in admiration. This is the type of motif that I often -- or usually -- miss in a first reading, and I'm always grateful to get the views of a devoted literary scholar like Janet. (She also points out the similarity between characters in this novel and those in Bronte's other novels, and discusses at length Bronte's strong anti-Catholic feelings -- very helpful information for me.)