Physiognomy in Anne Bronte's Fiction

Anne Bronte's novels are interesting for the ways in which they reflect the impact that physiognomic theories, especially those advanced by Lavater, exerted on European cultural life during the first half of the nineteenth century. But although it is possible to discern certain analogies between Anne's descriptive methods and Lavater's ideas, as it is to trace Scott's influence in her depictions of the outward person, our concern here is chiefly to consider how physiognomy is used in her fiction for essentially structural purposes. Noteworthy in this connection is the important part played by observation, whereby the author makes it abundantly clear that a capacity (or incapacity) to read the human face has profound moral implications. Perhaps the most significant aspect of physiognomy in Anne Bronte's novels, however, is to be found in her treatment of love, notably in her delineation of the relationship between Agnes Grey and Edward Weston.