Out of the Reference Section and onto the Student's Desk: Classroom Uses for Reader's Companions

The Oxford Companion to the Brontës. Edited by Christine Alexander and Margaret Smith. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003.

The prohibitive cost of companion volumes has made it difficult for educators to consider using them in the classroom. In hardcover, companions are often priced in the $100 range and are therefore viable only for library reference sections. However, with the recent release of The Oxford Companion to the Brontës in paperback, instructors can begin to consider a wide number of classroom uses. Christine Alexander and Margaret Smith, who have written several critical introductions to Brontë texts, bring to this task their expertise in numerous Brontë fields, including the juvenilia, art, and letters; they also call upon a strong group of scholars, whose areas of expertise range from the Diary Papers and Belgian Devoirs to post-Victorian adaptations of Brontë writings.

With the obstacle of cost at least partially removed, the remaining obstacle to effective use of such a text for the student is its prohibitive size; indeed, the extensive amount of information that makes the text invaluable to the researcher can make it daunting and difficult to navigate for the student. This volume contains over two thousand lengthy and complete entries on a wide range of subject matters related to the Brontës. As Diane Long Hoeveler observes in her review, it would be challenging for a student to wend her way through these entries without instructor-provided direction. Fortunately, the classified contents list presents subjects covered in the volume, and the entries are carefully cross-referenced with each other, which makes it easier for the instructor to direct students to particular materials for contextual research assignments and presentations. This, it seems to me, is one of the most effective ways to introduce students to the companion. However, there are also ways to use the text to encourage more creative exploration on students' parts and to encourage the instructor to rethink her role as the authority in the classroom.

To begin, there are numerous directions to send students for context. As expected, the writings and the lives of the Brontës are well covered, with a thorough consideration of relatives, family, homes, education, and travel, including a discussion of the biographical inspirations for fictional characters in the texts. There is extensive attention given to the juvenilia, which is of great interest and particularly helpful for readers and scholars less prepared in those areas of study. This would also be a place to send curious students, who are often inspired by the story of the young Brontës' creative practices. The text, like other author companions in the Oxford series, includes a solid discussion of literary and artistic, as well as historical and social, contexts. These entries provide information on influential figures such as Sir Edwin Henry Landseer, John Ruskin, John Milton, and William Wordsworth. Attention is given to publishers, journals, newspapers, and magazines.

The historical and social context entries provide introductions to political topics such as the divorce laws, religious organizations such as the Church Missionary Society, and historical moments such as the Afghan and Crimean Wars. These are useful topics for students to explore. For instance, the entry on divorce laws explains the political and historical context and provides a brief bibliography for students; it also demonstrates the thematic importance of divorce to Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. In accord with other current critical studies of the Brontës, the companion demonstrates that the Brontës' works address contemporary political issues and are not separated from their particular historical moment.

In addition, the companion includes very solid entries on reception with information on biographers, editors, museums, and societies. Overall, reception is given great attention in the text as the editors look at the trends—starting with the rise and fall and rise again of interest in Charlotte...