ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book examines the role of fairy tales and fairy lore across the arc of Charlotte Bront ë's career from Jane Eyre to Villette in order to demonstrate the evolution of the heroic female bildungsroman in Bront ë's work. It primarily examines the transatlantic progeny of Jane Eyre's heroic changeling, and it gestures towards the implications of nationalism and cosmopolitanism in the larger-than-life paradigms used to guide the female bildungsroman. Furthermore, the distinctive literary landscape surrounding Jane Eyre demands an expanded theory of transatlantic exchange. Crafts anticipate postcolonial critiques, demonstrating white prejudices in Jane Eyre's literary progeny. The primary issue is that scholarly and popular American interpretations of Jane Eyre as a Cinderella tale fail to identify any supernatural helpers who are integral to the romantic conflict.
