偶像崇拜收藏者與詭譎收藏品：夏綠蒂．勃朗特筆下的女性角色

＂Loverless and Inexpectant of Love＂: The Brontëan Heroine as Idolatrous Collectors and Curious Collectibles

本文探討夏綠蒂．勃朗特文本中對於物品的描述機制所內含的「好奇心」（curiosity）和「詭譎性」（curiousness），以爬梳其筆下女主角與男性的關係。勃朗特筆下的物品經常深具神秘感，脫離原有的環境並且被收藏在密閉空間中，因而這些物品帶著一種無以名狀的詭譎性，其中尤以女性角色所收藏的紀念品為最。勃朗特所描述的男女關係絕大部分以偶像崇拜為原型，因而這些女性崇拜者所蒐集的、與她們情人／偶像相關的紀念品所夾帶的詭譎性正反映了她們充滿矛盾的崇拜情結。另一方面，在勃朗特的敘述中，對於男性來說女性角色也經常被視為奇異的物品，引起他們觀視與收藏的慾望。本文首先探討勃朗特女性角色所收集的紀念品，尤其是由頭髮或花朵製成的紀念品，以闡明這些女性角色的偶像崇拜情結中所包含的矛盾、否認、以及自我否定。以此為出發點，本文接著探討在男性眼中，女性本身亦帶著詭譎性，彷彿值得收藏的逸品般引起他們的好奇心，吸引其視覺上及觸覺上的佔有慾望。這樣的詭譎性使得女性在吸引男性視線的同時能夠避開男性觀視的穿透／辨析能力，使得觀視／被觀視的機制得以永恆運作。在這樣的視覺機制裡，勃朗特的女性角色同時是好奇的收藏者與詭譎的收藏品，而正是在這樣的機制下，她們與其情人的矛盾關係方能被彰顯。

This paper explores the Brontëan heroine's relationships with men by examining the sense of ＂curiosity＂ and ＂curiousness＂ inherent in the system of objects-especially mementos-throughout Charlotte Brontë's texts. Within Brontë's narratives mementos are rendered ＂curious,＂ for they are often displaced, hidden, or described in excessive detail: they are defamiliarized. The collections of such curious mementos illuminate the paradoxical emotions of idolatry that Brontë's heroines are characteristic of. Meanwhile, as far as men are concerned, women are often delineated as curious objects themselves, inviting the curious male gaze. This paper first seeks to observe the curiousness of souvenirs-especially the mementos of hair and flowers-contained, or, rather, hidden, in tiny spaces by women, in order to analyze the sense of disavowal and self-denial that characterize Brontë's idolatrous heroines. From women-as-collectors this paper then moves on to discuss women as cabinets of curiosities and, eventually, curiosities themselves. As curious objects, the Brontëan heroine can at once attract the curious male gaze and skirt around it, forever maintaining the tension inherent in the mechanism of female exhibition/male penetration. Within such system of curious gazes, where the Brontëan heroine is both the curious collector of mementos and the ＂curious＂ collectibles, the seemingly paradoxical structure of their romantic relationships can be explicated.