Madame Beck Meaning

Extended definition is used in the book to explain the meaning of surveillance to further describe Madame Beck’s characteristics. Surveillance is used as a negative connotation, but Bronte is able to change the negative connotation to a positive connotation. She is able to switch from negative to positive connotation seamlessly by explaining the purpose of using surveillance as a tactic to maintain control instead of just using surveillance to spy on people. The positive connotation of surveillance is used as a tactic by Madame Beck to stay in control and maintain her effortless tone. In the extended definition of surveillance, Madame Beck is also portrayed as affectionless which give a negative connotation. Her true morality is also brought

Through the negative and positive connotations of surveillance Bronte is able to use extended definition to describe Madame Beck’s moral code, affectionless attitude, and effortless ambiance. Madame Beck is not shown as energetic or vivacious, but she is a woman that shows purpose and resolution while effortlessly doing so.

When describing Madame Beck’s moral code, Bronte is able to use a negative definition to refer to her intentions by saying that, “the end was not bad, but the means were hardly fair or justifiable” (Villette 72). The negative connotation of surveillance is also affecting her moral code because Bronte uses synonymous definition by saying, “ “surveillance,” “espionage”-these were her watch-words” (Villette 72). Espionage gives a negative connotation to the reader, and it is related to surveillance thus giving surveillance a negative connotation. A watch-word is, “a word or motto that embodies a principle or guide to action of an individual or group”

Heart in this context comes off as a concrete word, but Bronte uses it as an abstract word to refer to her affections. By saying that she does not have a heart is saying that she is affectionless. Bronte also uses an etymological definition when she writes, “Not the agony in Gesthsemane, not the death on Calvary, * could have wrung from her eyes one tear” (Villette 74). The previous quote refers to, “the agony in the garden of Gesthsemane and the crucifixion” (Villette 504). Both instances were days of great sorrow and sadness of which does not affect Madame Beck. Bronte emphasizes the absence of Madame Becks affections by saying, “No private sorrow touched her: no force or mass of suffering concentrated on one heart had power to pierce her” (Villette 74). Sorrow is a “deep distress, sadness, or regret especially for the loss of someone or something loved” (Merriam-Webster). Surveillance and her lack of affection are tactics used by Madame Beck to prevent being hurt or losing control. The reader is able to see the connection of surveillance to the absence of her affections when Bronte writes, “she would move away on her “souliers de silence,”* and glide ghostlike through the house, watching and spying everywhere” (Villette 73). The adjective “ghostlike” is used as a stipulative definition to refer to how emotionless and affectionless she is. The word “ghostlike” is