Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

1176 Words3 Pages

Charlotte Bronte is, first and foremost, a storyteller at heart. She broke a mold for women at her time because there were not many occupations that were deemed acceptable besides ‘teacher’ or ‘governess’ in the mid-nineteenth century. Her imagination was far too creative to be left unwritten on a page. Charlotte Bronte’s writings reflect her opinions on women’s roles in society and such opinion is shown in Jane Eyre. Although Jane Eyre was considered radical for its time because women weren’t supposed to play the role of heroine, Jane Eyre rises up from her oppressors, fights for what she thinks is right, and above all stays true to herself and today is considered a true role model for heroine characters.
Jane Eyre tells the story of an orphan who goes through her life with challenges and goes on to have an ‘awakening’ in the process. Jane goes through a “life-pilgrimage” (Bomarito 405) where she grows mentally and emotionally. From her low beginnings Jane is unwilling to accept her place in society and what other people believe where her place is. (Magill’s) Her family’s abusive ways don’t let her believe she’s less than what she is or will become. Because of her determintation to better herself she ultimately gains complete inner peace but not until she overcomes her inner demons and trials placed before her by others. (Bomarito)
Early in her life, Jane was adopted by her uncle, who later died and left her to her unloving aunt and cousins. All of them treated her horribly thinking that because she was an orphan she is in a lower class than them. Oppression follows Jane to her school Lowood and its benefactor Mr. Brocklehurst and even to her future employer Mr. Rochester and her distant cousin St. John. Al of Jane’s life involve...

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... it is perfectly okay to be one’s own hero.

Works Cited

Berg, Maggie. Jane Eyre: Portrait of a Life. Boston: Twayne, 1987. Print.
Bomarito, Jessica. "Jane Eyre." Feminism in Literature: A Gale Critical Companion. Vol. 2. Detroit [u.a.: Thomson Gale, 2005. 405-19. Print.
Brontë, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. New York: Random House, 1997. Print.
Draper, James P. "Critical Commentary: Charlotte Brontë." World Literature Criticism: 1500 to the Present : A Selection of Major Authors from Gale's Literary Criticism Series. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale Research, 1992. 399-412. Print.
"Feminist Ideals and the Women of "Jane Eyre"" Feminist Ideals and the Women of "Jane Eyre" HubPages, Inc., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2013. .
Magill, Frank N. Magill's Survey of World Literature. New York: Marshall Cavendish, 1993. Print.

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