Jane Eyre vs House of Mirth Lily
The novels, Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte, and House of Mirth, by Edith
Wharton, contain many similarities and differences of which I will discuss in this essay.
The focus will be on the main characters of each book, Jane Eyre, and Lily Bart and will
include important points and ideas demonstrated in these novels.
To begin, Jane, from Charlotte Bronte’s novel, Jane Eyre, was an orphan who
was raised by an upper-class family who resented her and did not want her, therefore
torturing, abusing, and treating her as someone at a status even lower than the servants.
As a child, she knows that her status is awkward and even later on, as a grown woman,
she is considered a second class citizen simply because of her sex. Further into the
novel, once she has become the governess at Thornfield, the social status put upon
her is inferior to Rochester and others of high class. She is forced into this social
standing despite the fact that she is expected to display the manners and education of
an upper-class woman. In comparison, Lily, of Wharton’s novel, House of Mirth, was
raised in a very prestigious, well-to-do family and grows up to be one of New York’s
most eligible socialites. As an irresponsible, uncontrollable gambler, Lily tends not to worry, nor give her bad habit a second thought because she is under the impression that her “out of reach” way of life and her elite circle of friends will be her protection from the consequences that her actions may bring. However, the novel takes a turn and Lily’s compulsive gambling is discovered, resulting in being cut off financially by her family and being cast out by her peers. For the first time in her life, now poor and alone, she must...
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...from one another and as a result, grew up with different values and senses for what was truly important in life and what was truly necessary to survive. Jane emerged from a strict, abusive upbringing, into a well-rounded, strong-minded, responsible, and dedicated adult who triumphed in the end. Lily suffered a fate that she almost seemed destined for. Lily shares her name with a common flower. This fact may contain an aspect of symbolism in that like a dying flower, Lily’s character gradually begins to “wilt” as
the novel goes on. Even her last name, Bart, shows symbolism in that it contains the
word “art” which may imply something about the materialistic world that she tries to be a part of. Interestingly, and perhaps most symbolic, is the fact that the lily is the “flower of death”, an outcome that her whirlwind, uptight, unrealistic life inevitably led her to.
The contrast between how She sees herself and how the rest of the world sees Her can create extreme emotional strain; add on the fact that She hails from the early 1900s and it becomes evident that, though her mental construct is not necessarily prepared to understand the full breach against Her, She is still capable of some iota of realization. The discrimination encountered by a female during this time period is great and unceasing.
related to the way she is being treated by her husband, John. John is very
Abraham Maslow, a well-known American psychologist, theorized that human beings have innate needs that must be met in order to have a happy, healthy existence. The most necessary is, of course, the fulfillment of basic physiological requirements, followed by a feeling of safety. If these are fulfilled, every mentally healthy individual begins craving love and a need to belong. Love and being loved in return is, in fact, vital to an individual’s mental state. This, in addition to the feeling of euphoria, pleasure and joy it provides, and the sensual experience of romantic love, makes it a great obsession in nearly every culture. This craving humans to have their unrequited love returned makes great fodder for movies, songs, and novels. Many
Cassidy, John. "Social Mobility Hasn’t Fallen: What It Means and Doesn’t Mean." The New Yorker. Condé Nast, 23 Jan. 2014. Web. 09 Feb. 2014. .
woman] might have few legal rights, but she enjoyed enormous respect and prestige in the
In order to analyze the character of Lily, Erick Erikson’s theories of psychosocial development can be applied. In the book, as Sue Monk Kidd describes, Lily is in Stage five of Erikson’s theory: Identity vs. Identity. In this stage, adolescents like Lily are trying to explore themselves and develop their “sense of personal identity as part of their social group.” They often try out roles that they think they might take onto in future and tries to combine these into understanding themselves. Sometimes, adolescents who are experiencing difficulty connecting their roles with their identity will feel confused about who they are and “what they want to do in life.” Lily slowly approaches the sixth stage of Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages of development at the end of the book where she bonds with Zach. In the sixth stage, or Intimacy vs. Isolation “young adults [like Lily] find an intimate life companion” or isolate themselves from the society (Lesser & Pope, 2007, pp. 56). And, like the 2009 Youtube Video, titled “Erik Erikson’s Stages of development”, showed- self-identity will eventually occur at this sixth stage also.
One of the very first themes of the novel is loss. Lily’s mother died when Lily was very young, and this became a very important moment for Lily. Lily only remembers the fuzzy details of what happened when her mother died, and it is this fuzziness that makes her determined to run away and find out what really happened on the day. The
Ever since she was a young girl. Jeannette had set high goals for herself. Since she was so advanced in school and genuinely enjoyed learning, it made sense that she would want to do big things with her life. Whether it was being a veterinarian or a geologist, her dreams extended far beyond her homes in little desert towns or Welch, West Virginia. However, because of her poverty-stricken home life, many people believed it didn’t seem likely that she would be so successful. One day, while living in Welch, Jeannette goes to the bar to drag her drunk father back home. A neighborhood man offers them a ride back to their house, and on the ride up he and Jeannette start a conversation about school. When Jeannette tells the man that she works so hard in school because of her dream careers, the man laughs saying, “for the daughter of the town drunk, you sure got big plans” (Walls 183). Immediately, Jeannette tells the man to stop the car and gets out, taking her father with her. This seems to be a defining moment in which Jeannette is first exposed to the idea that she is inferior to others. Although this man said what he did not mean to offend her, Jeannette is clearly very hurt by his comment. To the reader, it seems as if she had never thought that her family’s situation made her subordinate to those
Harry Potter and Jane Eyre are two novel characters who have quite a lot of similarities. In their early childhood, both were raised as orphans, both experienced cruelty and unkind treatment from relatives who were supposed to take care of them, both were given opportunity to study and live far away from the people who treated them harshly, and both of them had a life-changing experience in their respective schools.
Over the course of several months, August guides, teaches, and helps Lily to accept and forgive herself. August once knew Deborah, and she knows that Lily is her daughter, but she does not confront Lily about the issue. Instead, she waits until Lily puts the puzzle pieces together and discovers for herself the relationship between her mother and August. August knows she is not ready to learn the truth about her mother when she and Lily first meet, so she waits for Lily to come to her. When Lily finally realizes the truth, she comes to August and they have a long discussion about Deborah. During this discussion, Lily learns the truth about her mother; that her mother only married T. Ray because she was pregnant with Lily, then after several years she had enough of living and dealing with T. Ray, so she left. Lily is disgusted by the fact that her mother would've done something like this, she did not want to let go of the romantic image of her mother she had painted in her mind (“‘The Secret Life of Bees’ Themes and Symbols of The Secret Life of Bees). Lily struggles to stomach the fact the her mother truly did leave her and she spends some time feeling hurt and angry, but one day, August shows her a picture of Lily and her mother. As Lily looks at the picture she is comforted and thinks, “May must’ve made it to heaven and explained to my mother about the sign I wanted. The one that would let me know I was loved” (Kidd 276). Seeing
Another factor that clearly brings out the theme is the fact that she claims that orderliness of family roses is her pride. However she may not necessarily be that orderly as depicted in the development of that story. The author of the story Shirley Jackson uses the author and her ambiguous cha...
The three events that mark Jane as an evolving dynamic character are when she is locked in the red room, self reflecting on her time at Gateshead, her friendship with Helen Burns at LoWood, her relationship with Mr. Rochester, and her last moments with a sick Mrs. Reed. Brought up as an orphan by her widowed aunt, Mrs. Reed, Jane is accustomed to her aunts vindictive comments and selfish tendencies. Left out of family gatherings, shoved and hit by her cousin, John Reed, and teased by her other cousins, Georgina and Eliza Reed, the reader almost cringes at the unfairness of it all. But even at the young age of ten, Jane knows the consequences of her actions if she were to speak out against any of them. At one point she wonders why she endures in silence for the pleasure of others. Why she is oppressed. "Always suffering, always browbeaten, always accused, forever condemned" (Bronte, 12). Jane’s life at Gateshead is not far from miserable. Not only is she bullied by her cousins and nagged by her aunt, but help from even Bessie, her nurse and sort of friend, seems out of her reach. In the red room scene Jane is drug by Ms. Ab...
The way in which society tries to live today goes hand in hand with the quote "What really matters is on the inside, not the outside", which is often repeated, maybe because people want everyone to feel equal and no one inferior or maybe because a person just wants to feel better about his or herself so this statement is said. The story "Jane Eyre" completely contradicts this quote, especially during the social extravaganza, which was put on by Mr. Rochester and the Thornfield workers. The main goal during the era in which the book "Jane Eyre" took place was to be wealthy so you could be a part of all the so called finer things in life such as nice clothing, jewelry, money, large mansions, and so on. The social extravaganza which took place at Mr. Rochester's mansion contributed to the meaning of the book by helping explain the characters, setting, and plot of the story "Jane Eyre".
Though exhibiting considerable differences in setting, gender roles, and education, the two novels still nonetheless convey the same overall purpose – that of the portrayal of the journey from ignorance to knowledge in Victorian Society, starting from childhood to adulthood, enhanced through the use of the protagonists Pip and Jane Eyre. Both characters started out in very similar situations. Both Pip and Jane Eyre were orphans very early on in their childhood. Although both characters had varying journeys to adulthood, they were both spurred on by some type of discontent. In Pip’s case it was love and money, and in Jane’s case, she was simply trying to survive and find true love. In both stories, the development was long and gradual (Pip’s journey to London and Jane’s journey to the Lowood School and several houses thereafter). However, in the end both characters achieve a state in which they are both included in society and content with their accomplishments. In both stories, the characters experience a 360 degree change and apply everything they learn along the way.