Suffering and Injustice in the Opening Chapters of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre
At the time the novel Jane Eyre was written, it was very difficult for
women writers to have their books published. Charlotte Brontë was very
aware of the problem, and cleverly changed her name to Currer Bell so
the book would be accepted. Luckily for Charlotte, her novel Jane Eyre
was published in October 1847, and since writing this novel, Charlotte
Brontë has become very popular, and a classic author.
The Victorian era was a time of great social division between the
rich and the poor, and this is shown in the novel by the description of
certain characters for example Bessie – the poorer class, and Mrs. Reed –
the richer class. The poorer classes and working classes were made to
work in very dangerous conditions and were paid very little. In contrast,
many of the upper classes did not have to work, and some of them
employed the poor to work for them. Many of the poorer families lived
cramped together in very small houses, where as the rich lived in huge,
very comfortable homes. This background of injustice is made clear in
the book, as Charlotte Brontë wanted to highlight what life was like for
Jane Eyre, the Reed family and servants like her character Bessie who
worked in the wealthy house in Victorian times. Charlotte Brontën seems
as though she feels quite strongly about these issues - both of
Charlotte’s elder sisters died in 1825 in circumstances that have great
importance for the story Jane Eyre - and is trying to convey to the
readers of her book the many injustices and extremes in Victorian society.
Charlotte Brontë wrote the book Jane Eyre in first person
narrative so we can feel Jane’s outmost thoughts, opinion...
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...e character
of Jane Eyre, and if she had been the slightest bit different I would not
have this opinion of her. At parts she has made me laugh, and other parts
brought a tear to my eye. I feel for her, as she does not have any family,
and because of this has suffered greatly. From the way Charlotte has
evoked Jane’s feelings, the reader is able to understand what it is like,
and the emotions you feel. Jane Eyre is a very determined ten-year-old
girl with a great personality, and Charlotte Brontë could not have used a
better character on which to base the novel. She is definitely my
favourite character in the book, mainly because of her determination and
pride. The book of Jane Eyre has many life changing decisions, and I have
sometimes wondered if it was me that had to make those choices,
whether they would have been as successful as they were for Jane.
He walks into the corporation building, and is greeted by a few of his colleagues, also heading to their cubicle. The man groans at his workload then glances around, seeing his supervisor frowning at him. “Oh boy, this isn’t good.” He thinks to himself as the supervisor walks into his boss’ office for the third time this week. His boss walks out a couple minutes later, and heads straight to the man’s cubicle. “Kevin, this is the third time in just this week that you haven’t been following the company’s procedures. Why won’t you just accept your job and do it like everyone else? I once had your job, and look at me! I’m now one of the head honchos of this place. So please stop disobeying, and you might get somewhere, and not fired.” Social class is a problem today, and it was just as big a problem as in the time of Jane Eyre. In Charlotte Brontë’s novel, Jane Eyre, the protagonist deals with the issues of social class during her childhood, her first employment, her time at Moor house and Morton, and when she is reunited with Rochester.
In the novel Jane Eyre, it narrates the story of a young, orphaned girl. The story begins shortly after Jane walk around Gateshead Hall and evolves within the different situations she face growing up. During Jane’s life the people she encounter has impact her growth and the character she has become.
we cannot get a clear picture of Jane herself. Most of what we know is
While an artist uses a variety of colors and brushes to create a portrait, Charlotte Bronte used contrasting characters and their vivid personalities to create a masterpiece of her own. In her novel Jane Eyre, Bronte uses narration and her characters to portray the struggle between a society’s Victorian realism and the people’s repressed urges of Romanticism.
“Beowulf” is thought to be written more than 1200 years ago and was one of the very first poems to be written. This story includes
So in order to make poetry more interesting and not as repetitive, kennings were used. Kennings are two word phrases used to describe an object metaphorically; they are derived from Anglo-Saxon and Norse poetry. “Whale-road” , for example is a kenning used in the first page of Beowulf to describe the ocean. Kennings make the reader think more to figure out the meaning and what the narrator is trying to say. Although not all kennings are only two words. For example “he who had harrowed the hearts of men” (808) is a kenning that is used to describe
Many people believe that eating disorders are a product of the twentieth century, brought on by teenage girls aspiring to be supermodels like Cindy Crawford. Although such pressures are precipitating factors to many eating disorders, doctors diagnosed patients with anorexia as early as 1689 (Spignesi 7). One early example of anorexia is present in the novel Jane Eyre. Written in the mid-nineteenth century by Charlotte Brontë, this book describes a young girl whose personality bears striking similarities with that of a diagnosed anorexic. The life of the main character, Jane, has also been shown to share innumerable similarities with Brontë's own life. Biographical information from researchers and autobiographical information from Jane Eyre (whether intentional or not) verify that Brontë had an eating disorder.
In Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë clearly demonstrates the relationship between sexuality and morality in Victorian society through the character of Bertha Mason, the daughter of a West Indian planter and Rochester's first wife. Rochester recklessly married Bertha in his youth, and when it was discovered shortly after the marriage that Bertha was sexually promiscuous, Rochester locked her away. Bertha is called a "maniac" and is characterized as insane. Confining Bertha for her display of excess passion reinforces a prevalent theme in Jane Eyre, that of oppressive sexual Victorian values. Bertha's captivity metaphorically speaks on the male-dominated Victorian society in which women are inferior and scorned for acts of nonconformism.
Beowulf is among the earliest surviving works of literature. It was written in Old English and dates back sometime before the tenth century A.D. The poem is set in Scandinavia, and tells the story of the heroic warrior, Beowulf. Beowulf was the perfect hero. He fought for his people and defeated evil with his ability to bring on justice. Three of Beowulf’s traits that serve as evidence of this were his remarkable physical strength, his ability to put the well-being of others before his own well-being, and his courage.
the reader. They all force the reader to imagine poverty in a new way. We all
Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre chronicles the growth of her titular character from girlhood to maturity, focusing on her journey from dependence on negative authority figures to both monetary and psychological independence, from confusion to a clear understanding of self, and from inequality to equality with those to whom she was formerly subject. Originally dependent on her Aunt Reed, Mr. Brocklehurst, and Mr. Rochester, she gains independence through her inheritance and teaching positions. Over the course of the novel, she awakens towards self-understanding, resulting in contentment and eventual happiness. She also achieves equality with the important masculine figures in her life, such as St. John Rivers and Mr. Rochester, gaining self-fulfillment as an independent, fully developed equal.
According to Alexandria’s daily newspaper, The Town Talk, approximately 34,910 cases of suspected child abuse were reported in Louisiana alone last year (Crooks). Charlotte Bronte tells of one victim of child abuse in her novel Jane Eyre. In Jane Eyre, Bronte chronicles the life of Jane, a notoriously plain female in want of love. After being abused, Jane portrays many characteristics which other victims of abuse often portray. Throughout the novel, Jane is reclusive, pessimistic, and self-deprecating. Although Jane does display such traits through most of her life, she is finally able to overcome her past. By facing her abusive aunt, Jane rises above her abuse to become truly happy.
A Critical Evaluation of Jane Eyre Although Jane Eyre grows and matures, Margaret McFadden-Gerber views her as a relatively emotionally stable young feminist. Through the duration of the novel, Jane demonstrates her "self-love" that is often an influential emotion leading to drastic and hasty reactions. In the very opening few chapters, Jane takes a stand for herself and presents her bruised ego, pride and maturity. Sara Reed, her aunt, dismisses her place in the family as Jane is physically and emotionally removed from her "family's" activities.
In the beginning of Jane Eyre, Jane struggles against Bessie, the nurse at Gateshead Hall, and says, I resisted all the way: a new thing for me…"(Chapter 2). This sentence foreshadows what will be an important theme of the rest of the book, that of female independence or rebelliousness. Jane is here resisting her unfair punishment, but throughout the novel she expresses her opinions on the state of women. Tied to this theme is another of class and the resistance of the terms of one's class. Spiritual and supernatural themes can also be traced throughout the novel.
Beowulf is the single greatest story of Old English literature and one of the greatest epics of all time. Ironically, no one can lay claim to being the author of this amazing example of literature. The creator of this poem was said to be alive around 600 A.D. and the story was, since then, been passed down orally from generation to generation. When the first English monks heard the story, they took it upon themselves to write it down and add a bit of their own thoughts. Thus, a great epic and the beginning to English literature was born.