Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre
"There was no possibility of taking a walk that day....I was glad of
it; I never liked long walks, especially on chilly afternoons:
dreadful to me was the coming home in the raw twilight, with nipped
fingers and toes, and a heart saddened by the chidings of Bessie, the
nurse, and humbled by the consciousness of my physical inferiority to
Eliza, John, and Georgiana Reed."
So goes the opening to the novel 'Jane Eyre' by Charlotte Bronte. We
are immediately brought into the story; the scene has been set and
feelings exposed. As can be seen in this quotation, Bronte creates a
very friendly, easy opening, attempting to make an intimate
relationship with the reader. The characters most personal feelings
are openly displayed, this being very uncommon in 19th century novels.
In 'Jane Eyre' Bronte writes in the first person, giving the novel a
more autobiographical feel. These paragraphs also give us an example
of pathetic fallacy, a technique repeatedly used by Bronte throughout
the earlier chapters of 'Jane Eyre'. In addition to this we are shown
Jane's dislike, as a child and adult, of the Reed children and her
position and inadequacy in the Reed household; Gateshead.
The portrayal of life with the Reed family and Jane's whole childhood,
is one both cruel and fascinating. Bronte, through Jane's eyes and
thoughts, manages to convey life and the world from a child's
perspective, while still maintaining an adult's way of thinking. Jane
is very perceptive and intelligent, and this shown when she is faced
with John Reed. Her fear of him is immediately appears when he
interrupts her peace while she is reading, and she states how she
"trembled at the idea of being dragged forth" by him. As the readers,
we are shown how she must have been treated in such a way that she has
become fearful of her own cousins. Moreover, when John tells Jane to
refer to him as 'Master', we are shown how socially inferior and
insignificant she is to them, and is constantly being reminded of
this. Right from the beginning of the novel Jane's sense of loneliness
and isolation is evident form the way she hides herself behind thick
curtains in a deserted room, neglected by her cousins and aunt. The
description of John Reed given to us by Jane is extremely visual and
detailed and we are shown that, although of a young age, Jane is very
sensitive, alert and prudent of people and the world around her.
Mrs Reed, while remaining a minor character, becomes one of the most
influential people in Jane Eyre's life, although still not
Even though their children had gone through such harassment, both Rex and Rose Mary completely disregarded the situations they experienced. At times, both parents even enforced such acts in order to avoid trouble and to avoid being moved out into another place. After Rose Mary was aware of the incident with Uncle Stanley sexually assaulting Jeannette, Jeannette states, “[Mom] said that sexual assault was a crime of perception” (184). Posterior to the incident of Erma sexually assaulting Brian, Jeannette’s father also states, “I don’t care what happened!” (147). These two quotations clearly shows the harassment Brian and Jeannette suffered; moreover, it evidently shows the parents’ negligence towards the children. They both completely disregarded what had happened to both Brian and Jeannette solely for their defective idealism and to avoid confrontation with the individuals involved; therefor, Rex and Rose Mary were inadequate to raise their
In Stephen Dunn’s 2003 poem, “Charlotte Bronte in Leeds Point”, the famous author of Jane Eyre is placed into a modern setting of New Jersey. Although Charlotte Bronte lived in the early middle 1800’s, we find her alive and well in the present day in this poem. The poem connects itself to Bronte’s most popular novel, Jane Eyre in characters analysis and setting while speaking of common themes in the novel. Dunn also uses his poem to give Bronte’s writing purpose in modern day.
She was cruelly treated, spit at, beaten, and shunned on a daily basis. Her parents were sympathetic to her dilemma and finally forced her to see a psychiatrist. She was placed on medication that made her very sleepy. The psychiatrist said that “kids will be kids and that possibly she was looking for attention from her parents.” In eighth grade, a group of popular students followed her to the parking lot after school on a winter’s afternoon, knocked her to the ground, and shoved fistfuls of snow down her throat, laughing as they watched her struggle to breathe.
victimised her and that each of them has a part to play and a partly
Would a person describe the personality and acts of their mothers as loving or nurturing or quite possibly witty with her words? When one thinks of a Mother, be it their own or another, one would usually describe them as caring, affectionate, protective; however, with her mother having died when she was a young age of five, Charlotte Brontë never had the chance to understand how essential those traits were to a child and grew up under the care and teachings of her father; which was what helped lead to her strong and virtuous independence: the lack of a mother's love and guide.
From an early age Jane is aware she is at a disadvantage, yet she learns how to break free from her entrapment by following her heart. Jane appears as not only the main character in the text, but also a female narrator. Being a female narrator suggests a strong independent woman, but Jane does not seem quite that.
The Quest for Inner Beauty in Jane Erye The beauty of a woman is usually classified into two categories: superficial, or physical, beauty and inner, or intellectual, beauty. In the Charlotte Bronte's Jane Erye, the protagonist rejects her own physical beauty in favor of her intelligence and morality. This choice allows her to win the hand of the man she desires. Jane values her knowledge and thinking before any of her physical appearances because of her desire as a child to read, the lessons she is taught and the reinforcements of the idea appearing in her adulthood.
With reasons stating that the mother’s tone is too harsh, or that she doesn 't listen and address her daughter when she speaks out, or even that the mother seems to rush through all that she has to tell her daughter. While all of those points may seem valid they can be refuted by exposing that two of the arguments made against the original point, that the mother is loving, can be based on a person’s view and opinion. As one reads the story their minds goes to assumptions based on past experiences and those can cloud their mind. The tone and the speed how the mother tells her daughter all of this information is based on a reader’s assumptions and/or interpretation of the story, not facts. To refute the other argument that the mother does not specifically address her daughter’s outburst is that in the story she does address the outburst, just not in the ways that would seem conventional. After all, this is a story set years ago in a time that modern day parenting is quite different from in the 60’s. The mother addresses the last outburst of the daughter by asking her daughter after all this time she took to teach her daughter how to be a respectable young woman she won’t even take any of the teachings and become just another ‘slut’ in the eyes of the community.
We learn that Jane is a young girl who is a victim of emotional and
Analyse the methods Charlotte Brontë uses to make the reader empathise with Jane Eyre in the opening chapters. Reflect on how the novel portrays Victorian ideology and relate your analysis to the novel’s literary content.
Like most people in her social sphere, the woman takes for granted the civility and restraints that have kept her, prior to her attack, comfortably exempt from the personal chaos that violence unleashes. All of...
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.
There are many stages throughout the book in which the reader can feel sympathy for Jane Eyre; these include when she is locked in the Red Room, when Helen Burns dies at Lowood, and when she and Mr. Rochester are married the first time.
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.
Charlotte Bronte's classic, Jane Eyre, is a "coming of age" story. The main character, Jane, travels from the innocence of childhood through the maturity of adulthood. During this journey, Jane goes through the battle of education vs. containment, where she attempts to learn about herself and about the world. She must constantly battle a containment of sorts, however, whether it be a true physical containment or a mental one. This battle of education vs. containment can be seen by following Jane through her different places of residence, including Gateshead Hall, Lowood Institution, Thornfield, Moor House and Morton, and Ferndean Manor, where she is, finally, fully educated and escapes the feeling of containment which she held throughout the novel.