Jane Eyre Text Response Essay

Post-Text Questions:

Narrative Voice:

Narrative voice is the voice of the narrator of a work of literature. Narrative voice involves the manner in which the narrator speaks, the word choices the narrator chooses to employ, and the dialect of the narrator (“Point of View”). The voice of the narrator is exposed through point-of-view, which is the position the narrator has in relation to the work of literature. Charlotte Bronte’s novel Jane Eyre is told from the first-person point-of-view of Jane Eyre, who serves as the novel’s protagonist. Jane Eyre is reflecting on a period of her life, ranging from when she was a young, ten year-old girl under the care of her cruel aunt, Mrs. Reed, to when Jane has been married to Mr. Rochester for ten years.

Readers, for example, feel great sympathy when Jane is left begging for bread on the street after running away from Thornfield when her wedding is canceled due to Mr. Rochester already being married. However, while Jane Eyre is not an unreliable narrator, as she is not telling the story from a compromised point-of-view and exhibits credibility through her detailed recollections of various important events which have occurred throughout her life, the reader is only exposed to the scenarios which unravel from Jane’s point-of-view. While Charlotte Bronte attempts to allow the reader to examine the feelings and thought processes of characters other than Jane, she does this through allowing the characters to “explain themselves”. A prominent example of this is when Mr. Rochester exclaims that “I keep telling her I am not married, and do not explain to her why” after his and Jane’s wedding is called off when Briggs and Mr. Mason reveal that Mr. Rochester is already married (309). Mr. Rochester proceeds to explain the nature of his relationship with Bertha Mason; however, since the novel is not told from his point-of-view, the reader is not exposed to his raw emotions and thoughts. The reader must rely on Jane’s recollection of events in order to garner a sense of what the other characters are

While the reader is exposed to Jane’s feelings of shock at her new fortune, as shown through her pacing around the room, the reader is also aware of Jane’s desire to not be aided by Mr. St. John Rivers. Since this novel is told from Jane’s point-of-view, readers are thus made aware of her own perceptions of various situations. The situation may be perceived differently by readers if the scene was told from the point-of-view of Mr. St. John Rivers. Whereas Jane is offended by Mr. St. John Rivers attempt to calm her down, as she feels she does not need any help, especially from him, Mr. St. John Rivers may simply be attempting to make Jane feel more secure. While Jane views herself as fairly collected and composed, the characters around her may view her as incredibly frantic, which Jane affirms by stating that “how I looked… I cannot tell” (392). If the story was narrated by a person other than Jane, then the readers would gain a different sense of the situations which unraveled, and would gain a greater understanding of why the other characters, such as Mr. St. John Rivers, acted and thought as they did, and perhaps a lesser understanding of Jane’s actions and