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Character Analysis of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Charlotte bronte jane Eyre perspective
jane eyre novel as a reflection of victorian society
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Recommended: Character Analysis of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Explore how Charlotte Bronte presents the character of Jane Eyre in the novel of the same name, noting the effects of social and historical influences on the text. Jane Eyre was a plain and insignificant unloved orphan, she was cared for by her aunt Reed, who did not like her but was obliged to look after her because it was a request of Mr. Reed who was also Jane's uncle. Eventually she was sent away to school after fighting with her bullying cousin John and getting locked in the room her Uncle died in, and she fainted. The school was awful with a horrible owner and bad conditions; there was a typhus epidemic in which her friend Helen Burns died. She made friends with a teacher Miss Temple who helped her when Helen died. The …show more content…
He misleads her by supposedly courting a beautiful woman and then proposes to her even though they are in different classes and she is amazed but accepts. On the day of their marriage it is discovered that Mr. Rochester already has a crazy wife, Bertha Mason locked upstairs, which explains some strange goings on at Thornfield. Jane leaves Thornfield knowing she can't be with Mr. Rochester. She wanders about with nowhere to go and no money until she meets three relatives of hers whom she wasn't aware of and they take her in. One of these, St John Rivers finds Jane a job teaching at a charity school. He then surprises her by telling her that her uncle has died and she is rich and he is also her cousin, knowing this she shares the inheritance equally with him and two other cousins. St John wants to travel as a missionary and he wants Jane to go with him as his wife, Jane wants to go but not as his wife because she doesn't love him, she nearly gives in but then hears Mr. Rochester's voice calling her. She hurries back to Thornfield but it has been burnt down by …show more content…
She doesn't want to be his possession to dress up or loose her individuality. She knows she has always been plain and sees that no matter what she is dressed in, it will not suit her or make her beautiful so she prefers to just wear her usual black or grey dresses and be herself. The Reeds all saw Jane as below them because they felt they were doing her a favour that she didn't deserve, Jane dislikes the Reeds because they show her no love and see her as a burden when she tries her best to please them or at least stay out of the way and not aggravate them. They constantly remind her that if they were to disown her she would have nowhere to go "you are under obligations to Mrs. Reed: she keeps you: if she were to turn you off you would have to go to the poor house" They act as though she is ungrateful to them when she is not, and Mrs. Reed believes that Jane will be a bad influence on her own
We learn that Jane is a young girl who is a victim of emotional and
Jane is often very inconsistent about when she likes her husband, and when she hates him. She seems to constantly battle with the idea that her spouse is actually helping her when he tries to prevent her from doing things such as writing (Hume 6). Jane also seems to be fearful of her husband and even states so “The fact is I am getting a little afraid of John,” (Gilman 963). Jane also talks of how she is afraid...
This story demonstrates a prime example of a patriarchal society in which the degree of influence by Dr. John in the decisions of the marriage, which ends up in his wife’s dementia. In the story right after Jane gave birth to her child she gets into a deep depression so her husband and her brother, two respected physicians ordered her rest. The house where they live is away from town and she only had contact with her husband and her nurse. "[The house] is quite alone standing well back from the road, quite three miles from the village. It makes me think of English places that you read about, for there are hedges and walls and gates that lock, and lots of separate little houses for the gardeners and people." Gilman, Charlotte
she treated Jane as if she were her own daughter. We realize now that Jane
When Jane arrives at the summer estate with her husband, a physician of some repute, she immediately begins to fantasize that the location is haunted, at the least strange, she can “feel it” (479). We begin to see that something is occurring with her mentally, that possibly she is the one feeling strange. “This is our first intimation that all is not right, though whether with the house, or with Jane, we have yet to be told. However, the fact that she tells us at the beginning that this is not a haunted house, suggests that the "queerness" will lie with her” (Kerr). This is again reinforced in the next lines when she confesses that she get “unreasonably angry” with her husband (479). She is sure that she “never use to be this way” (479). This is the effects of her suffering from postpartum depression, finally falling under a psychosis by story’s end.
thinks of her as burden, and low life. Jane is forced to live with her
Whether it is because of the obligation, out of love, pity or kindness, Jane believes she visit Mrs. Reed and fulfill her last wishes. “Forgive me for my passionate language; I was a child then; eight, nine years have passed since that day.” (253) Putting the hardships behind her Jane gives her full apologies to Mrs.
In the beginning of Jane Eyre, Mrs. Reed tells the owner of Lowood Institution, Mr. Brocklehurst, that Jane has, "'a bad character, a deceitful disposition; and to let everybody at Lowood know what [she] is, and what [she] has done'" (34). Jane already despises Mrs. Reed for treating her so poorly, but now she is infuriated. If Mr. Brocklehurst describes Jane as Mrs. Reed instructs him to do, Jane will never make friends at Lowood because all of the children will fear her. Jane battles back by saying to her aunt, "'I am glad you are no relation of mine. I will never call you aunt again as long as I live. I will never come to see you when I am grown up; and if any one asks me how I liked you, and how you treated me, I will say the very thought of you makes me sick, and that you treated me with miserable cruelty'" (33). Jane...
It seems as if Jane has fallen out of love with Wilson. Wilson is the kind of guy who spends far too much time at work. He knows he should be spending more time at home, but just never could find the time to do so. During the course of their life, they had kids and did everything a normal f...
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.
Mrs Reed keeps Jane only because of a promise she made to her husband on his deathbed. This abuse and neglect from her relatives forces Jane to be resentful and full of hatred. Later on Jane begins to stand up for herself. Once Jane begins to rebel to the abuse done by John and Mrs Reed, it is as if an uncontrollable beast had been unleashed inside of her.
Jane Eyre was an orphan left to depend on unsympathetic relatives who mistreated her. As Millicent bell explains in her article “A Tale of the Governess,” “With the Reeds she suffers not only the dependency of childhood and female hood, but the excruciating humiliation of the poor relation.” The cruel treatment she received from her family members caused her to have no sense of belonging.
The development of Charlotte Bronte's character, Jane Eyre, becomes vital to her novel Jane Eyre, and the other characters in which she is involved. She is an intelligent, plain featured, honest young girl whose reaction to her situations brings more depth to her personality. She is forced to deal with oppression, discrimination, and at times poverty, which disrupt her strong will, dignity, and desire for freedom. At the beginning, Jane possesses a passion for pride and the idea of freedom and these characteristics, along with her integrity, are tested continuously throughout the novel by the many personalities with whom she encounters. Living in a male dominant world Jane is expected to remain obedient and docile and her passion sometimes keeps her from being able to do this. She is a rarity among obeying female characters and we see this throughout the book.
Soon after Jane is settled at Lowood Institution she finds the enjoyment of expanding her own mind and talents. She forgets the hardships of living at the school and focuses on the work of her own hands. She is not willing to give this up when she is engaged to Rochester. She resists becoming dependent on him and his money. She does not want to be like his mistresses, with their fancy gowns and jewels, but even after she and Rochester are married, she wants to remain as Adele's governess. She is not willing to give up her independence to Rochester, and tries to seek her own fortune by writing to her uncle. In the end, when she does have her own money, she states, "I am my own mistress" (Chapter 37).
...ed to be his wife, I can imagine the possibility of conceiving an inevitable, strange, torturing kind of love for him, because he is so talented.”(389) this quote shows that Jane does not love St. John and if she stays with him she wont be happy to be with him.