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Theme of class and gender in Jane Eyre
Jane eyre essay over social class
Theme of class and gender in Jane Eyre
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In Jane Eyre, money tempts, infects, and eventually takes control of the ideas and moral decisions of most characters. There are innumerable examples of the effect of money in Jane Eyre. However, since Jane obtained many positive qualities such as humbleness in arduous ordeals, she retains her discipline and morals when introduced to money. While it takes a long time for almost all people to attain this skill of self-discipline, Jane gains this skill earlier than most people would due to all her past tests.
The outside world’s social standards bring Jane to believe that, “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” can only be obtained by having an abundance of money. Jane is succumbed by this universal belief and concludes that her romantic
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Rochester’s father and brother. Leading up to this point in the novel, Bertha is discovered and Mr. Rochester explains to Jane why he doesn’t consider himself married. He tells Jane that when he found out that his wife was mentally ill, he went to his family but, “My father and brother Rowland knew all this; but they thought only of the thirty thousand pounds, and joined in the plot against me” (p. 306). In other words, Mr. Rochester asserts that his father and brother were conspiring against him to gain access to Bertha’s dowry proving they’re blinded by “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”; which they believe is only achievable with money. A final example of the importance of money in this book was when Jane was bequeathed a fortune as a result of John Eyre’s death. For Jane, money was not the control of her life. Throughout the book, she searches for love and acceptance and survives without money. Diana, Mary, St. John Rivers, and Mr. Rochester provide the love and acceptance she desired. So when she inherited the money, she shared it equally among the Rivers declaring, “Now the wealth did not weigh on me: now it was not a mere bequest of coin, -it was a legacy of life, hope, enjoyment” (p.
Jane Eyre is born into a world where she is left bereft of the love of parents, family, or friends, but instead surrounded by hateful relatives. She resolves to attend school to begin her quest for independence. This theme is seen through Jane’s behavior when she renounces her relation to her aunt Mrs. Reed, ignoring the nurse’s orders and leaving her room to see Helen again, and when she acquires the courage to speak her opinion to Mr. Rochester.
Charlotte Bronte utilizes the character of Bertha Rochester to interrupt Jane’s potential happy ending with Mr. Edward Rochester. Bertha is announced by Mr. Briggs as a way to stop the wedding and it also shows how hopeless Jane’s situation is. “That is my wife “said he. ‘Such is the sole conjugal embrace I am ever to know—such are the endearments which are to solace my leisure hours! And this is what I wished to have,’” (312) and “’I wanted her just as a change after that fierce ragout,’” (312) are quotes that express Mr. Rochester’s reasons for trying to remarry while he already has a wife, meanwhile showing his disposition towards said wife. Had Mr. Briggs and Mr. Mason not been present for the ceremony, Jane may have lived happily in ignorance. Due to Bertha’s involvement however, Jane could never truly call herself Mr. Rochester’s wife. She says, “’Sir, your wife is living: that is a fact acknowledged this morning by yourself. If I lived with you as you desire—I should then be your mistress: to say otherwise is sophistical—is false.’” (323) This quote shows that as a result of Bertha’s exposure, Jane refuses to marry Mr. Rochester. The influence that Bertha’s brief debut had on Jane’s life was significant enough to hinder the growth of her relationship with Mr. Rochester.
In “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, social classes are tremendously influential to morality. The rich are divided up into groups that live in opposite “eggs” of Long Island, New York City. The West Egg is described as being the land of “New Money” and the East Egg is characterized as being the land of “Old Money”. Right in between both of these “Egg’s” lies an infamous area of dismay and hardship called “The Valley of Ashes” where almost peasant appearing individuals reside. These working class individuals are portrayed throughout the book as being hardworking and morally belittled by the upper class as if those that aren’t rich aren’t worthy of even being in the presence of those that are.
The coined phrase, “money can’t buy happiness” is an infamous saying that has pondered many minds. The debate over what wealth brings to a person’s life has been around long before currency became a way of payment. As long as money is made, there will always be people who have more of it than others. These people are the ones who attend the lavish parties, dress in clothes of gold, and drink water from the rivers in Fiji. These people are filthy rich, and although “money can’t buy happiness”, it sure can buy them everything they desire. In the United States, the 1920’s was a time full of dancing flappers, wealth, extravagant parties, and lots of fun. The 1925 novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, tells the story of Nick Carraway, a young man who moves to New York City and becomes entangled in the mystery of Jay Gatsby. Throughout the novel, readers unravel the tragic tale of Gatsby working his way to winning back Daisy Buchanan, a rich, elite women who is married to the wealthy, Tom Buchanan. In The Great Gatsby, a novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the use of Tom, Daisy, and Gatsby’s characterization helps to establish the importance of wealth in the novel demonstrating that the desire to be wealthy leads to decisions based on greed and materialism, making characters in the novel chose money over everything else.
Mr. Rochester pleaded Jane for forgiveness and that they should marry and forget about Bertha Mason and leave with him to France. Jane deceived him by leaving the Thornfield hall in the middle of the night without saying farewell to Mr. Rochester in person.
... self-worth. She believes that there is a chance for her to change her future. She had to make certain sacrifices in order to discover her strength, true friendships and her self-worth. She sacrifices her love to preserve her self-worth. After realizing her marriage to Rochester cannot be lawful and will mean surrendering her sense of dignity and virtue, she leaves him. When Jane leaves Thornfield she says “I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself” (Bronte 336). In the end, she finds her happiness, as she is now with the man she loves, she preserves her self-worth without sacrificing her integrity.
Jane started out with no family, causing her to yearn for someone to accept her as their family, treating her with love and respect. At a young age, Jane lost her parents, leaving her with her aunt and cousins. They treated her poorly, acting as if she was incompetent and considering her more of a servant than a family member. Then, they sent her off to school, forgetting about her entirely. Eventually, Jane acquired the family she had always dreamt of. She never felt quite right with other people accepting her, that is, until Mr. Rochester came into her life. She did not feel as though she had found her true family until she had met him. "All these relics gave...Thornfield Hall the aspect of a home of the past: a shrine to memory.” (92). When they get married, her dreams are achieved, as she finally got the family she had always wanted.
Society turns its back on Jane Eyre many times and in many ways. As a young orphan growing up with her extended family, the Reeds, Jane is treated as a burden, as "less than a servant" (7). Her aunt goes so far as to tell Jane 's cousins "not to go near her: she is not worthy of notice" (23). Jane is alone, physically separated from the only family she knows simply because she is dependent. With no money of her own she is reliant on the charity; her cousin John accuses her of doing nothing to earn her keep, "you have no money; your father left you none; you ought to beg, and not live here gentlemen 's children like us, and eat the same meals we do, and wear clothes at our mamma 's expense" (5). John presents a direct correlation between her lack of fortune and his scorn. It is through these interactions with the Reeds that Jane first learns that poverty is "synonymous with degradation" (20). This lesson is reiterated later when Jane runs away from Thronfield, where she was working as a governess, and loses what little money she had earned. In a nearby town, Jane must resort
Throughout Jane Eyre, Jane searches for a way to express herself as an independent person who needs help from no one, yet she also wishes to have the love and companionship of others. Often times, Jane finds that she can have independence but no one to share her life with, or she can have the love of another at the loss of her independence. Jane's entire journey is based on the goal of achieving a seamless blend between independence and love, a mixture that rarely seems to go hand in hand.
The main theme in the book Jane Eyre is the injustice of a rigid class structure and how it can get in the way of one’s happiness. The underlying message of this book, is that no matter how hard your life gets and no matter what people tell you, fight for what is right and live life freely and equally among others. This is the theme because, you should never have to sufferer when you didn’t do anything wrong. The author is trying to tell everyone that you should fight for what is right and live life filled with as much happiness as you deserve. In The beginning of the book Jane is a young orphan that is mistreated by her aunt and her cousins. She is unable to control her emotions and attacks her cousin when he was picking on her. She had no sense of consequence, she
Although most see Jane as impassioned, we see her strive to meet a balance with passion and reason. A complete balance is not reached in Jane Eyre, but the issue it brings forth applies to us today. In the ideal world we could reach a sense of balance between them, but many will rather have a `warm slush' mixture. Still, as Jane did, we will have the ability to choose the right one. In the end, the opposing forces show us that maybe striving for one or the other won't bring happiness as it did to Jane.
Jane Eyre miraculously overcomes the temptations throughout her life by following God's will. Jane's Christianity enables her to develop a strong character and to search for independence. Ultimately, with the suicide of Rochester's wife and Jane's marriage to the man she loved, her life is blessed.
In Sense and Sensibility the characters are very well-off, but having plenty of money doesn’t seem to stop them from being selfish and greedy and concerned about inheritances. They are generally very concerned with money, to the point of greed. The novel opens with the issue of the inheritance of Norland and questions of money, as Fanny persuades her husband John not to give any money to the Dashwood sisters, even though he can easily afford to. John wants to think of himself as generous to his family, but is easily manipulated by Fanny to keep his fortune to himself and not help the Dashwood sisters. The novel’s wealthy characters have distorted standards for what qualifies as
Similar to many of the great feministic novels of its time, Jane Eyre purely emerges as a story focused on the quest for love. The novel’s protagonist, Jane, searches not only for the romantic side of love, but ultimately for a sense of self-worth and independence. Set in the overlapping times of the Victorian and Gothic periods, the novel touches upon both women’s supposed rights, and their inner struggle for liberty. Orphaned at an early age, Jane was born into a modest lifestyle, without any major parent roles to guide her through life’s obstacles. Instead, she spent much of her adolescent years locked in imaginary chains, serving those around her but never enjoying the many decadences life has to offer. It is not until Jane becomes a governess that many minute privileges become available to her and offer Jane a glance at what life could have been. It is on her quest for redemption and discovery that she truly is liberated. Throughout Charlotte Bronte’s classic novel Jane Eyre, the story’s protagonist Jane, struggles to achieve the balance of both autonomy and love, without sacrificing herself in the process.
Women, in all classes, were still living in a world which was misogynistic and male-dominated. Their purpose in life was to produce male heirs and maintain the home by hiring and overseeing servants. It was also taboo for one to marry significantly below one’s social class. This is one reason that Jane is not a conventional heroine for the society of her time. Although, as a governess, she is not considered to be as low as a housemaid, she is still part of the hired help in the house. This is why it is unconventional for her and Mr Rochester to be in a relationship. Yet this is not as peculiar as how Jane Eyre ends their relationship due to her sense of betrayal. It would have been considered extremely foolish for a working-woman’s sense of betrayal to end and turn down a man of great wealth.