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Development of Jane in part 1 and Rochester's increased feelings towards her

2005-12-18T14:01:57-05:00

Throughout the first section of the novel, we are constantly reminded of the barriers in which Jane is suppressed by. Through this figurative element we can come to terms with the development of the character of Jane Eyre. Jane is an intelligent, honest, plain-featured young girl forced to contend with oppression, inequality, and hardship. Although she meets with a series of individuals who threaten her autonomy, Jane repeatedly succeeds at asserting herself and maintains her principles of justice, human dignity, and morality. She also values intellectual and emotional fulfilment. Her strong belief in gender and social equality challenges the Victorian prejudices against women and the poor. The development of Jane’s character is central to the novel. From the beginning, Jane possesses a sense of self-worth and dignity, a commitment to justice and principle, a trust in God, and a passionate disposition. Her integrity is continually tested over the course of the novel, and Jane must learn to balance the frequently conflicting aspects of herself as to find gratification. After Jane’s departure and emotional liberation from Gateshead, we are invited onto the next chapter of her life. She is introduced to the daily routines at Lowood, which are largely made up of religious aspects. It is in the next chapter where we are introduced to two figurehead characters in the path of Jane’s development, Helen Burns and Maria Temple. In lesson, Helen informs Jane of the circumstances of Lowood and that all the children are ‘charity children.’ One of the nastier teachers, Miss Scatcherd mistreats Helen; Jane is impressed with the tranquillity of Helen’s emotions as she willingly bears the punishment. This may be perhaps a stepping-stone for which Jane to build upon as one of her closet friends and her biggest influences bears the punishment, which Jane, coincidently has had problems with as we have seen in the previous chapters. Helen delivers to Jane, her Christian beliefs of forgiveness and endurance, ‘one must bear the sins of others, turn the other cheek, and love thy enemy.’ Jane is of course at odds with this, as standing up for herself frequently means fighting back. We have already witnessed several situations in which she availed herself of these tactics, particularly the fight with John Reed and the consequences was that she was locked in the Red Room, and also the lashing out at Mrs Reed were she feels a short-lived victory that soon turned to

Religion In Jane Eyre

2005-04-17T16:28:53-04:00

*Please Note* The page numbers in this essay reffer to the paper back version of the book published by Scholastic Inc. Religion in Jane Eyre In Charlotte Bronte’s coming of age novel Jane Eyre, the main character Jane not only struggles with the aspects of social class deviations but also her journey to find her own faith in God and religion. On her journey she encounters three greatly different variations on Christian faith, all of which, though she ultimately rejects, help her come to her own conclusions of her own faith and spirituality. Her first true questioning of religion is with her friend and Lowood school Helen Burns. Jane finds Helen to be serenely devout in her faith in God, and Jane admires her for it. However, Jane struggles to accept Helen’s passive view, as it lacks the understanding that Jane seeks. Also, at Lowood Jane encounters the owner of the school Mr. Brocklehurst, who acts as a dictator over the girls and teachers at Lowood. His religious ideals are those of sacrifice but it is apparent that Mr. Brocklehurst takes no consideration of these ideals in his own life style. Jane immediately rejects Mr. Brocklehurst’s point of view as it is so obviously hypocritical. Finally Jane meets her cousin St. John, a minister. Upon observing him and observing one of his sermons she realizes that though he is driven and passionate his views focus on “disquieting aspirations” as oppose to the uplifting of spirituality. She realizes that St. John lacks a true understanding of what faith and spirituality really mean. In Jane’s search for spirituality her journey leads her to find her own faith through the observations of the various and widely differing views of Helen, Mr. Brocklehurst and St. John. Jane first questions religion and faith when her friend at Lowood, Helen Burns, becomes deathly ill. She states that her “mind made it’s first earnest effort to comprehend what had been infused into it concerning Heaven and Hell; and for the first time it recoiled, baffled, and for the first time glancing behind, on each side, and before it, it saw all around an unfathomed gulf” (p. 83). Helen’s sickness personalizes everything she has been taught about religion, and so when she turns to it for solace, she finds that she doesn’t truly understand what she has been taught, and becomes lost without her own faith to guide her. Just before

Jane Eyre - Analytical Essay

2002-03-24T13:00:00-04:00

Jane Eyre, a novel about an English woman’s struggles told through the writing of Charlotte Brontë, has filled its audience with thoughts of hope, love, and deception for many years. These thoughts surround people, not just women, everyday, as if an endless cycle from birth to death. As men and women fall further into this spiral of life they begin to find their true beings along with the qualities of others. This spiral then turns into a web of conflicts as the passenger of life proceeds and often these conflicts are caused by those sought out to be guides through the journey of life but merely are spiders building a magnificent web to catch its prey. In Jane Eyre, Brontë uses the literary elements of plot and character to convey the theme that a person often falls in love with a manipulator because she has little experiences of other forms of love and as a result she has to establish her own integrity. Brontë uses the character element of opinions to show how some people often form conclusions about others and express them in their thoughts as either cruel or friendly. Since Brontë bases Jane Eyre as story told through a young lady the reader is allowed to experience her thoughts and reactions to those around her who make her very personality. As Jane is in her youth she develops these notions about her own family yelling at her cousin John saying, “You are like a murderer--you are like a slave-driver—you are like the Roman Emperors.” (p. 8) Not only showing that Jane has the intellectual maturity much greater than that of a normal ten-year-old but also that she finds John cruel and sees him becoming a bad man when he grows up. Due to Mrs. Reed’s lack of discipline John did grow as his cousin perceived causing his own demise and the relief of Jane for her cousin no longer could torment those lesser than himself. “Mr. Rochester continued blind for the first two years of our union: perhaps it was that circumstance that drew us so very near – that knit us so very close: for I was then his vision, as I am still his right hand. Literally, I was the apple of his eye.” (p.578) Jane expresses her grief over Rochester’s injuries but emphasizes her constant love as everything that he has lost. Rochester appears completely opposite

Jane Eyre: A Gothic Novel

2001-04-14T14:00:00-04:00

Jane Eyre, written by Charlotte Brontë, is considered by many to be a “gothic” novel. The use of “supernatural” incidents, architecture, and a desolate setting helped to decide this classification for Jane Eyre. Many cases exhibited the use of “supernatural” occurrences. For example, when Jane Eyre was ten years old, she was locked in a room called the “Red Room” for misbehaving. In this room, it was written that her uncle passed away there. Because of being told this, Jane Eyre believed that the light she saw float across the wall was her passed away uncle coming to avenge her mistreatment. “Shaking my hair from my eyes, I lifted my head and tried to look boldly round the dark room; at this moment a light gleamed on the wall. Was it, I asked myself, a ray from the moon penetrating some aperture in the blind? No; moonlight was still, and this stirred; while I gazed, it glided up to the ceiling and quivered over my head…………I thought the swift-darting beam was a herald of some coming vision from another world.” (page 12) To further prove this point, an incident occurred in the Rochester house that, at the time it arose, was considered “supernatural.” On an unsuspecting night, while Jane Eyre attempted to sleep, she was startled by demonic laughter. As Jane Eyre opened her door to find out who caused the laughter, she noted the hall dim, as if full of smoke. As she looked over to Mr. Rochester’s door, she noticed smoke pouring out of the room. Upon inspection, she discovered the room fully ablaze. Although the incident is eventually explained later in the book, the reader might consider it quite “supernatural” and unexplainable. The fire in Mr. Rochester’s room also helps to validate the idea of a “gothic” novel by architecture. Buildings constructed under the idea of “gothic” architecture are noted for being elaborately built and “rising toward Heaven.” Thornfield Hall meets this idea perfectly. The structure of Thornfield Hall is large and evasive. Most of the rooms are described as being “dreary and solitary,” due to their dimension. The amount of land owned by Mr. Rochester isolates Thornfield Hall and compliments the overpowering appearance of the house. The architecture and location of Thornfield Hall helps confirm the idea of a desolate setting. Thornfield Hall was located on an extensive amount of land owned by Mr. Rochester. Houses were located a great

Jane Eyre - Her growth

2000-12-11T13:00:00-05:00

Jane does grow in the book Jane Eyre. The theme of the book is Jane’s continual quest for love. Jane searches for acceptance through the five settings where she lives: Gateshead, Lowood, Thornfield, Moor House and Ferndean. Through these the maturation and self-recognition of Jane becomes traceable. It is not until she runs from Rochester and Thornfield that she realizes what she really wants. Jane is able to return to Rochester finally independent, with a desire to love, as well as be loved. In the beginning Jane seems a strong character who is very rebellious; In the Victorian times it was considered “deceitful” for a child too speak out. Jane wishes to overcome this. And she does when she says, “I must keep in good health, and not die.” (28). At Gateshead it became obvious Jane is self-willed and has a temper. An example of this is when Jane stands up to her aunt saying, “You think I have know feelings, and that I can do without one bit of love or kindness, but I cannot live so: and you have no pity.” (33). Here Jane makes her first declaration of independence. She will no longer be considered a secondary member of the Reed household. Jane wants more than anything at this time to be loved and she feels she will not have it because of al the things Mrs. Reed told Mr. Brocklehurst, and she displays her temper again, “I am not deceitful: if I were, I should say I loved you but I declare I do not love you . . .” (32). This fight led to Jane saying she will never call her “Aunt Reed” again. Which will show growth is Jane later. This is why Jane is rebellious. Jane learns she should not care so much what other people think of her. At Lowood Jane is repulsed by Mr. Brocklehurst and his “two-faced” character. Even so, Jane fines her first true friend. Helen Burns, another student at the school. By instruction, Helen is able to prove her messages. When Jane is punished in front of the whole school, she tries to accept it. But Jane still dreams of human affection and is deeply hurt when she is scolded. Jane goes as far to say, “If others don’t love me, I would rather die than live.” Helen’s response, “You think to much of the love of human beings,”

Jane Eyre: Sexism

2000-11-14T13:00:00-05:00

In the cases of Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice and Emily Bronte's Jane Eyre, the ideals of romantic love are very much the same. In both 19th century novels, women's wants and needs are rather simplified. However, this could also be said for the roles and ideals of the male characters. While it was obvious that this era was responsible for a large amount of anti-female sexism in society and the economy, can it also be said that male-female partnerships were simplified from the male perspective? In Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, it is widely agreed that the character of Jane Bennet is, in all aspects, the perfect 19th century woman. She has beauty, charm, manners, a little intelligence (but not too much), and is very loving and supportive. All of these qualities are said to show the men around her that she would make a good wife. As many discussions about this story have already said, this shows a sexist ideal of the time, that women are only good for wives. However, along the same standards we find a character such as Charles Bingley, who is thought to be the perfect gentlemen of the time. Bingley is remarkably handsome, affable, rich, and extraordinarily mannerly. All of these characteristics throw the Bennet house of women into a frenzy over who will be fortunate enough to marry Bingley. While this may show a certain dominance/subordinance relationship due to the women clamoring for the hand of a "good man", it also simplifies a man's place as to be rich, handsome, and strong. Thereby, all men who are not these things are judged according to what they do have to offer in terms of these three or so categories. In the very beginning of the novel, the Bennet girls' mother says, when asked if Bingley is married, "Oh! Single, my dear, to be sure! A single man of large fortune; four or five thousand a year. What a fine thing for our girls!" (p3, Austen). This shows a simplicity of role for a female, but also an undermining of any personality a man may have. Nothing is known about Bingley except that he is rich, yet Mrs. Bennet is already prepared to allow him to marry any of her daughters. Albeit she is being made fun of for this mindset, she continues to focus solely on her daughters marrying the most handsome, rich

Jane Eyre - Critical Evaluation

2000-05-22T14:00:00-04:00

The novel "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë consists of the continuous journey through Jane’s life towards her final happiness and freedom. This is effectively supported by five significant ‘physical’ journeys she makes, which mirror the four emotional journeys she makes. 10-year-old Jane lives under the custody of her Aunt Reed, who hates her. Jane resents her harsh treatment by her aunt and cousins so much that she has a severe temper outburst, which results in her aunt sending her to Lowood boarding school. At the end of the eight years, she has become a teacher at Lowood. At the age of eighteen she seeks independence and becomes governess at Thornfield Hall. Over time, Jane falls in love with its master, Edward Rochester, who eventually proposes to her. On their wedding day, the sermon is abruptly halted by the announcement that Rochester’s insane wife is kept locked up in the attic of Thornfield. Jane runs away. Penniless and almost starving, Jane roams the countryside in search of shelter, until she finds the house of St John, Mary, and Diana Rivers, who take her in and nurse her back to health. Jane then acquires an unexpected inheritance from her uncle. One night, Jane ‘hears’ Mr Rochester’s voice calling for her, and decides to return to Thornfield immediately. On her return, she finds Thornfield to be a "blackened ruin" due to a fire which has left Rochester blind with only one arm and killed his wife. Jane goes to Rochester’s new home, and they are married. Jane’s ‘physical’ journeys contribute significantly to plot development and to the idea that the novel is a ‘journey’ through Jane’s life. "Jane Eyre’s" chronological structure also emphasises this idea, the journey progresses as time goes on. Each journey causes her to experience new emotions and an eventual change of some kind. These ‘actual’ journeys help Jane on her four ‘figurative’ journeys, as each one allows her to reflect and grow. The journey only ends when she finds true happiness. Jane makes her journey from Gateshead to Lowood at the age of ten, finally freeing her from her restrictive life with her aunt. Before making her journey, Jane’s feelings are conveyed by Brontë through the use of pathetic fallacy: "...the grounds, where all was still petrified under the influence of hard frost." The word choice here reflects Jane’s situation – she is like the ground, ‘petrified’ under the influence of her aunt, whose

Jane Eyre - Miss Temple's Influence on Jane

1999-10-25T14:00:00-04:00

"Jane Eyre" is set during the Victorian period, at a time where a women's role in society was restrictive and repressive and class differences distinct. A job as a governess was one of the only few respectable positions available to the educated but impoverished single women. Not only is "Jane Eyre" a novel about one woman's journey through life, but Brontë also conveys to the reader the social injustices of the period, such as poverty, lack of universal education and sexual inequality. Jane's plight and her "dependant" status is particularly emphasised at the beginning of the novel. Miss Temple is the kind and fair-minded superintendent of Lowood School, who plays an important role in the emotional development of Jane Eyre. Miss Temple is described by Helen as being "good and very clever" and "above the rest, because she knows far more than they do". This description is more significant because it has been said by Helen, and she herself is extremely mature. One of Miss Temple's most outstanding qualities is her ability to command (perhaps unconsciously) respect from everyone around her, "considerable organ of veneration, for I yet retain the sense of admiring awe with which my eyes traced her steps". Even during their first encounter Jane is "impressed"... "by her voice, look and air". Throughout Jane's stay at Lowood, Miss Temple frequently demonstrates her human kindness and compassion for people. An Example of this is when after noticing that the burnt porridge was not eaten by anyone, she ordered a lunch of bread and cheese to be served to all, realising their hunger. This incident is also evidence of her courage, of how she is not afraid to stand up to her superior, when she feels that too much unnecessary suffering has been inflicted on the children Miss Temple's Christianity contrasts with that of Mr Brocklehurst, where instead of preaching restrictive and depressing doctrine, which he then proceeds to contradict, she encourages the children by "precept and example". After the incident involving Mr Brocklehurst announcing to the whole school that Jane is a liar, the reader becomes aware of Miss Temple's sense of natural justice, where before accepting what Mr Brocklehust has said, she inquires from Jane her version. It is of no coincidence that Brontë choose to coincide Miss Temple's arrival into the schoolroom with the moon's light "streaming in through a window near". Brontë throughout the novel uses weather to set the mood

Jane Eyre - Violence

1999-07-02T14:00:00-04:00

Discuss Charlotte Brontë's use of violence, in the text Jane Eyre, that captures the reader's attention in relation to scenes, settings and characterisations? The author of Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë, uses depictions of mental, physical and natural violence throughout the text to interest the reader and create springboards towards more emotional and dramatic parts of the novel. By doing this, Brontë not only uses violence to capture the reader's attention, but also leads the reader on an interesting journey throughout the book. This violence is raised through three particular things that include the following. Scenes, such as the burning down of Mr. Rochester's house by Bertha and the fight between Jane and her cousin John. Settings that include the Red Room in which Jane Eyre is locked in as a child and the Attic in which Bertha Mason is locked. Also Characterisations of Bertha, Mrs. Reed and to some extent Jane herself shed light on the use of violence. Charlotte Brontë uses violence throughout the book to keep the reader interested and at the same time creating a springboard for emotional and dramatical scenes. The first instance of this occurs when Jane is very young and she quarrels physically and verbally with her cousin John. This leads to Jane being locked up in the Red Room, which her uncle died in, and her transfer to Lowood, which is an institution for orphaned children. Here Brontë characterised violence through John by him attacking Jane, and Mrs. Reed by her locking Jane up in the Red Room. The room being red is also significant in the use of violence, as not only has someone died in it, but also the colour red is usually associated with violence and anger. John's violent dominance towards Jane, (pg. 17, Chapter 1, Volume 1), and Mrs. Reed locking her up in a room, (pg. 18, Chapter 1, Volume 1), thus causing her to faint through fear, is indeed a means of interesting readers. Through this violence, Jane then proceeds to Lowood. At Lowood she wins the friendship of everyone there, but her life is difficult because conditions are poor at the school. Dominated by Mr. Brocklehurst, Jane feels intimidated and the text begins to lose its violent nature, including its interest. Jane begins to make friends and the reader believes that there is no more violence throughout the book. All up until typhus kills many of the students. Here the

Jane Eyre - Violence

1999-01-22T13:00:00-05:00

Charlotte Bronte uses violence in several scenes throughout the novel. The violence in the novel is not fatal to anyone, it is just used to catch the readers eye. This novel consists of many emotional aspects. For example, the violence in the scene where