A Comparison Of Differing Bildungsroman

A Comparison of Differing Bildungsromans Falling under the somewhat broad category of “coming of age”, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce compare in the sense that both novels display the development of their respective protagonists; however, their young lives differ nevertheless. The distinctive narrations of the novels is integral to the psychological development of the characters: through these narrations, the difference between the two maturing protagonists is best exemplified with their contrasting responses to religion and morals. By comparing the characters of differing journeys and time periods, the two novels together reveal the importance of achieving self realization in order

Bronte’s first person point of view is best characterized as external, being that even the formative years of Jane’s life are narrated by the protagonist after she has reached maturity, and says, “I have recorded in detail the events of my insignificant existence: to the first ten years if my life, I have given almost as many chapters” (Brontë 84). In contrast, the sophistication of Joyce’s third person narration matures as Stephen himself matures: while Stephen is still a small child in the beginning of the novel, he describes himself as “baby Tuckoo” (Joyce 3) and talks about how “the moocow came down the road where Betty Byrne lived” (Joyce 3). Although these narrations offer different facets of the same formative years, both narrations allow the reader to follow the growth of the two characters as their experiences cause them to

Although morality and ethics are indispensable to the avoidance of hell, Stephen’s fixation on religion is not quite equivalent to Jane’s struggle with morality. Similarly to the way that Stephen’s curiosity with religion begins at a young age, Jane’s moral compass too begins to form at a young age when she is a new student at Lowood. After Helen discusses the importance of forgiveness with Jane, Jane disagrees: “If people were always kind and obedient to those who are cruel and unjust, the wicked people would have it all their own way: they would never feel afraid, and so they would never alter, but would grow worse and worse” (Bronte 57); here, she is seen rejecting Christian values of forgiveness in return for her idea of justice. Although it is in the context of sin, Stephen too ponders morality; he does not hesitate to question the morality church officials: “Was that a sin for Father Arnall to be in a wax or was he allowed to get into a wax when the boys were idle because that made them study better or was he only letting on to be in a wax? It was because he was allowed, because a priest would know what a sin was and would not do it” (Joyce 56). Despite the fact that Stephen too explores the idea of morality, unlike Jane he refers to religion as a guideline for what is moral and what is not. Jane struggles most with morality when she realizes that she is in