Id Ego And Superego In Jane Eyre

710 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Portrayal of jane in jane eyre and the settings she inhabits

For one to mature, one must find the ability to discover the pros and cons of life decisions. Charlotte Brontë’s novel, Jane Eyre, tells the life of a young orphan, Jane Eyre. Jane is a girl, who continuously faces various hardships while growing up varying from her experiences with her malevolent aunt, Ms. Reed, Mr. Rochester, and St. John. Through hardships, Jane wants to become more mature after every struggle in her life. However, with weak spirit and poor resolve, Jane suffers the fierce attacks on her confidence and drive. With nothing to do, Jane can only learn to accept that assumptions that she is only a mere peasant that is under control by the “higher-ups.” Despite the continuous barrage of mortifying words, Jane finds a way to elicit herself so she could discover her inner rebel and develop as a woman. Through the descriptions of the actions, characterizations, and words of Jane Eyre, Bronte demonstrates that for one to evolve mentally and physically into a woman, one must learn understand one’s three parts of the psychic apparatus, the Id, Ego, and Superego.
The story of Jane’s miserable life starts out with false accusations from Ms. Reed and punishment from Ms. Reed herself, where Jane first suffers inhibition before discovering her first psychic state and that her dependence to Ms. Reed can be broken. Ms. Reed punishes Jane by sending her to the “red-room” after Jane’s unfortunate quarrel with John, Ms. Reed’s son. Bronte reiterates Jane’s pain to emphasize the process of evolving from a child by creating Jane’s own front line. This frontier is known as the Id, a psychic force defined as a way to seek to avoid pain, without considering consquences, aroused by increases of instinctual tension. Bronte’s provides an...

... middle of paper ...

...savage, high voice… I am not your dear; I cannot lie down: send me to school soon, Mrs. Reed, for I hate to live here… I was left there alone winner of the field… Something of vengeance I had tasted for the first time; as aromatic wine it seemed, on swallowing, warm and racy: its after-flavour and metallic and corroding, gave me a sensation as if I had been poisoned… but I knew, party from experience and partly from instinct, that was the way to make her repulse me with double scorn, thereby re-exciting every turbulent impulse of my nature” (Bronte 39)
Jane’s confrontation ignited Bronte’s profound idea about maturity through the three psychic apparatus. As Jane starts to develop her Ego, she discovers the consequences of rebelling against Ms. Reed. This phase has made Jane develope her mind to listen to reason, reflect on her actions, and understand her position.

Show More
Related

  • Comparing The Pivotal Moment In Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre

    1143 Words  | 3 Pages

    According to Henri Bergson, “To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly.” Life consists of a multitude of transitions and experiences, which help shape the creation of a person’s identity. This is evident in Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, when Jane undergoes a striking moment of self-realization and moral development as she leaves her life at Moor House for Thornfield. This evolution occurs as she cultivates her own religious values, determines what love is, and becomes autonomous.

    Read More

  • Duty vs. Desire

    1132 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the novel Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte shows us that all people have a feeling inside of them to recognizing what their personal desires and what their duty to others is. In Jane Eyre, the endless theme of unforgettable war between a passion and responsibility always appears, with a strong set of principles Jane is able to decide what is right. Throw out the book Charlotte Bronte show us that Jane’s integrity to her self is more important than what anybody else thinks of her. Duty and desire plays a huge role in which Jane has to learn to control her desire of her anger outburst and her duty to herself.

    Read More

  • Jane Eyre

    608 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the novel Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte uses Jane Eyre as her base to find out how a character confronts the demands of a private passion that conflicts with her responsibilities. . Mistreated abused and deprived of a normal childhood, Jane Eyre creates an enemy early in her childhood with her Aunt Mrs. Reed. Just as Mrs. Reeds life is coming to an end, she writes to Jane asking her for forgiveness, and one last visit from her.

    Read More

  • Passion in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre

    1216 Words  | 3 Pages

    instinct for asserting herself was stifled at an early age   and could only expressed through defiance of the king. The defiant declaration of independence from Mrs. Reed, "You are deceitful",(v.i.37) gives Jane the power of freedom. and opens up a life of  "unhoped-for liberty",(v.i.37). & nbsp; Through the preceding years Jane develops into a highly educated well spoken and strong willed woman. She is taught to be patient and thoughtful during her years in Lowood, and is introduced to the emotions of the heart and spirit in meeting  Rochester. & nbsp; Bronte makes an emphasis on the spiritual and supernatural.

    Read More

  • The Quest for Inner Beauty in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre

    1992 Words  | 4 Pages

    Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. 3rd ed. New York: The Modern Library. Bronte, Charlotte. "

    Read More

  • The Battle between Heart and Head

    547 Words  | 2 Pages

    Eventually, she returns to her former employer, discovering Thornfield in ashes, Mrs. Rochester dead, and Mr. Rochester blind and free from wedlock. Flooded with motifs, Jane’s continual struggles between her passions and responsibility prevail as the main theme of Bronte’s entrancing narrative. From the introduction of Jane’s orphan life, she battles between her ire at cousin John’s antics and obedience to Aunt Reed’s reluctant guardianship.

    Read More

  • Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre

    1754 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • How Does Jane's Adolescence Influence Her Adulthood

    1378 Words  | 3 Pages

    Adolescence and its impact on a character is a common theme throughout literature. Adolescence describes the period after childhood and before adulthood in one’s life. Childhood can impact one’s future course in life, whilst adulthood will receive the lasting effects of adolescence. In Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre it is possible to see Jane’s adolescence as shaped by her childhood and impacting her adulthood. Jane’s difficult childhood leaves her with warped ideas of love and power. Jane’s adolescence is the first time she receives any love and learns how to love. Lastly, Jane’s adulthood decisions are influenced by her ideas on love and power that have been shaped by her childhood and adolescence.

    Read More

  • Independence and Love in Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

    1336 Words  | 3 Pages

    The story begins with a young Jane Eyre who is essentially neither loved by anyone nor independent in nature. At this point in the story, the reader discovers that Jane is an orphan and is being supported by the Reed family. This discovery is made through the portrayal of John Reed when he is taunting Jane about her social status. John claims that since it is his family who supports Jane, it is their choice to dictate the circumstances under which she lives. In this case, Jane is not allowed to play with the younger Reed children or read a book that belongs to the Reeds. The fact that6 Jane is an orphan living under someone else's roof displays that she has not yet gained her independence.

    Read More

  • Physical & Emotional Abuse in Jane Eyre: How This Affected Jane’s Evolution Into a Dynamic Character

    1183 Words  | 3 Pages

    Jane Eyre has been acclaimed as one of the best gothic novels in the Victorian Era. With Bronte’s ability to make the pages come alive with mystery, tension, excitement, and a variety of other emotions. Readers are left with rich insight into the life of a strong female lead, Jane, who is obedient, impatient, and passionate as a child, but because of the emotional and physical abuse she endures, becomes brave, patient, and forgiving as an adult. She is a complex character overall but it is only because of the emotional and physical abuse she went through as a child that allowed her to become a dynamic character.

    Read More

  • Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre as a Coming of Age Story

    1678 Words  | 4 Pages

    The story begins as Jane lives with the Reed family in their home at Gateshead Hall. Here, the theme of education vs. containment develops immediately, as Jane is kept confined indoors on a cold winter day. The other children (Eliza, John, and Giorgiana) are "clustered round their mamma in the drawing-room" (Bronte: 39) being educated, as Jane had been excluded from the group. Jane tries to educate herself by reading from Berwick's History of British Birds, but once again, she is held back from her attempt at enlightenment by the abuse of John Reed, who castigates her and throws the heavy book at her. In anger, Jane cries out, "You are like a murderer - you are like a slave-driver - you are like the Roman emperors" (Bronte: 43). In this passage, Jane compares John Reed to a slave-driver because, like a slave-driver, he deprives Jane of her attempt at education and keeps her suppressed. Afterwards, Jane is blamed for the entire incident and...

    Read More

  • The Maturity of Jane Eyre in Charlotte Bronte's Novel

    1815 Words  | 4 Pages

    In Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, it was love, and not age or education, that led Jane to mature and grow as a person. With the help of Helen Burns and Miss. Temple, Jane Eyre learned what it meant to love someone. Both these people influenced Jane to mature into a young lady by showing Jane their love and affection. When Jane left Lowood to become a governess, she met the love of her life, Mr. Rochester. With his love, Jane Eyre eventually matured fully and grew into a self-sufficient woman and left the hatred and anger behind.

    Read More

  • Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre – A Story of One Abused Child

    3617 Words  | 8 Pages

    In his essay “Jane Eyre: The Quest for Optimism,” Frederick L. Ashe writes, “It is hard to imagine anyone learned enough to read Jane Eyre who would consider her first ten years emotionally healthful ones” (Ashe). Ashe, whose criticism appeared in Novels for Students, Volume 4, is correct in his opinion. Jane’s abuse first begins in her own home. Her life until age ten is filled with abuse from her cousin John Reed, the mockery of the household servants, and the physical and mental abuse of her Aunt Reed. John’s first abuse of Jane comes when he throws a heavy book at her head. Bronte writes in Jane’s voice, “I saw him lift and poise the book and stand in act to hurl it, I instinctively started aside with a cry of alarm: not soon enough, however; the volume was flung, it hit me, and I fell, striking my head against the door and cutting it. The cut bled, the pain was sharp” (Bronte 13). John’s physical abuse of Jane is not the only abuse she receives, though. After Jane recovers from the abuse bestowed upon her by John, Miss Abbot, a servant, says of Jane, “If she were a nice, pretty child, one might compassionate her forlornness; but one really cannot care for such a little toad as that” (Bronte 28). Although this abuse pains Jane, it is the abuse of her Aunt Reed that hurts Jane the most. Aunt Reed’s first maltreatment of Jane is on the first page of the novel. Aunt Reed gathers her children around her for a happy family moment. Jane, however, is left alone. Jane says, “[Aunt Reed] regretted to be

    Read More

  • Finding the Balance of Love and Freedom in Jane Eyre

    1343 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Jane Eyre

    1059 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the novel ‘Jane Eyre’ by Charlotte Bronte, Jane shows self-confidence throughout the novel by having a sense of self-worth, and a trust in God and her morals. Jane develops her self confidence through the capacity to learn and the relationships she experiences. Although an oppressed orphan, Jane is not totally with confidence, she believes in what is right and shows passion and spirit at an early age. Helen and Miss Temple equips Jane with education and Christians values that she takes on throughout her life. Jane later also blossoms in self confidence under Mr. Rochester’s love and her family, the Rivers and newly discovered wealth. Bronte uses dialogue and 1st person narration to give an insight of the characters for the reader to see what the characters are saying and suggest what they are really thinking, and it shows Jane’s self-confidence growing in every stage of her life.

    Read More

More about Id Ego And Superego In Jane Eyre

Open Document