GCSE English/ English Literature Coursework
An Examination of the Writers Craft in Jane Eyre.
Jane Eyre was not merely a piece of 19th century fiction. It was a
prototype in so many different ways. Charlotte Bronte was a
revolutionary in the way she chose a female lead and the intimacy of
first person narration. What was more abnormal was the fact that
Charlotte Bronte was writing at all. During the period when she lived
it was almost unheard of for a woman to do anything other than get
married or become a governess!
Charlotte Bronte wrote Jane Eyre in 1847 and it was set roughly around
the same time. At the time this kind of novel was revolutionary for a
number of reasons. Firstly it was very unusual, almost unheard of for
a woman to write a novel. The style most commonly used during this
period was third person narration. It was new and innovative to use
first person narration. Jane Eyre could sometimes be hard to
understand because there was a constant conflict between whether the
novel is fiction or non-fiction. The genre was that of non-fiction but
the sub-title was ‘an autobiography’ You usually associate this with
factual writing. Charlotte Bronte has created a novel that was so
authentic it was almost real!
Jane Eyre told the story of an orphaned girl’s life. It began with
life living with her heartless aunt and cousins, then going to Lowood
School. It recounted her developing romance with Mr Rochester at
Thornfield and the discovery of his secret wife Burtha Mason. The
reader learnt of her subsequent flee to St. John Rivers, discovering
she was rich and finally she returned to be with Mr Rochester.
It was Charlotte Bronte’s unique use of first person narration that
made Jane Eyre so special. It allowed the reader to get a sense of
intimacy that you just can’t grasp from the typical third person
narration.
‘I am sure most people would have thought him an ugly man; yet there
was so much unconscious pride in his port’ (Chapter 14)
Charlotte Bronte used first person narration as a vehicle to allow
them to get to know Jane Eyre like she was a friend. She gave them her
honest opinion about all things, in this case her feelings towards Mr
Rochester. She contradicted peoples usual opinions on certain topics,
such as Mr Rochester. In a sense she was confessing secrets to the
reader, which lead the reader to feel privileged, as if they were her
confidants. I believe that Charlotte Bronte deliberately did this
skill to engage the reader in the novel, encouraging them to read on.
Film adaptations of literature tend to have a bad reputation. As Brian McFarlane observes in “It Wasn't Like That in the Book...”, viewers are more likely to come out of a theater after viewing an adaptation griping about what was different or better in the book than by commenting about the film in its own right (McFarlane 6). It is rare for such films to be judged as films in their own right, and often viewers aren't looking for an adaptation inspired by the novel, but rather a completely faithful representation of the original work, in film form. However, not only is this not always possible due to time limitations, but it also overlooks all of the things possible in film that are impossible on the written page. Wendy Everett points out in “Reframing Adaptation”, that film is much more than just plot and simple narrative, with filmmakers being able to utilize “ the rhythms and nuances of the dialogue, of course, but also the film's visual images and cadences, the camera’s angels and rhythms, and the internal dynamic between and within each shot” in their storytelling (Everett 153). While literature is bound to the printed word, film is capable of creating an entire visual and audible world in which a story unfolds.
continue to fluctuate as she matures. Jane Eyre begins her life in the wrong place at the wrong
Imagination is a concept that is used in almost all forms of literature. It is held especially in high regard by the writers of the Romantic era. The writers from this era, such as Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Keats, have greatly influenced those in successive periods, such as the Victorian period. This can be seen, for instance, in the novel Jane Eyre; even though it was written and heavily based in the ideals of the Victorian writers, it still holds influences from the Romantics, especially the power of imagination.
Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre may be superficially read as simply a sweet romance in which Jane ends up with the man of her dreams after overcoming many obstacles and challenges. But doing so misses the much deeper—richer—messages of Bronte's lasting masterpiece. A more thoughtful reading reveals this novel, especially its heroine Jane, challenging centuries-old gender roles which assume male supremacy, characterizing men as the dominant, more privileged gender, while women are oppressed into inferior and submissive roles. Of course this Victorian novel portrays the expected gender roles of both men and women in 19th century England, but Jane rises out of the patriarchy challenging the social roles assigned her with a personality marked by sass and self-assurance . Ms. Bronte, through Jane, ultimately demonstrates that women can live their lives on equal terms with—or independent of—men.
In the novel, Jane Eyre starts as a young girl of ten years old; she lives with her aunt Mrs. Reed and her cousins John, Georgiana, and Eliza. At Gateshead, Jane has undergone betrayal in the acts that the Reed family does not treat her as a part of their family. Mrs. Reed treats Jane unkindly and as if she was a victim to put it, in other words, Mrs. Reed says “ take her away to the red-room and lock her in there” (Brontë, Ch. 1). Mrs. Reed
Following the Moral Compass in Jane Eyre Jane Eyre is the perfect novel about maturing: a child who is treated cruelly, holds herself together and learns to steer her life forward with a driving conscience that keeps her life within personally felt moral bounds. I found Jane as a child to be quite adult-like: she battles it out conversationally with Mrs. Reed on an adult level right from the beginning of the book. The hardships of her childhood made her extreme need for moral correctness believable. For instance, knowing her righteous stubbornness as a child, we can believe that she would later leave Rochester altogether rather than living a life of love and luxury simply by overlooking a legal technicality concerning her previous marriage to a mad woman. Her childhood and her adult life are harmonious, which gives the reader the sense of a complete and believable character. Actually, well into this book I  I was reminded of a friend's comment a few years back to "avoid the Brontes like the plague.
In life the people around Jane Eyre has a way of shaping her as a person. As a person grows older, weather very negative or positive it makes a stronger person out of a person or it affects that person in some way in life. Unfortunately and sadly for Jane she had horrible and wicked people in her life as she grew to be a young woman. Luckily for Jane, down the line of life she was able to meet those whom was respectful to her and appreciated her help and servant abilities. Multiple people had an effect on shaping Jane as a person. By the end of this essay it will be proven that the person in Jane’s life has shaped her Social drive and development as a young woman succeeding its also will be proven on the affects of Jane Eyre and bildungsroman life and early figures in feminist movement, with the affects of Jane’s life and thoughts.
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...
The novel, Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte, has a plot that is filled with an extraordinary amount of problems. Or so it seems as you are reading it. However, it comes to your attention after you have finished it, that there is a common thread running throughout the book. There are many little difficulties that the main character, the indomitable Jane Eyre, must deal with, but once you reach the end of the book you begin to realize that all of Jane's problems are based around one thing. Jane searches throughout the book for love and acceptance, and is forced to endure many hardships before finding them. First, she must cope with the betrayal of the people who are supposed to be her family - her aunt, Mrs. Reed, and her children, Eliza, Georgiana, and John. Then there is the issue of Jane's time at Lowood School, and how Jane goes out on her own after her best friend leaves. She takes a position at Thornfield Hall as a tutor, and makes some new friendships and even a romance. Yet her newfound happiness is taken away from her and she once again must start over. Then finally, after enduring so much, during the course of the book, Jane finally finds a true family and love, in rather unexpected places.
fact that she s a female but also because she is a poor orphan living
Jane Eyre vs Mary Wollstonecraft There is no doubt that Charlotte Bronte knew the works of Mary Wollstonecraft, and she knew them well. Although Wollstonecraft's ideas were written a hundred years beforehand, many women did not read her work because it was not easily attainable. Many women were not educated to read this piece of literature, and many men deemed it unimportant to their education. Bronte's works were cleverly disguised in women's entertainment, the novel. The main themes both women discuss are education, love, and marriage.
her lack of respect and how she herself views him as a person based on
The Novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte symbolized a new era in the history of literature. It not only awakened women’s awareness to being independent, but also brought about a completely new concept of the value of life to a woman. Ideas like marriage based on love and respect and not social ranks where considered very controversial at the time. Even though the idea may have been considered controversial, Bronte had no trouble making her novel defy all odds. This also included her heroine, Jane Eyre, who demonstrates the image of a woman who is kind, free spirited, and most importantly, brave enough to say “no” to the social conventions. Critics agree that Charlotte Bronte’s truly ground breaking story beautifully explores and appreciates the spirit of feminism, and it is clearly reflected throughout the novel.
The novel, Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë is about a female character battling society's conservative view on women's rights and roles in civilization. Jane Eyre was written during the Victorian Era when women were seen less than equals to men, but more as property and an asset. At the end of the era was when feminist ideas and the women's suffrage movement began to gain momentum. In the novel, Jane encounters three male characters, Mr.Brocklehurst, Mr. Rochester and Mr. St. John Rivers, who try to restrict her from expressing her thoughts and emotions. In Charlotte Brontë's novel, Jane Eyre, Victorian ideology influences today's society by making women seem inadequate to men. Brontë wants to convey that rather than conforming to other's opinions, women should seek freedom and break free of the barrier that society has created for them.
Jane Eyre is a classic English novel which follows the development of a young woman in the mid 1800's. Jane grows to be a smart, self supporting, independent woman. This becomes a struggle for her as she was brought up to live in the lower-class. Throughout this novel, Jane tries to show that class and gender should not affect personality. This novel explains Jane’s struggle against societal expectations of class and of gender.