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Gender relations in jane eyre
Feminist themes in jane eyre
Introduction to Jane Eyre
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Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte not only traces Jane's development as an independent individual, but it can also be read as a description of her personal journey in finding a family through the five settings in the novel. From beginning to end Jane engages with an array of nurturing, maternal women whom model a family for her, but also encounters those who torment her and bring her great suffering. In reading this novel, we’re not only able to trace Jane’s development as an individual, but can also see the book as her journey in search for family, for a sense of belonging, and for a home.
The story begins with introducing the unloved, ten-year old orphan named Jane Eyre, who lives in a mansion entitled Gateshead, with her aunt, Mrs. Reed, and several cousins. Her parents had passed away long before this time, leaving the Reed’s to be her only family to abide with. Mrs. Reed was cruel and resented Jane because she claimed her late husband, whom Jane dearly missed, had always loved Jane more than his own children. Jane’s three young cousins living at Gateshead were spoiled and obnoxious figures that had just as much antipathy as Mrs. Reed did towards her. She feared her cousin John especially, for he was quite verbally and physically abusive towards Jane’s frail character. This image of family Jane received from the Reed family at Gateshead was not a positive one in any sense. Although she does not receive any parental love from Mrs. Reed, Jane finds one maternal figure at Gateshead, named Bessie Lee. Bessie was the only figure in Jane’s childhood who regularly treated her kindly. When Jane experience traumatic and violating times at Gateshead, such as the incident in the red-room, Bessie was the one who calmed Jane. She also taugh...
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..., after her long search for a true family, Jane comes to find the family living at the Moor house to be her own relatives. She meets her two cousins, Diana and Mary Rivers, and also engages with her male cousin by the name of St. John. Independent and unmarried, the Rivers sisters recite poetry, love learning and live intellectually equal to St. John. As Jane befriends the Rivers girls, St. John remains cold and distant. Later when Jane has moved out to work in Morton, St. John comes to visit her. He explains to her that God had called him to become a missionary, and he asks Jane to come to India to work with him. (ch. 34-35) St. John soon shows feelings towards Jane, and he asks her to move to and alike her experiences with Mr. Rochester, denies St. John's marriage proposal, as it would be one of duty, not of passion for the both of them.
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Jane Eyre
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.
St. John Rivers is introduced into the novel as a savior. He takes Jane into his home and under his care when she believes to have reached the end of her road. It is here, at Moor House with St. John, that she is given a new beginning with a new identity, job, and, eventually, a family with St. John and his sisters. As a clergyman, St. John is a good, moral person whose intentions are to provide for his people and his family. He also eventually wants to become a missionary someday soon. Jane likes the idea of this and it is evident to readers that Jane admires St. John and loves him like the brother he has become to her. He even gives her a job as a teacher at a school for less fortunate children. It is here that she is introduced to Rosamond Oliver and her father.
From an early age Jane is aware she is at a disadvantage, yet she learns how to break free from her entrapment by following her heart. Jane appears as not only the main character in the text, but also a female narrator. Being a female narrator suggests a strong independent woman, but Jane does not seem quite that.
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
At the novel's opening, Jane is living with the cruel Mrs. Reed and her horrid three children, Eliza, Georgiana, and John. Mrs. Reed makes her distaste for Jane very evident in all of her actions. She forbids her to play with her (Mrs. Reed's) children (Jane's own cousins) and falsely accuses her of being a "liar" and of possessing a "mean spirit." Mrs. Reed's attitude is subsequently passed on to her children who, in turn, treat Jane as bad, if not worse, than their mother does. As an unjustified consequence of these attitudes, Jane is forced to grow up in a home where she finds no love, even when she tries to be perfect. The only times she comes close to finding the semblance of love is when Bessie (a servant) is kind to ...
Jane spends her first 10 years of her life at Gateshead Hall, a lavish mansion. She lived with her Aunt, Mrs Reed, and three cousins, Eliza, Georgina and John. During her time in the mansion she wouldn't dare argue with the mistress, and fulfilled every duty. Jane is deprived of love, joy and acceptance. She is very much unwanted and isolated.
Jane Eyre, written in 1847 by Charlotte Bronte, relates a tale of tragedy, mystery, and gothic romance. Covering the multiple issues of England in that time, Bronte writes of orphan treatment, social class, and Britain’s controversial law of prohibiting divorce in all circumstances. Orphaned at a young age and unwanted by her guardian Mrs. Reed, Jane searches for higher prospects in education at Lowood, eventually earning a position as a governess at Thornfield. Complications disrupt her life, when she becomes engaged to her employer, Mr. Rochester, and soon after discovers that he is already married to a lunatic. Leaving Thornfield, Jane finds a home with St. John and his two sisters. 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.
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.
Jane Eyre’s continuous search for love, a sense of belonging, and family are all thoroughly displayed by Charlotte Brontë. Jane starts off as a despised orphan who is captivated by the thought of love, believing that it will help her achieve happiness. Throughout the novel, Jane attempts to find different substitutes to fill the void in her life.
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.
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.
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.
At the beginning of the novel, Bronte presents Jane as a lonely, yet independent and intelligent child who faces difficult hardships at a very young age. At Gateshead, Jane is greatly mistreated by her family members which result in her attending a school for orphaned children called Lowood. Although Jane's life at Lowood is an improvement compared to life at Gateshead, she still feels as though she belongs elsewhere. Jane sends out an advertisement for a wanted governess after six years of living at Lowood and soon begins working at Thornfield Hall where she begins teaching a young French girl Adele Varens. Upon arriving, Jane is informed by the housekeeper Mrs. Fairfax that the owner of Thornfield Mr. Rochester travels often and has lived through a troubled life. After many months have passed at Thornfield Jane finally meets Mr. Rochester and he takes a great secretive interest in her. The relationship between Jane and Mr. Rochester is the first non-abusive relationship Jane has with another man in the no...
Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre represents the role of women in the Victorian era by giving the reader an insight into the lives of women from all social classes. Jane Eyre therefore represents figures of the Victorian time yet the character of Jane Eyre, herself, can be seen as very unconventional for the Victorian society.
At the beginning of the book, Jane was living with her aunt Mrs. Reed and her children. Although Jane is treated cruelly and is abused constantly, she still displays passion and spirit by fighting back at John and finally standing up to Mrs Reed. Even Bessie ‘knew it was always in her’. Mrs. Reed accuses Jane of lying and being a troublesome person when Mr. Brocklehurst of Lowood School visited Gateshead. Jane is hurt, as she knows she was not deceitful so she defends herself as she defended herself to John Reed when he abused her, as she said “Wicked and cruel boy! You are like a murderer – you are like a slave driver – you are like the Roman emperors!” to John Reed instead of staying silent and taking in the abuse, which would damage her self-confidence and self-worth. With the anger she had gotten from being treated cruelly, she was able to gain ...