Jane Eyre is one of those classic Victorian novels that has quite the fan base. Many university professors when teaching about Victorian literature often have Jane Eyre as one of the novels for their students to read and discuss. In this paper I examine how Charlotte Bronte creates Jane Eyre using the novel Pamela by Samuel Richardson as a foundation for key characters and events in the novel. In the Victorian era Pamela would be quite well known to the readers even though it had been written almost 100 years before Jane Eyre. As such, I am sure that many of Charlotte Bronte’s readers picked up on the influence that Pamela had in her novel. If the reader were to take the time to look at some of the allusions presented in Jane Eyre there …show more content…
But, O sir! my soul is of equal importance with the soul of a princess; though my quality is inferior to that of the meanest slave.” (Richardson). Here, Pamela is putting her virtue on equal status to that of a Princess and saying that she has a right to keep her virtue pure even if she is a servant. In Jane Eyre Jane states, “I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself. I will keep the law given by God; sanctioned by man.” (Bronte 284). In this quote the reader can see that Jane asserts her strong sense of moral integrity over and against her intense feeling for Rochester. Rochester is trying to convince Jane to stay with him even though he is still married to Bertha Mason. Jane almost gives in, because to her Rochester in the first person to truly love her. Jane however, knows that if she were to stay she would be Rochester’s mistress instead of his wife. Jane knows that not only would she love her self-respect, but she would most likely lose Rochester’s to. Thus, Jane decides to assert her worth and her ability to love herself regardless of how others treat
In Stephen Dunn’s 2003 poem, “Charlotte Bronte in Leeds Point”, the famous author of Jane Eyre is placed into a modern setting of New Jersey. Although Charlotte Bronte lived in the early middle 1800’s, we find her alive and well in the present day in this poem. The poem connects itself to Bronte’s most popular novel, Jane Eyre in characters analysis and setting while speaking of common themes in the novel. Dunn also uses his poem to give Bronte’s writing purpose in modern day.
Jane Eyre is about a girl named Jane who struggles to find who she really is and with it what she really wants. “As a model for women readers in the Victorian period and throughout the twentieth century to follow, Jane Eyre encouraged them to make their own choices in living their lives, to develop respect for themselves, and to become individuals” (Markley). One of the reasons why this book gained merit was because of its striking presence within its time period. During the “Victorian Age” woman did not have much say in society, so this novel broke boundaries to societal norms that restricted woman from things they have today. “Brontë is able to enact this tension through her characters and thus show dramatically the journey of a woman striving for balance within her nature.
This passage also applies to Jane's life after Lowood. After Jane runs away from Thornfield, refusing to become a mistress, she has little money and few belongings. By escaping Rochester, Jane runs from sin, temptation, and safety, into the unknown, trusting in God to help her find food and shelter. She is more concerned for Rochester than she is for herself, and comes to the conclusion that "Mr. Rochester was safe; he was God's and by God would he be guarded" (319; ch. 28).
Analyse the methods Charlotte Brontë uses to make the reader empathise with Jane Eyre in the opening chapters. Reflect on how the novel portrays Victorian ideology and relate your analysis to the novel’s literary content.
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.
In Charlotte Bronte’s, Jane Eyre, Jane goes through numerous self-discoveries, herself-realization and discipline leads her to a life she chooses to make her happy. Jane Eyre has a rough life from the start. Forced to stay with people who despise her, Jane can only help herself. Jane must overcome the odds against her, which add to many. Jane is a woman with no voice, until she changes her destiny. The novel Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte consists of continuous journeys through Jane’s life towards her final happiness and freedom.
Rochester is is where she finds the deep connection that changes the course of her life. They have a quick, witty rapport and are very alike though seemingly different. When they first meet, Mr. Rochester implies that Jane is a leprechaun as a joke. Jane responds with a straight face, “the men in green all forsook England a hundred years ago.”(104). They have a very similar sense of humor and are able to sustain interesting conversations. This leads to an attraction, even though outwardly they are much different. Mr. Rochester is a middle-aged, broken gentleman with a string of meaningless mistresses and a dark marriage in his past, while Jane is a very young woman, right out of a catholic school. They are both ultimately searching for the same human love. At this point in the story, however, they are not similar enough that they can be together. Mr. Rochester loves Jane, but he is still very possessive and values her as a sort of object over her own autonomy. “I will myself put the diamond chain round your neck, and the circlet on your forehead... and I will clasp the bracelets on these fine wrists,” (220). Because of this, their values differ in regards to Jane’s autonomy and her decisions. When Bertha’s marriage to Rochester is exposed, Jane decides she must leave, but Mr. Rochester doesn’t understand how important that is to her. “Jane, do you mean to go one way in the world, and to let me go another?” (269). Jane is very close to ending her period
... self-worth. She believes that there is a chance for her to change her future. She had to make certain sacrifices in order to discover her strength, true friendships and her self-worth. She sacrifices her love to preserve her self-worth. After realizing her marriage to Rochester cannot be lawful and will mean surrendering her sense of dignity and virtue, she leaves him. When Jane leaves Thornfield she says “I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself” (Bronte 336). In the end, she finds her happiness, as she is now with the man she loves, she preserves her self-worth without sacrificing her integrity.
Despite Rochester’s stern manner and unhandsome appearance, Jane still finds herself falling in love with him. During her first encounter with Rochester Jane describes him
This brought into question Jane’s grand need for independence. Jane’s equality in a relationship is derived from her desire for independence. Jane reveals her need for independence in her relationship with Mr. Rochester when she told him she would always call him master but she would not be inferior to him. Haiyan Gao asserts in her article “Reflection On feminism in Jane Eyre,” “Jane loves Rochester with all her heart and Rochester’s status and wealth make him so high above for Jane to approach, yet she never feels herself inferior to Rochester though she is a humble family teacher.” It is also notable that Jane does not pursue a relationship with Mr. Rochester with the intention of gaining money.
Although written during both the Victorian and Gothic time period, Jane Eyre draws upon many revolutionary influences that ultimately enabled it to become one of the most successful books of all time. Jane Eyre is merely a hybrid of a Victorian and Gothic novel, infusing a share of dark allusions with overzealous romanticism. The primitive cultures of the Victorian period reflect high ethical standards, an extreme respect for family life, and devotional qualities to God, all in which the novel portrays. Yet, to merely label Jane Eyre as a Victorian novel would be misleading. While the characteristics of a Gothic no...
Jane continually advocates for herself throughout her narration. She pushes aside her ache for Mr. Rochester's affection in order to maintain her values. She does not let passion interfere with reason, arguing that if she broke her values, "What would they be worth?" a. The number of a. Jane "plants her foot" at the thought of leaving with Mr. Rochester, leaving him to travel to the unknown.
Bronte’s Jane Eyre is brimming with feminist ideology rebuking Victorian-Era gender-roll ethics and ideals. As a creative, independent woman with a strong personality and will growing up during this period of female repression, Bronte wrote Jane Eyre as a feminist message to society. She criticizes the average, servile, ignorant Victorian woman, and praises a more assertive, independent, and strong one. She does this through her protagonist Jane, who embodies all of Bronte’s ideal feminine characteristics. She is a strong woman, both mentally and physically, who seeks independence and is in search of individuality, honesty, and above all equality both in marriage and in society in a world that does not acknowledge women as individuals.
The development of Charlotte Bronte's character, Jane Eyre, becomes vital to her novel Jane Eyre, and the other characters in which she is involved. She is an intelligent, plain featured, honest young girl whose reaction to her situations brings more depth to her personality. She is forced to deal with oppression, discrimination, and at times poverty, which disrupt her strong will, dignity, and desire for freedom. At the beginning, Jane possesses a passion for pride and the idea of freedom and these characteristics, along with her integrity, are tested continuously throughout the novel by the many personalities with whom she encounters. Living in a male dominant world Jane is expected to remain obedient and docile and her passion sometimes keeps her from being able to do this. She is a rarity among obeying female characters and we see this throughout the book.
Women, in all classes, were still living in a world which was misogynistic and male-dominated. Their purpose in life was to produce male heirs and maintain the home by hiring and overseeing servants. It was also taboo for one to marry significantly below one’s social class. This is one reason that Jane is not a conventional heroine for the society of her time. Although, as a governess, she is not considered to be as low as a housemaid, she is still part of the hired help in the house. This is why it is unconventional for her and Mr Rochester to be in a relationship. Yet this is not as peculiar as how Jane Eyre ends their relationship due to her sense of betrayal. It would have been considered extremely foolish for a working-woman’s sense of betrayal to end and turn down a man of great wealth.