Importance of Nature Imagery in Jane Eyre
Charlotte Bronte makes extensive use of nature imagery in her novel, Jane Eyre, commenting on both the human relationship with the outdoors and with human nature. The Oxford Reference Dictionary defines "nature" as "1. the phenomena of the physical world as a whole . . . 2. a thing's essential qualities; a person's or animal's innate character . . . 4. vital force, functions, or needs." Bronte speaks to each of these definitions throughout Jane Eyre.
Several natural themes run throughout the novel, one of which is the image of a stormy sea. After Jane saves Rochester's life, she gives the following metaphor of their relationship:
Till morning dawned I was tossed on a buoyant but unquiet sea . . . I thought sometimes I saw beyond its wild waters a shore . . . now and then a freshening gale, wakened by hope, bore my spirit triumphantly towards the bourne: but . . . a counteracting breeze blew off land, and continually drove me back.
The gale represents all the forces that prevent Jane's union with Rochester. Later, Brontë conjures up the image of a buoyant sea when Rochester says of Jane: "Your habitual expression in those days, Jane, was . . . not buoyant." In fact, it is this buoyancy of Jane's relationship with Rochester that keeps Jane afloat at her time of crisis in the heath: "Why do I struggle to retain a valueless life? Because I know, or believe, Mr. Rochester is living."
Another recurrent image is Brontë's treatment of Birds. We first witness Jane's fascination with them as she reads Bewick's History of British Birds as a child. She reads of "death-white realms" and "'the solitary rocks and promontories'" of sea-fowl. We quickly see how Jane ide...
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...illiam Hurt, Charlotte Gainsborough, and Anna Paquin. 1996
Jane Eyre. Dir. Julian Aymes. Perf. Timothy Dalton, Zelah Clarke. 1983
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Linder, Cynthia A. Romantic Imagery in the Novels of Charlotte Bronte. London: MacMillan, 1978.
McLaughlin, M.B. "Past or Future Mindscapes: Pictures in Jane Eyre." Victorian Newsletter 41 (1972): 22-24.
Peters, Joan D. “Finding a Voice: Towards a Woman’s Discourse in Dialogue in the Narration of Jane Eyre.” Studies in the Novel. 23 no 2. (1991): 217-36.
Zonana, Joyce. “The Sultan and the Slave: Feminist Orientalism and the Structure of Jane Eyre.” Signs. 18 no 3. (1993): 592-617
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***VERY WELL WRITTEN PAPER......WHAT ABOUT CITING THE QUOTES USED FROM THE TEXT?***
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.
Gilbert, Sarah M. "Plain Jane’s Progress." Jane Eyre. Ed. Beth Newman. Boston: St. Martin’s, 1996. 475-501.
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.
During the early winter of 1692 two young girls became inexplicably ill and started having fits of convulsion, screaming, and hallucinations. Unable to find any medical reason for their condition the village doctor declared that there must be supernatural forces of witchcraft at work. This began an outbreak of hysteria that would result in the arrest of over one hundred-fifty people and execution of twenty women and men. The madness continued for over four months.
Aaron Burr was born February 6th 1756 in Newark, New Jersey. He was the son of Aaron Burr Sr. and Esther Burr. His parents died in 1757 leaving him and his younger sister as orphans. Years later he was sent to live with the family of William Shippen who was an American Physician from Philadelphia. Burr and his sister were then sent to live with their uncle where they spent the rest of their childhood years. Burr attended the College of New Jersey which is now known as Princeton University where he received a bachelor’s degree in arts at the age of 16. He then studied theology but soon changed his career path and began studying law. Burr studied law for a while but then the Revolutionary war came along and he admitted into the war and took part in Benedict Arnold’s expedition to Quebec. “He then achieved the rank of major and was appointed to serve under George Washington at his home in New York.” He eventually transferred and retired in 1779. A few years later Burr continued studying law and was admitted to the bar. He ended up opening his own practice and moving to New York City. In 1789 he became Attorney General of New York. In 1791 Burr became Senate and remained for six years. He later won a seat as state legislature, after losing his seat he decided to run for president. Burr ended up losing to Thomas Jefferson and became his vice president instead. In 1804 he was nominated to the governship of New York, but lost. 1
...pletely and utterly adores him. He also believes the way to get rich, is through reputation, when hard work should be put in. Willy is not successful because of his wrong concept of getting rich. Setting the two apart, Willy does die a horrible death. Frankenstein and Willy both. They do not obtain all the requirements of a traditional tragic hero. The possession of the tragic flaw ultimately defines them as modern tragic heroes.
In the year 1692, the small farming village of Salem, Massachusetts saw a social phenomenon that would propel the village into the history books: the calamity that was witchcraft. The witch trials were initiated whenever three young girls, Betty Parris, Abigail Williams, and Ann Putnam were caught performing fortune telling rituals in the woods, trying to gather information on what type of man would be best for them. Soon thereafter, the girls began experiencing hysterical fits, prompting Betty Parris’s father, Reverend Samuel Parris, to call in the authorities to confirm the cause of the girls’ symptoms. ...
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.
Instead of turning to death as an option, patients should realize that there are other ways to stop pain caused by illness or depression. For example, palliative care is available in today’s society. Palliative care is a medical specialty based solely on pain and is very advanced in today’s technology. If the patients that requested euthanasia were to undergo this treatment, they would not feel pain, or as much as they normally would, and the pain would be more tolerable (O’Steen). Also, in most situations, the longing for death or suicidal death, which was revealed to be clinical depression, can be treated by medicine and sympathetic counseling (Bonin).
Lodge, Scott. "Fire and Eyre: Charlotte Bronte's War of Earthly Elements." The Brontes: A Collection of Critical Essays. Ed. Ian Gregor. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1970. 110-36.
The Salem Witch Trials was a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. The Devil in Massachusetts: A Modern Enquiry Into the Salem Witch Trials is a historical narrative of the trials written by Marion L. Starkey. The trials took place in Salem, Massachusetts in the late seventeenth century. The author discusses the origin, duration and the aftermath of the incident. It discusses the Puritan negligence towards the emotional needs of the female children involved in the trials and their striving for attention, as well as the harsh reality of sin and evil imposed on Puritan beliefs.
So where did this misconception come from? It is not clear, but it definitely started as...
...g in over twenty deaths, hangings and sacrifices. In a time where the fear of God was stronger than the fear of death, women and superstition were the victims. The thought process of people in Puritan New England is not as acceptable as it is now. Psychologists have determined that the symptoms expressed by victims of witchcraft match the symptoms commonly shown by one who suffers from Bolus Hystericus or a hysteria. Most of the judges and accusers were thought to have had Bolus Hystericus which is part of the reason why it got so out of hand. Beyond psychology the trials had other contributing factors. The Salem Witch Trials, fueled by fear and influenced by hardship of Puritan life and deep religious integration led to mass hysteria in the New England Colonies in 1692. The Puritans of New England were lucky they never found a real witch, real witches don’t burn.
There is little difference between Existential and Gestalt therapy. Both focus on the here and now; and concentrate on what and how clients can learn about they way they are living their lives. Existential therapy sees the client as the center of his or her own world; Gestalt pays attention to the client and their relationship with the environment.
In the beginning of Jane Eyre, Jane struggles against Bessie, the nurse at Gateshead Hall, and says, I resisted all the way: a new thing for me…"(Chapter 2). This sentence foreshadows what will be an important theme of the rest of the book, that of female independence or rebelliousness. Jane is here resisting her unfair punishment, but throughout the novel she expresses her opinions on the state of women. Tied to this theme is another of class and the resistance of the terms of one's class. Spiritual and supernatural themes can also be traced throughout the novel.