The Victorian Era Exposed in Jane Eyre and Great Expectations Millions of novels have been written in many different eras. Each era has its `reform' novel or piece of literature, or pieces of work that "broke the mold". For the Greeks, it was Homer's The Odyssey; for the Renaissance, it was The Essays: Of Cannibals by Michel de Montaigne; for the Medieval era, it was Dante Alighieri's The Inferno. It was the same in the Victorian era, which ran from 1850 to about 1900. The reform authors were Charlotte Brontë and Charles Dickens. These two authors wrote Jane Eyre and Great Expectations, respectively. Through these novels, the authors have epitomized the Victorian era with gothic elements, Byronic heroes, importance of society, and round and flat characters. One of the key elements to every novel is the round characters, often the "main" character. A round character is one that changes throughout his or her's life. They grow as a person through character. In the novel Jane Eyre, the title character, Jane Eyre, is the primary round character. As a child, Jane bottled up emotions, until they flowed over one day in her tenth year:"I am not deceitful: if I were, I should say I loved you; but I declare I do not love you: I dislike you the worst of anybody in the world except John Reed: and this book about the Liar, you may give to your girl, Georgiana, for it is she that tells lies, and not I" (Brontë: 33) Jane spoke her opinion as a child. The girl never gave thought about what may happen to her. She was a strong willed individual that was not going to allow anyone to stand between her and her goal. As Jane ages into her teens, she grows independent. "Women are to be very calm generally, but women feel just as men feel." (Brontë: 113) Jane learns to bottle her emotions, but not allow them to get in the way of enjoying life. Jane acquired a job as a governess at an, apparently, single man's home, tutoring is young ward. Needless to say, "Mr. Rochester" and Jane fell in love. However, Jane did not want to marry. Except that her love grows too strong, Jane puts aside her stubbornness for love. "My future husband was becoming to me my whole world; and more than the world: almost my hope of heaven. He stood between me and every thought of religion, as an eclipse intervenes between man and the broad sun. I could not, in those days, see God for his creature: of whom I had made an idol." (Brontë: ch 25) Jane then relents and marries Rochester. Jane made the journey from explosive, to independent, to in love; a true journey for a woman in the Victorian era. Pip, the main character of Great Expectations, is an orphaned boy who is one the quintessential round characters. When Pip is first introduced, he is an easily influenced young boy living with his sister, Mrs. Joe, and her husband, Joe Gargery. When Pip was asked to steal from Mrs. Joe and Joe by a convict, he could hardly live with himself: "If I slept at all that night, it was only to imagine myself drifting down the river on a strong spring-tide, to the Hulks; a ghostly pirate calling out to me through a speaking trumpet, as I passed the gibbet-station, that I had better come ashore and be hanged there at once, and not put it off. I was afraid to sleep, even if I had been inclines, for I knew that at the first faint dawn of morning I must rob the pantry. There was no doing it in the night, for there was no getting a light by easy friction then..." (Dickens: 22) As he said, he was scared that he was to be arrested for stealing from his sister and her husband. Guilt is a character trait that haunted Pip for most of his life. As Pip grows up, he begins to put guilt aside. He moves into an elated feeling of over-confidence and generally hubristic. Joe comes to visit Pip in London, needless to say, Pip felt that Joe was not of enough society to associate with Pip: "...one [man's] a blacksmith, and one's a white smith, and one's a goldsmith, and one's a coppersmith. Divisions among such must come, and must be met as they come." (Dickens: 244). After Pip rudely slights Joe during his visit, Pip has a revelation. He realizes how selfish he has become. "I would not have gone back to Joe now, I would not have gone back to Biddy now for and consideration: simply, I suppose, because my sense of my own worthless conduct to them was greater than every consideration. No wisdom on earth could have given me the comfort that I should have derived from their simplicity and fidelity; but I could never, never, never, undo what I had done." (Dickens: 349). Pip then devotes the rest of his life to changing his personality and helping others. Pip helps Herbert stay employed by paying one fifth of his yearly allowance to a man to keep Herbert employed; all while remaining anonymous. Pip took the heroes journey from being hubristic to coming out enlightened and humble. Round characters must be accompynied by flat, or static characters such as that of Pip's Uncle Pumblechook. Uncle Pumblechook was, almost, comical in his actions and speech because of his fake nature and thirst for fame. Uncle Pumblechook is Joe's uncle. Uncle Pumblechook owns a seed store in town. Pip's uncle set up the play times for Pip with Miss Havisham. Which, when put up, may be the only honest thing he says. Uncle Pumblechook was crude and nasty to Pip when Pip was young, poor and without expectations: "I was always treated as if I had insisted on being born in opposition to the dictates of reason, religion, and morality, and against the arguments of my best friends." (Dickens: 31). As the novel proceeds, Pip returns home from London and Pumblechook has concocted a rumor about his "assistance" in making Pip become a gentleman: "I entertained a conviction, based upon large experience, that if in the days of my prosperity I had gone to the North Pole, I should have met somebody there, wandering Eskimo or civilized man, who would have told me that Pumblechook was my earliest patron and the founder of my fortunes." (Dickens: 251). Pip said this after reading a newspaper article saying how his Uncle Pumblechook was his benefactor. This claim was so ridiculous to Pip, he could not think of any situation he could be put in that would lead him to believe that Uncle Pumblechook was his sponsor. Pip's Uncle Pumblechook sees his opportunity for fame in their small town, and outside. Uncle Pumblechook realizes that if he takes the credit for Pip's success, then his name will forever be linked to Pip's good name. However, Pip knows that Uncle Pumblechook is not his benefactor, but rather, Abel Magwitch, a convict he had helped many years ago, is. Uncle Pumblechook's arrogant, greedy, and go-to-any-lengths-for-higher-society attitude, throughout the book. Another important element of Victorian literature, was the Byronic hero. Lord Byron created the Byronic hero is his pieces in the nineteenth century. Mr. Rochester symbolized the perfect Byronic hero. To begin with, the Byronic hero had to exhibit certain traits. Traits such as rebellious attitude, "dark", lacks pride and self-identity. Mr. Rochester exemplified these characteristics. He was rebellious in the fact that he, a single man with a ward, may even dream of taking in a governess. In Great Expectations, Biddy, Pip's friends that was caring for Mrs. Joe in her illness, left her position at the house because a single woman and single man living together was simply unacceptable in Victorian society. The Byronic hero was moody and temperamental; something that Mr. Rochester displays throughout the novel. Another key characteristic of the Byronic hero was guilt: the guilt of some sort of sexual or love related act. This ties directly in with Mr. Rochester and his secret wife, Bertha Mason. Brontë's inclusion of a Byronic hero is a given. When Lord Byron died, Brontë was 8 years old, and as a young child, she read Lord Byron's works, and therefore, he influenced her writings. Another very important factor of Victorian writing was Gothic imagery; this point of Victorian writing was glorified in Jane Eyre. One of the greatest examples of Gothic imagery in Jane Eyre is when Jane has just agreed to marry Mr. Rochester: "I experienced no fear, and little awe. Mr. Rochester came thrice to my door in the course of it, to ask if I was safe and tranquil: and that was my comfort, that was strength for anything. Before I left my bed in the morning, little Adèle came running in to tell me that the great horse-chestnut tree at the bottom of the orchard had been struck by lightning in the night, and half of it split away." (Brontë: 272)This displayed foreshadowing, a key article in Gothic imagery. The symbolic split of the horse-chestnut tree will signify a split or obstacle in Jane and Mr. Rochester's marriage. Anther key example of foreshadowing and Gothic conception is when Jane sees a "monster" in her room: "I'll explain to you all about it. It was half-dream, half-reality. A woman did, I doubt not, enter your room: and that woman was-must have been- Grace Poole. ...you ascribed to her a goblin appearance different from her own: the long disheveled hair, the swelled black face, the exaggerated stature, were figments of imagination, results of the nightmare: the spiteful tearing of the veil was real: and is like her." (Brontë: 302) This incident represents foreshadowing, much as the splitting of the chestnut tree. Some person, unknown to Jane, will prevent this wedding from happening. Jane later learns that this horrid monster was Bertha Mason, Mr. Rochester's wife. Gothic imagery is all about symbolism and foreshadowing. Another important aspect of Victorian life was society. Few people "had" it, and the rest "wanted" it. The title of Dickens' novel: Great Expectations, names the expectations of Pip to become a gentleman in society. Pip works hard, goes to school, and has a benefactor, all which lead to his becoming a gentleman. However, Pip realizes that being a gentleman is not all it is "cracked up to be". Being a gentleman made him cut off his ties with people who cared about him. As Pip goes through life, he longs for the life he left behind. In Jane Eyre, Jane is an orphan, as is Pip. Being an orphan, is the lowest of the low in society. Jane beats the odds and goes to school and becomes an independent, educated young woman. She then does the unheard of: she marries into society. Many low-class Victorian women are willing to go to any lengths to marry a rich man. However, Jane is marrying for love. She marries him despite his money, because Jane prefers the simple life to the opulent life. Victorian literature contained the key elements of Gothic imagery, society, Byronic heroes, and round and flat characters. Charles Dickens and Charlotte Brontë were reform authors and they set the standard for future books, not only in their era, but in future eras. Their books, Great Expectations and Jane Eyre, respectively, are still captivating by readers in the twenty first century. A true empitmal composition will live through the ages. Novels are created to display the ideas and beliefs of the period, which the mentioned pieces did.
...ugh in the end Jane and Mr. Rochester do get married, Jane is an emotionally battered character who has to look deep inside of herself to do what is best for her. This happens to people every day. They are hurt by dishonesty and deceitfulness. It can ruin their lives unless they make the commitment to be honest with themselves and those around them.
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.
memory of the past. In Jane Eyre the character’s name was Jane and in A Room With A
From the beginning of the novel, the main character, Jane encounters the supernatural. Charlotte Bronte uses both supernatural and gothic themes to enhance situations for the reader and to develop the characters. In particular natural imageries have been used to convey a human connection with the natural world and human nature (Franklin, 1995). Eyre portrays the intrinsic struggle between supernatural and the effects of nature. Branflinger and Thesing (2002) argue that Bronte used Gothic and the supernatural to explore and portray the darkest alleys of her own psyche which Bronte was deeply disturbed by (p309).
The themes of the gothic and supernatural are two of the main themes in both Jane Eyre and Turn of the Screw. However, there are traits of mental illness or madness found in both protagonists in James’ and Bronte’s novels along with Bertha Mason. Both authors present these themes to the reader in a number of ways.
Jane started out with no family, causing her to yearn for someone to accept her as their family, treating her with love and respect. At a young age, Jane lost her parents, leaving her with her aunt and cousins. They treated her poorly, acting as if she was incompetent and considering her more of a servant than a family member. Then, they sent her off to school, forgetting about her entirely. Eventually, Jane acquired the family she had always dreamt of. She never felt quite right with other people accepting her, that is, until Mr. Rochester came into her life. She did not feel as though she had found her true family until she had met him. "All these relics gave...Thornfield Hall the aspect of a home of the past: a shrine to memory.” (92). When they get married, her dreams are achieved, as she finally got the family she had always wanted.
At Thornfield, Jane has to deal with Mr. Rochester. Jane knows that she should not love Rochester, so she tries to prevent it, and tell herself that he doesn’t love her. Jane knows that Rochester loves Blanche Ingram (Bronte 126). After a while, Rochester starts to flirt with Jane, and Jane lets her guard down and the two of them fall in love. At Jane and Rochester's wedding, Jane learns that Rochester has a wife (Bronte 237). This is shocking and hurtful to Jane, because she allowed herself to fall to her desires. Jane knows that she cannot stay at Thornfield, despite what she may want, so she
After being very ill Pip realises that being a gentleman means more than having money and an education. Many of Dickens books are about childhood difficulties. Perhaps this is because he was drawing on the experience of his own difficult childhood and his own desire, like Pips to become a gentleman. Dickens books are also about the class struggle, cruelty, inequality and injustice. Punishment was harsh such as deportation to do hard labour in Australia for small crimes or public hanging.
I don’t understand why Bronte went through great lengths at hinting at something not present. I was under the impression through most of the novel that there was something demonic up in the attic, from the very first moment Jane stepped on the third floor and heard that “preternatural” laugh and therefore was quite surprised to find out it was Rochester's wife locked up in the attic. Even in the scene above where both Jane and the reader are first introduced to Bertha she is described as something inhuman, a beast, this gives an eerie mood to the novel and though meaningless to the novel as a whole it creates depth and suspense which was most likely Brontes intention for the supernatural elements. These elements suggest that something greater is at work for instance we see almost of a prophecy when one half of the horse-chestnut tree splits away, “the great horse-chestnut at the bottom of the orchard had been struck by lightning in the night, and half of it split away. (285) This resembles both Jane and Rochester and the act of it splitting is exactly what happens as later on Jane too splits away from Rochester. Overall this scene where we are introduced to Bertha happened to resonate with me because at this point we are aware that the figure is
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...
Great Expectations is a coming of age novel. This novel is a story of a boy named Pip, his initial dreams, and resulting disappointments that eventually lead him to becoming a genuinely good man. During his journey into adulthood, Pip comes to realize two diverse concepts of being a gentleman, and he comes to find the real gentlemen in his life are not the people he had thought. The most important pivotal moment in Pip’s development is when he finds out what a proper gentleman is, who his true benefactor is, and his great expectations come to an end.
Many novels have been written in many different eras. Each era has its `reform' novel or piece of literature, or pieces of work that "broke the mold". For the Greeks, it was Homer's Odyssey; for the Renaissance, it was The Essays: Of Cannibals by Michel de Montaigne; for the Medieval era, it was Dante Alighieri's Inferno. It was the same in the Victorian era, which ran from 1850 to about 1900. The reform authors were Charlotte Brontë and Charles Dickens. These two authors wrote Jane Eyre and Great Expectations, respectively. Through these novels, the authors have epitomized the Victorian era with gothic elements, Byronic heroes, importance of society, and round and flat characters.
Jane Eyre, the female lead of Brontë’s novel Jane Eyre, in several customs exemplifies the traditional womanlike character of nineteenth century literature, but in others, she disrupts the frame abruptly and deliberately. Her physical characteristics unaccompanied challenge all undeclared rules portrayed by different authors of the time. While confined in the red room of her Aunt Reed’s mansion, Jane stares into the viewing glass and labels herself as a “strange little figure…with a white face and arms speckling the gloom, and glittering eyes of fear moving where all else was still” (Brontë 20). In the same passage, she accounts for her features as being “half fairy, half imp” (Brontë 20). In nineteenth century fiction novels, “fairies” were
But, Rochester has a deep secret he has been keeping from her – that he is already married to another woman. Rochester tells her that he still wants to get married but “the answer [Jane’s] mind gave – Leave Thornfield at Once’—was so prompt, so dread” (418). It was considered normal to give in to what the man wanted in a relationship, in fact in the 1800s and throughout much of the 1900s, women were supposed to please their men like it was their job. But Jane is not like other women, she sees the flaws in her oppressive world and decides to do what she thinks is the best way to precede in this unfortunate circumstance. Jane exclaims that “[she] was experiencing an ordeal… Terrible moment: full of struggle, blackness, burning! Not a human being that ever lived could wish to be loved better than [she] was loved; and him who thus loved [her she] absolutely worshipped: and [she] must renounce love and idol. One drear word comprised [her] intolerable duty—‘Depart!’”. Rochester responds with, “‘Jane, you understand what I want of you? Just this promise—‘I will be yours, Mr. Rochester’”. But Jane stands her ground and renounces him saying, ‘Mr. Rochester, I will not be yours…’”. Rochester becomes angry and exclaims, “‘Oh, Jane, this is bitter! This – this is wicked.’ It would not be wicked to love me’”. Jane’s response is ultimately truthful and feministic: ‘It would to obey you’”
“Themes and construction: Great Expectations” Exploring Novels (2005): 8. Online. Discovering Collection. 07 Feb. 2006. Available http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/DC.