Comparison of Harry Potter and Jane Eyre

898 Words2 Pages

Harry Potter and Jane Eyre are two novel characters who have quite a lot of similarities. In their early childhood, both were raised as orphans, both experienced cruelty and unkind treatment from relatives who were supposed to take care of them, both were given opportunity to study and live far away from the people who treated them harshly, and both of them had a life-changing experience in their respective schools. Both Harry Potter and Jane Eyre grew up and lived with their relatives. Harry Potter lived with the Dursleys while Jane lived with the Reeds. Reading their story and how they had to live every single day of their lives with such cruel, unkind and selfish relatives is heartbreaking. However, throughout the course of their story, their experiences and difficulties helped in shaping their characters and eventually taught them valuable lessons that inspire and reveal the goodness that is in them. Both Harry and Jane had to bear the difficulty of being treated in an unjust environment. Harry had the cupboard underneath the stairs for his room, he wore hand-me-down oversized clothes that were outgrown by his cousin, he was often asked to do errands at home, he was constantly been kept from visitors, he was bullied by his cousin, and he suffered neglect and had to endure the insults and rude words that came from his aunt and uncle. Jane had a similar fate as Harry. Having been brought up in a house that treated her as a burden and constantly demoralized her, she had to endure physical and emotional abuse from her aunt and cousins. She was discouraged from socializing with other people including her own cousins and was excluded from family events. Even her three c...

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... 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.

Works Cited

Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. Virginia: Wilder Publications, LLC, 2008.

Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. New York: Arthur A. Levine Books, 1997.

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