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Gender issues in charlotte bronte's jane eyre
Character analysis of jane eyre
Gender issues in charlotte bronte's jane eyre
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Futile Search for Identity in Jane Eyre
According to the university psychology department, "The human brain is most emotionally affected in childhood." As a child, many experience numerous great events, however one negative event can undermine all of the great events that the brain would have remembered. The traumatizing occurrences that take place in people's lives are catastrophic in childhood, and have a long lasting effect in adulthood. These events can cause a lack of love being provided, and not provide the experiences essential for adult relationships. In Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, Jane's childhood lacks love and the experiences necessary in order to maintain healthy relationships, therefore causing her to go on a search for her identity.
Because of the abuse imposed upon Jane, she created a sense of independence and dignity. In Jane's early years as a child in Gateshead she was abused both verbally and physically. While Jane resided in Gateshead she was abused physically by John Reed (8). However, the physical abuse is nominal when juxtaposed to the verbal abuse that caused emotional scarring for years to come. Jane was told that she was merely a poor child that was graciously taken in by her dear aunt. However, it was clear that when Mrs. Reed has Jane locked in the Red Room after John Reed attacked her (9) that her intentions really weren't respectable. Further Jane was told by Bessie, "No; you are less than a servant, for you do nothing for your keep." (9). This cynical treatment would prove to be very influential in Jane's later life. The independence and dignity that Jane goes on to acquire would clearly stand in the way of her future relationships. She illustrates the ...
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Works Consulted:
Blom, Margaret. Charlotte Bronte. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1977.
Eagleton, Terry. " Jane Eyre: A Negative Heroine." Modern Critical Interpretations: Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. Ed. Harold Bloom. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987: 29-46.
"Jane Eyre." Nineteenth-Century Literary Criticism. Vol. 3. Ed. Laurie Lanzen Harris. Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1982: 42-3.
McFadden-Gerber, Margaret. "Critical Evaluation." Masterplots. Rev. 2nd edition. Vol. 6. Ed. Frank N. Magill. Englewood Cliffs: Salem Press, 1996: 3290-4.
Mitchell, Sally. "Jane Eyre." Critical Survey of Long Fiction. Vol. 3. Ed. Frank N. Magill. Englewood Cliffs: Salem Press, 1983: 297-302.
Oates, Joyce Carol. Introduction. Jane Eyre. By Charlotte Bronte. New York: Bantam Books, 1987: 5-14.
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.
We learn that Jane is a young girl who is a victim of emotional and
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.
Jane Eyre, written by Charlotte Brontë, was published in 1847 by Smith, Elder & Company, in London. This year is exactly ten years into Queen Victoria’s sixty-four year reign of the British Empire. The Victorian Era was renowned for its patriarchal Society and definition by class. These two things provide vital background to the novel, as Jane suffers from both. Jane Eyre relates in some ways to Brontë’s own life, as its original title suggest, “Jane Eyre: An Autobiography”. Charlotte Brontë would have suffered from too, as a relatively poor woman. She would have been treated lowly within the community. In fact, the book itself was published under a pseudonym of Currer Bell, the initials taken from Brontë’s own name, due to the fact that a book published by a woman was seen as inferior, as they were deemed intellectually substandard to men. Emily Brontë, Charlotte’s sister, was also forced to publish her most famous novel, Wuthering Heights, under the nom de plume of Ellis Bell, again taking the initials of her name to form her own alias. The novel is a political touchstone to illustrate the period in which it was written, and also acts as a critique of the Victorian patriarchal society.
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.
Mrs Reed keeps Jane only because of a promise she made to her husband on his deathbed. This abuse and neglect from her relatives forces Jane to be resentful and full of hatred. Later on Jane begins to stand up for herself. Once Jane begins to rebel to the abuse done by John and Mrs Reed, it is as if an uncontrollable beast had been unleashed inside of her.
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.
At the beginning of the novel while Jane is living under her aunt, Mrs. Reed, she is treated disrespectfully and cruelly. She accuses Jane of being deceitful and a troublesome girl in front of Mr. Brocklehurst, the master of Lowood School. Jane is so hurt by this accusation that she cannot stop herself from defending her well being, and she stands up to her aunt. She knows she is being treated disrespectful and has much more self-worth than ...
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.
In his essay “Jane Eyre: The Quest for Optimism,” Frederick L. Ashe writes, “It is hard to imagine anyone learned enough to read Jane Eyre who would consider her first ten years emotionally healthful ones” (Ashe). Ashe, whose criticism appeared in Novels for Students, Volume 4, is correct in his opinion. Jane’s abuse first begins in her own home. Her life until age ten is filled with abuse from her cousin John Reed, the mockery of the household servants, and the physical and mental abuse of her Aunt Reed. John’s first abuse of Jane comes when he throws a heavy book at her head. Bronte writes in Jane’s voice, “I saw him lift and poise the book and stand in act to hurl it, I instinctively started aside with a cry of alarm: not soon enough, however; the volume was flung, it hit me, and I fell, striking my head against the door and cutting it. The cut bled, the pain was sharp” (Bronte 13). John’s physical abuse of Jane is not the only abuse she receives, though. After Jane recovers from the abuse bestowed upon her by John, Miss Abbot, a servant, says of Jane, “If she were a nice, pretty child, one might compassionate her forlornness; but one really cannot care for such a little toad as that” (Bronte 28). Although this abuse pains Jane, it is the abuse of her Aunt Reed that hurts Jane the most. Aunt Reed’s first maltreatment of Jane is on the first page of the novel. Aunt Reed gathers her children around her for a happy family moment. Jane, however, is left alone. Jane says, “[Aunt Reed] regretted to be
Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. 3rd ed. New York: The Modern Library. Bronte, Charlotte. "
McLaughlin, M.B. "Past or Future Mindscapes: Pictures in Jane Eyre." Victorian Newsletter 41 (1972): 22-24.
Jane makes her journey from Gateshead to Lowood at the age of ten, finally freeing her from her restrictive life with her aunt, who hates her. Jane resented her harsh treatment by her aunt. Mrs. Reed’s attitude towards Jane highlights on of the main themes of the novel, the social class. Jane’s aunt sees Jane as inferior, who is less than a servant. Jane is glad to be leaving her cruel aunt and of having the chance of going to school.
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.