Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Gender role in jane eyre
Abuse and social issues in jane eyre
Jane eyre as a feminist novel research paper
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Gender role in jane eyre
The novel starts begins with Jane’s childhood years at Gateshead, the home of the Reeds. At Gateshead, Jane is emotionally and physically abused by her aunt Mrs. Reed and her cousins. Mrs. Reed makes her dislike for Jane obvious by treating Jane like a burden and keeping children from interacting with Jane. In her absence, Mrs. Reed’s children, particularly John, continue to bully poor Jane. In the beginning of the novel, Jane defends herself against John, but this act ends up getting herself sent up to the red-room. In this red-room, Bronte shows how much those years of mistreatment affected Jane:
“Unjust!—unjust!” said my reason, forced by the agonising stimulus into precocious though transitory power: and Resolve, equally wrought up, instigated some strange expedient to achieve escape from insupportable oppression—as running away, or, if that could not be effected, never eating or drinking more, and letting myself die.
[...]
I was a discord in Gateshead Hall: I was like nobody there; I had nothing in harmony with Mrs. Reed or her children, or her chosen vassalage[...]They were not bound to regard with affection a thing that could not sympathise with one amongst them; a heterogeneous thing, opposed to them in temperament, in capacity, in propensities; a useless thing, incapable of serving their interest, or adding to their pleasure[...]I know that had I been a sanguine, brilliant, careless, exacting, handsome, romping child—though equally dependent and friendless—Mrs. Reed would have endured my presence more complacently; her children would have entertained for me more of the cordiality of fellow-feeling; the servants would have been less prone to make me the scapegoat of the nursery. (Bronte 15)
Alone in the red-room, Jane is ...
... middle of paper ...
...er?’: Jane Eyre Among The Shadows Of Freaks.” Studies In The Novel 34.4 (2002): 367-84. Literary Reference Center. Web. 29 Nov. 2013.
Gilbert, Sandra M. “A Dialogue of Self and Soul: Plain Jane’s Progress.” Jane Eyre (Case Studies in Contemporary Criticism). Ed. Beth Newman. Boston: Bedford Books of St. Martin's Press, 1996. 475-501. Print.
Lamonaca, Maria. “Jane's Crown Of Thorns: Feminism And Christianity In Jane Eyre.” Studies In The Novel 34.3 (2002): 245-63. Literary Reference Center. Web. 27 Nov. 2013.
Rich, Adrienne. “Jane Eyre: The Temptations of a Motherless Woman.” Jane Eyre (An Authoritative Text, Contexts, and Criticisms). Ed. Richard J. Dunn. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2001. 469-83. Print.
Schacht, Paul. “Jane Eyre And The History Of Self-Respect.” Modern Language Quarterly 52.4 (1991): 423-53. Literary Reference Center. Web. 24 Nov. 2013.
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.
... than a servant, for you do nothing for your keep.” They also tell her that “to strike a young gentleman, your benefactress's son! Your young master.” The servants respect the Victorian patriarchal society, despite the fact that they are so badly treated through it. Brontë is trying to tell us that this system has been in form for so long, that people are thinking of it as natural, and insists that it should not be so. In Brontë’s opinion, everyone should have equality.
Gilbert, Sarah M. "Plain Jane’s Progress." Jane Eyre. Ed. Beth Newman. Boston: St. Martin’s, 1996. 475-501.
In the novel, Jane Eyre starts as a young girl of ten years old; she lives with her aunt Mrs. Reed and her cousins John, Georgiana, and Eliza. At Gateshead, Jane has undergone betrayal in the acts that the Reed family does not treat her as a part of their family. Mrs. Reed treats Jane unkindly and as if she was a victim to put it, in other words, Mrs. Reed says “ take her away to the red-room and lock her in there” (Brontë, Ch. 1). Mrs. Reed
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.
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.
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 Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, Jane is an orphan who is often mistreated by the family and other people who surround her. Faced with constant abuse from her aunt and her cousins, Jane at a young age questions the treatment she receives: "All John Reed’s violent tyrannies, all his sister’s proud indifference, all his mother’s aversion, all the servants’ partiality, turned up in my disturbed mind like a dark deposit in a turbid well. Why was I always suffering, always brow-beaten, always accused, forever condemned?" (27; ch. 2). Despite her early suffering, as the novel progresses Jane is cared for and surrounded by various women who act as a sort of "substitute mother" in the way they guide, comfort, and inspire her. By looking into Charlotte Bronte’s own childhood and family background, as well as discovering aspects of Victorian motherhood in the mid-nineteenth century, one may be enlightened as to why so many substitute mothers are present to Jane throughout the novel. The substitute mothers, although a starting point for Jane’s emotional redemption, do not prove to fulfill what a mother in the Mid-Victorian era would be.
At the start of Jane Eyre, Jane is living with her widowed aunt, Mrs. Reed, and her family after being orphaned. Jane is bitterly unhappy there because she is constantly tormented by her cousins, John, Eliza, and Georgiana. After reading the entire book you realize that Jane was perfectly capable of dealing with that issue on her own, but what made it unbearable was that Mrs. Reed always sided with her children, and never admitted to herself that her offspring could ever do such things as they did to Jane. Therefore, Jane was always punished for what the other three children did, and was branded a liar by Mrs. Reed. This point in the book marks the beginning of Jane's primary conflict in the novel. She feels unloved and unaccepted by the world, as her own family betrays her.
In the early years of Jane’s life, she was a very autonomous girl. She grew up with her aunt – Mrs. Reed, along with her 3 cousins – John, Eliza, and Georgina. Jane never was shown any affection by any of the Reed family members, they all hated her. Eventually Jane expressed her need for love to Mrs. Reed, “You think that I have no feelings, and that I can do without one bit of kindness, but I cannot live so: and you have no pity” (Bronte 41). Jane was forced to be independent since she was a child. Her strength only grew as she was locked in the Red Room by her aunt. Her aunt’s lack of care led Jane to be happy when she was sent away from their home in Gateshead, and to the school Lowood Academy, where she could begin her quest for love.
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...
The story begins as Jane lives with the Reed family in their home at Gateshead Hall. Here, the theme of education vs. containment develops immediately, as Jane is kept confined indoors on a cold winter day. The other children (Eliza, John, and Giorgiana) are "clustered round their mamma in the drawing-room" (Bronte: 39) being educated, as Jane had been excluded from the group. Jane tries to educate herself by reading from Berwick's History of British Birds, but once again, she is held back from her attempt at enlightenment by the abuse of John Reed, who castigates her and throws the heavy book at her. In anger, Jane cries out, "You are like a murderer - you are like a slave-driver - you are like the Roman emperors" (Bronte: 43). In this passage, Jane compares John Reed to a slave-driver because, like a slave-driver, he deprives Jane of her attempt at education and keeps her suppressed. Afterwards, Jane is blamed for the entire incident and...
Murfin, Ross C. “Psychoanalytic Criticism and Jane Eyre.” Psychoalaytic Criticism: A Selected Bibliography. Easter Illinois University. NP. Web. 14 March 2014.
Jane’s parents died when she was very young forcing her to live with her affluent aunt, Ms. Reed, at Gateshead Hall. While Jane is surrounded by wealth, she does not get to enjoy it because of Ms. Reed’s negative judgements towards her. Ms. Reed resents Jane and purposefully isolates her from the family. Before Jane leaves this cruel house, she expresses her opinions to her Aunt in a extremely scandalous way: “I am glad you are no relation of mine; I will never call you aunt again as as I live; I will never come to see you when I am grown up; and if any one asks me how I liked you, and how you treated me, I will say the very thought of you makes me sick and that you treated me with miserable cruelty.” (Bronte, 45)
In the novel ‘Jane Eyre’ by Charlotte Bronte, Jane shows self-confidence throughout the novel by having a sense of self-worth, and a trust in God and her morals. Jane develops her self confidence through the capacity to learn and the relationships she experiences. Although an oppressed orphan, Jane is not totally with confidence, she believes in what is right and shows passion and spirit at an early age. Helen and Miss Temple equips Jane with education and Christians values that she takes on throughout her life. Jane later also blossoms in self confidence under Mr. Rochester’s love and her family, the Rivers and newly discovered wealth. Bronte uses dialogue and 1st person narration to give an insight of the characters for the reader to see what the characters are saying and suggest what they are really thinking, and it shows Jane’s self-confidence growing in every stage of her life.