“And you ought to not think yourself on an equality with the Misses and Master Reed, because they kindly allowed you to be brought up with them. They have a great deal of money and you will have none” (7) states the Reed’s servant, Abbot to Jane to show that people view the privileged people of the upper class as better than those of lower classes. Charlotte Bronte’s Gothic novel, Jane Eyre, shows the hardships a plain-looking, poor, and independent or self-reliant woman, Jane, faces in the nineteenth-century Victorian society. Supernatural occurences, events that cannot be explained by nature or science, cause her to move from one place to another until she finds her true identity. In the nineteenth century Victorian era, when Queen Victoria …show more content…
The red room influences Jane’s decisions, which displays her independence. The author’s use of the supernatural occurrence in the red room influences Jane’s decisions, which portrays Jane’s independence. While living as a dependent at her aunt’s home, Gateshead, Jane’s cousin, John, abuses her and throws a book at her head. Jane’s aunt, Mrs. Reed, punishes Jane for retaliating and locks her in the red room, where her uncle died. Jane sees moonlight moving on the wall and believes the ghost of her uncle wants to come from the dead to haunt her aunt for not obeying his last wish, to take care of Jane, and Jane screams. Jane confronts Mrs. Reed for locking her in the red room and persuades the doctor, Mr. Lloyd, to ask Mrs. Reed to send Jane to school. Master Reed’s ghost appearing in the red room provokes dreadful and scared feelings within Jane, so she leaves Gateshead because her aunt forces her into the red room, where Jane sees her uncle’s ghost. Jane’s experience in the red …show more content…
After Jane runs away from Thornfield, she arrives at Whitcross, where she meets her cousin, St. John. St. John proposes to Jane and continually pressures her into making decisions and marrying him. One night, while alone with St. John, Jane hears a voice calling her name that she recognizes as Rochester’s. She responds to Rochester’s voice and asks for his location. Jane decides to leave St. John a couple days later. Jane disregards the Victorian society social norms and decides to leave and find Rochester after hearing his voice on the wind, instead of allowing her male kinsmen, St. John to make all of her decisions for her. Since she goes against social conventions and makes her own decision, Jane shows her independent personality. After hearing Rochester’s cries, Jane thinks, “I broke from St. John, who had followed, and would have detained me. It was my time to assume ascendancy. My powers were in play and in force” (457). Since Jane breaks away from St. John and feels “it was my time to assume ascendancy,” or that she must take control of her own life and make decisions for herself, which most women did not do in the patriarchal, Victorian society, she proves her independent nature. Jane hearing Rochester’s voice causes her to leave St. John, which proves her
After completing her education, Jane accepted a job as governess at Thornfield Hall. Jane eventually developed feeling for her employer, Mr. Rochester. Jane accepted Mr. Rochester's hand in marriage despite knowing despite knowing that he was currently married. Jane was lied to and after the discovery of Mr. Rochester's wife, Jane left Thornfield with little money and a broken heart.
After the death of Jane’s parents, her uncle Mr. Reed has taken her in with his family to a mansion called Gateshead Hall. Nine years after Jane uncle has past she has been trapped in Gateshead Hall while suffering the bitter treatment of her aunt Mrs. Reed. Mrs. Reed was resentful of her husband’s favoritism toward Jane and takes every opportunity to neglect and punish her. When Jane is punished by Mrs. Reed she would be sent to the red room by two of Mrs. Reed servants, Bessie and Miss Abbot. The red-room was “a spare chamber, it was one of the largest and stateliest chambers in the mansion” and in this every same chamber is where Jane uncle past (8). Not only did Mrs. Reed treat disrespectfully but her own son, Jane’s older cousin John Reed. John Reed would abuse and punish Jane several times a day, in the words of Jane; “every nerve I had feared him, and every morsel of flesh on my bones shranked when he came near”(4). Everyone would ignore Jane’s plea for help especially Mrs. Reed who would act be blind and deaf on the subject. No one except for Mr. Reed show any love and care for Jane during her childhood in Gateshead Hall. Jane said “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” (10). Jane continued by saying that they did not love her not if as little she loved them. Although the family mistreats her, Jane still wished for the atte...
Reed had received a letter from a John Eyre of Madeira; saying that he wanted to meet Jane and wanted to adopt her because he didn't have any family himself, he was not married and had no children. As the merciless person she was, she did not want Jane to experience the feeling of hope or contentment. The author's use of Jane being locked in the red room, as a symbol of hell. Jane is being punished for her sins and her boorishness; meanwhile, in the room, Jane becomes hysterical when she thinks she sees her dead uncles ghost, which becomes a traumatic experience for her that leads to her being unconsciousness. The red room symbolizes the death of Mr.Reed and the promise Mrs. Reed vowed to keep to take care of Jane and that she be treated and
By comparing St. John to a statue, the reader is forced to see St. John as someone who is cold and rigid. Jane sets up the perception that St.John is disconnected from human feelings. Jane also presents a biased view of men when she first meets Rochester, who later becomes her husband. Furthermore, Jane’s first impressions of Rochester are also negative. Upon first being introduced to Rochester, after he asked to see her, Jane comments, “But it appeared he was not in the mood to notice us, for he never lifted his head as we approached. . .
realizes that they both need each other, Rochester is now physically dependent on her. But, Jane
The red room is the place that ignites Jane's passion. The red room is one of the novels great paradoxes as it parallels with ice in that it restricts Jane's freedom and imprisons her; yet the experience gives her the courage to stand up to her aunt. The fire that the red room ignites in Jane allows her to jump the 'containment lines'; to break the bonds of her Aunt that are restricting her, and achieve freedom. The red room becomes very symbolic of Jane's fight for freedom. Whenever she suffers from there on, Jane emotionally comes back to the red room, and adds new fuel to the fire, as she reminds herself why she wants to break free of oppression.
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.
... the red room and likewise, saw a reflection of her in Mr. Rochester. In both traumatizing situations, Jane ironically experiences an outer body experience from within her body. In the red room she literally saw herself and fainted because of the sight of herself, but when conversing with Mr. Rochester she saw the hatred she had for Mrs. Reed in his hatred for Bertha. For example, "the paroxysms, when my wife is prompted by her familiar to burn people in their beds at night, to stab them, to bite their flesh from their bones," (306)
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.
... 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.
Despite Rochester’s stern manner and unhandsome appearance, Jane still finds herself falling in love with him. During her first encounter with Rochester Jane describes him
...there. Jane doesn’t like the red-room and when she gets into trouble on day Mrs. Reed says,” Take her away to the red-room, and lock her in there.”(6) Her aunts’ was supposed to take care of her and not treat her badly. Another disappointment for Jane was supposed to marry Mr. Rochester but he is married so that was not able to happen.
Jane continually advocates for herself throughout her narration. She pushes aside her ache for Mr. Rochester's affection in order to maintain her values. She does not let passion interfere with reason, arguing that if she broke her values, "What would they be worth?" a. The number of a. Jane "plants her foot" at the thought of leaving with Mr. Rochester, leaving him to travel to the unknown.
...e Jane proves herself able to function, through the time she spends at Moor House, in a community and in a family. She will not depend solely on Rochester for love and she can be financially independent. Furthermore, Rochester is blind at the novels end and thus dependent upon Jane to be his guide.
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.