The Consequences of Secrets in Literature

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The Consequences of Secrets
In the works 1984 by George Orwell, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, and Macbeth by William Shakespeare, it is shown that secrets end relationships because secrets cause characters to realize their friend is not who they think they are through O’Brien and Winston in 1984, Jane Eyre and Edward Rochester in Jane Eyre, and Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in Macbeth. Primarily, O’Brien and Winston prove this idea because O’Brien’s secret of being a Party spy gets Winston in trouble. Secondarily, Rochester keeps the secret of his current wife hidden from Jane, which creates a rift in their relationship when the secret is revealed. And finally, after Macbeth and Lady Macbeth murder Duncan, each character realizes that their partner is not at all what they act like. In other words, secrets in relationships do not end well, which is first seen in Julia and Winston’s relationship in 1984.
To start, O’Brien and Winston have a relationship in 1984 that ends with O’Brien betraying Winston. Winston looks up to O’Brien and sees him as someone that he can trust. He wants to be like O’Brien in the way that he conducts himself, and thinks that O’Brien detests the Party like he does. O’Brien and Winston do meet during the book, where O’Brien gives Winston Emmanuel Goldstein’s book. This gives Winston the idea that O’Brien really is a counter operative, and Winston goes off to Mr. Charrington’s to read the book. The book gives Winston information that goes against what the Party says, and he cannot be happier. He, O’Brien, and Julia will, one day, stand up to the Party. That is, until, Winston wakes up one morning. Winston is going about his business, but he hears an iron voice behind him that says “you are the dead” (Orwell 221)....

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...relationship when the truth comes out. From O’Brien betraying Winston in George Orwell’s 1984, to Rochester being outed as a cheater in Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, and Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s massive secret of killing the king in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, it is very evident that secrets cannot be held in relationships. Relationships, plain and simple, are not built on lies and secrets. All three authors show that in any situation, a relationship built on lies will end up crumbling and falling apart.

Works Cited

Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. United States: Tom Doherty Associates, LLC., 1988. Print.
Orwell, George, and Erich Fromm. 1984: A Novel. New York, NY: Signet Classic, 1961. Print.
Pfordresher, John, Gladys V. Veidemanis, and Helen M. McDonnell. "Unit 3: The Renaissance."
England in Literature. Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman, 1989. 191-262. Print.

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