The Bluebeard Reference in Jane Eyre
Within Jane Eyre lies an explicit reference to the tale of Bluebeard. When first exploring the dark hall of Thornfield’s third floor Jane tells us, "I lingered in the long passage to which this led [. . .] with only one little window at the far end, and looking, with its two rows of small black doors all shut, like a corridor in some Bluebeard’s castle" (114; ch. 11). This allusion is not a casual one, for the plot of Jane Eyre has much in common with the tale of Bluebeard. Bronte uses Bluebeard to foreshadow Rochester’s first wife, Bertha, being locked away from society in a hidden room on the third floor. This reference also in part alludes to ideas of women’s obedience and how not following the patriarchal rules of society can lead to punishment. Bertha is isolated from society and held captive in a secret room because she is not the model wife and acts out despite her husband. This relates to Bluebeard because he murders his wives once they become disobedient. Bertha does die in the end of Bronte’s novel, though not at the hands of her husband. But even being isolated from society and held captive can be viewed as a symbolic death. Also Jane herself is often punished for not following the rules of patriarchal society. Bronte brings this poor treatment of women by society to light in the novel and shows her rejection of it through the characters of Jane and Bertha.
The tale of Bluebeard dates back to the seventeenth century. "Bluebeard as we know him first appeared in Paris in 1695 as La Barbe Bleue, in the manuscript version of Charles Perrault’s Histories Ou Contes Du Temps Passe, a collection which has become a seminal influence on the evolution of fairy tale" (Davies 33). The villain of this tale is a man with a blue beard whom everyone fears. After inviting his neighbors to stay and celebrate at his country home in attempts to persuade one of the their daughters to marry him, he convinces the youngest of his widowed neighbor to be his bride. All goes well until the new husband goes away on business, leaving his wife in charge with only one rule, to not open the door of one room in the castle. Of course curiosity overtakes the wife and she enters the room only to find Bluebeard’s previous wives murdered within the chamber.
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.
In this essay I will be doing a brief overview of the book Lame Deer Seeker of Visions, by Richard Erdoes. Within this book a monumental task has been achieved, which turns out to provide unparalleled information and a concrete depiction of the Native American Indian. This aspect has been portrayed through the eyes of a Sioux medicine man throughout the book and to many individual’s dismay, paints an accurate picture of both events that occurred and how Native American Indians were being treated at the time. Capturing the true essence of hours of in depth interviews, which have both been written out in detail and videotaped, years of friendship between Richard and Lame Deer, we are able to read upon a magnificent
Stensland, Anna Lee. “Indian Boyhood by Charles A. Eastman’” The English Journal 66, no. 3 (1977): 59.
Nevertheless, in the author’s note, Dunbar-Ortiz promises to provide a unique perspective that she did not gain from secondary texts, sources, or even her own formal education but rather from outside the academy. Furthermore, in her introduction, she claims her work to “be a history of the United States from an Indigenous peoples’ perspective but there is no such thing as a collective Indigenous peoples’ perspective (13).” She states in the next paragraph that her focus is to discuss the colonist settler state, but the previous statement raises flags for how and why she attempts to write it through an Indigenous perspective. Dunbar-Ortiz appears to anchor herself in this Indian identity but at the same time raises question about Indigenous perspective. Dunbar-Ortiz must be careful not to assume that just because her mother was “most likely Cherokee,” her voice automatically resonates and serves as an Indigenous perspective. These confusing and contradictory statements do raise interesting questions about Indigenous identity that Dunbar-Ortiz should have further examined. Are
To start off, first, the narrator thinks that the house her and her husband John are renting for the next three months is haunted or it wouldn’t be as cheap as it is for being such a beautiful place. Another thing is that she unhappy in her marriage. Her husband doesn’t listen to her, tells her she’s wrong and laughs at her. She is feeling very unwell and all he says is she has temporary nervous depression and only tells her to stay in bed and do nothing. The way she describes things is very bleak, dark, depressing. She keeps going back to thoughts of the house being haunted and gets anxious. She becomes angry with John for no reason sometimes and thinks it’s from her ‘nervous condition’. Something the reader may not catch onto when she talks about how she doesn’t like her bedroom is how she took the nursery, so right away, we know she has a baby. She feels trapped with the barred windows and not being able to go anywhere, having to just lay down and look at the most revolting yellow wallpaper shes ever seen. Writing the story alone makes her extremely exhausted and she says that John doesn’t know the extent of her suffering. Eventually, it’s made known that she can’t even go near her own child and it makes her increasingly nervous. She has unwanted thoughts throughout the entire story of the terrifying ugly yellow
Talking Back to Civilization , edited by Frederick E. Hoxie, is a compilation of excerpts from speeches, articles, and texts written by various American Indian authors and scholars from the 1890s to the 1920s. As a whole, the pieces provide a rough testimony of the American Indian during a period when conflict over land and resources, cultural stereotypes, and national policies caused tensions between Native American Indians and Euro-American reformers. This paper will attempt to sum up the plight of the American Indian during this period in American history.
Bluebeard has been adapted many times; movies, books, plays, you name it! However the modern version I will be focusing on is Bluebeard’s Egg by Margaret Atwood. This adaption is actually set in a more current setting compared to other adaptions. (TALK ABOUT OTHER VERSIONS). In Atwood’s version is is much more if a psychological horror rather than the gruesome reality of Perrault’s. This is in part due to the different time periods the stories were written in, as well as the time they were set in. In Perrault’s story Bluebeard has gotten away with LITERAL MURDER a bunch of times and never been caught or even accused of killing his past brides. Also, his current bride has never heard any news or rumors of him doing anything sinister. This is more believable in medieval or other past settings as the law enforcement was not as efficient with apprehending criminals. Atwood would have had a substantial amount of trouble convincing readers that the husband is Bluebeard’s Egg had never been caught or even accused of murder. The catch in Atwood’s tale is a much more believable and modern plot device. The husband character is in fact a womanizer (it is implied). One common fairy tale trope used in both of the adaptions is the ‘true bride’ factor. Perrault’s Bluebeard is
Bluebeard, a fairytale by Perrault, is about an affluent man who is known and revered on account of his despicable blue beard. Even though he has had several wives, their whereabouts are a source of mystery. As such, Bluebeard purposes to persuade one of his neighbor’s daughters to take his hand in marriage. Eventually, his efforts pay off and he ends up tying the knot with one of his neighbor`s daughters. After some time has passed in their marital union, Bluebeard announces to his wife that he must set off on an important journey. Before commencing on his journey, he gives the castle`s keys to his wife and the liberty of having access to all the rooms apart from a single room. However, his wife overwhelmed with curiosity goes against her husband`s instructions. As soon as she opens the door to the forbidden chamber, she stumbles upon the sight of the corpses of Bluebeard`s previous wives dangling on the wall. The horrific sight baffles her and she ends up dropping the key on the floor that is doused in blood. Her attempts to clean the stained key are futile. Circumstantially, Bluebeard makes a surprise return to his castle to find his shaken wife. He then discovers his wife`s unforgiveable mistake and purposes to kill her. Just as Bluebeard is about to strike down his wife, her brothers come to her rescue and kill Bluebeard. Being his closest heir, Bluebeard`s wife inherits his entire property and every one lives happily ever after (as is always the case in most fairytales).
The narrator, already suffering from a "nervous condition," is forced to stay in her bedroom for most of the story. Her husband does not let her do anything that may take the least bit of energy because she needs to concentrate her energy on getting well. Her mental condition quickly deteriorates from the original "nervous condition" to complete insanity due to this isolation. As the narrator begins to see figures behind the wallpaper, the reader realizes that the wallpaper is a manifestation of her condition.
The Cherokee are perhaps one of the most interesting of Native American Groups. Their life and culture are closely intertwined with early American settlers and the history of our own nation’s struggle for freedom. In the interest of promoting tolerance and peace, and with regard to the United States government’s handling of Native affairs, their story is one that is painful, stoic, and must not be forgotten.
Meyer, Michael. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008. 2189.
Ever since she has been entrapped in her room, the narrator’s vivid imagination has crafted fictional explanations for the presence of inconsistencies in the wallpaper. She explains them by saying “The front pattern does move! And no wonder! The woman behind shakes it” (Gilman 9). In the story, the narrator explains the woman mentioned creeps in and about the old house she and her husband reside in. Venturing towards the conclusion, the narrator becomes hysterical when thinking about the wallpaper, explaining to her husband’s sister Jennie how she would very much like to tear the wallpaper down. Jennie offers to do it herself, but the narrator is persistent in her desire-”But I am here, and nobody touches that paper but me-not ALIVE”(Gilman 10)! The narrator has realized the apex of her mental instability as the story
The Native American Reservation system was a complete failure. This paper focuses on the topics of relocation, Native American boarding schools, current conditions on today’s reservations, and what effects these have had on the Native American way of life.
Moulton, Charles Wells. Moulton's Library of Literary Criticism of English and American Authors through the Beginning of the Twentieth Century: Volume 1. New York: Frederick Ungar, 1966. Print.
Jane was brought up enduring a life of struggle and hardship that she was able to gain wisdom from and see beauty in. Bronte places Jane in situations where she is able to prove her resilience such as placing Jane at the Moore house because she wanted her to see the nature of the world and to show the reader that life comes with surprises. After rising from this fall, she arrives at Moor House where her skills she learned at Marsh End are tested. Jane learns throughout her adventure that she has to take matters into her own hands. Jane desires to be favored in this world. She’s never found the “feeling of isolation” pleasing, so when she falls into Marsh End she is obviously miserable being alone with people who did not care about her. Jane not only cherishes approval but also likes to have a high status in society. She does “not like to belong to poor people,” and to be dropped into their class. Jane knew what she would be striving for, to succeed in life, and she knew that it came with new faces, under new circumstances. Jane was ready to handle any environment in her quest for establishing her individuality. Bronte novel can be interpreted in a number of ways, however the feminist approach is the most valid because its conclusions are drawn after analyzing a Marxist criticism, psychological criticism and many other criticisms that continue to be relevant in the lives of many