Jane Eyre and Gothic Elements in the Book Essay Example

In the novel “Jane Eyre” written by Charlotte Bronte the gothic style of writing is used to help bring out the different themes. There are gothic qualities within the novel such as the usage of masks, the atmosphere in many of the scenes, and a heroin being the main character and living “happily ever after”. This essay will analyze how the gothic style is used within the novel. First and foremost the reader is introduced to the narrator and main character of the novel: Jane Eyre. It is very common to see in gothic tales that the lead character is a female and then the she will go through some hardships and then she lives happily ever after. This is the case for Jane Eyre. As Jane is narrating her life to the reader, she describes her hardships amongst other things and then at the end of the story Rochester and Jane get married as equals. In the gothic style of writing the idea of a mask or hiding something is very common and in “Jane Eyre” the reader sees this concept a lot. Examples of the mask in the novel are when Rochester dresses up like a gypsy so he can attempt can deceive Jane and get in site on her love life and what she truly thinks of him. During the meeting Jane realizes that it is Rochester in disguise. Another mask in the novel is the mystery of Grace Poole and Bertha. There is no one in the house with the exception of Rochester that knows what function Grace Poole’s has within the house. The only thing that the employees really know is that Grace gets paid double their wages and that it is a possibility that she is insane. During the wedding of Jane and Rochester, Bertha’s Brother Richard Mason step up and declares that the wedding cannot go on, and all is than explained about Grace Poole. Another mask in the novel is simply the mask Rochester wears of a single Englishman, he wears no wedding ring, he shows intentions of marrying Blanche, and then he ends up proposing to Jane. Never once does Rochester mention that he has a wife and the fact