Bibliography: Charlotte Brontë. "Jane Eyre". 1994. Puffin Classics Edition, Penguin Books Ltd, London, England.
Bibliography: Charlotte Brontë. "Jane Eyre". 1994. Puffin Classics Edition, Penguin Books Ltd, London, England.
Jane Eyre comes into a position to marry Edward Rochester when she receives her inheritance. Prior to the inheritance, Rochester saw her as a "dependent," who always did "her duty" (Bronte 282). Jane even refers to Rochester as "master" and makes note of the separation of "wealth, caste, custom" between them (Bronte 282). She refers to her love for him as unavoidable and beyond the bounds of class. Rochester proposes marriage to Jane and becomes intent on transforming her into his view of ideal beauty. She resists and tells him, "you…
Mr Rochester is not the man for Jane because he is nearly twice Jane’s age. ‘ Oh yes. But you see there is a considerable difference in age. Mr Rochester is nearly forty; she is but twenty-five.’ In Jane’s monologue she states ‘ You, a favourite with Mr Rochester? You gifted with the power of pleasing him? You of importance to him in any way? Go! Your folly sicken me.’ Why would Jane be doubting herself so much if she really loved him. She has never come across such a man and doesn’t not know how to feel around him. Jane is a Governess and Mr Rochester is her boss a figure of authority and there is a clear line in the working environment that should never be crossed. They should not be together. Jane saves him twice once when he slid on some ice when they first met, and then she put out a fire that was in his room. Usually it’s would be the man saving and sweeping the…
She doesn’t want to condemn Rochester to further misery, and a voice within her asks, “Who in the world cares for you?” Jane wonders how she could ever find another man who values her the way Rochester does, and whether, after a life of loneliness and neglect, she should leave the first man who has ever loved her. Yet her conscience tells her that she will respect herself all the more if she bears her suffering alone and does what she believes to be right. She tells Rochester that she must go, but she kisses his cheek and prays aloud for God to bless him as she departs. That night, Jane has a dream in which her mother tells her to flee temptation. She grabs her purse, sneaks down the stairs, and leaves…
In the novel our heroine rebels and shows that she has a will of her own. Jane´s capacity to stand up for her beliefs make her a model of independent and powerful woman.…
At Thornfield, Jane has finally found someone who loves and cherishes her fervently. Jane discovered that Mr. Rochester covered up his marital status and she felt betrayed and hurt by his deceit. After deciding unbendingly to leave Thornfield and Mr. Rochester behind, in this passage, Jane bids farewell to her master though Rochester continuously pleads for her to stay. From Rochester’s speech, he finally realizes that Jane is not going to yield to his wishes from her indomitable manner, but he still yearned for her to be by his side. Rochester passionately uses anaphora to emphasize that no matter how he implored Jane to stay, he vested no power over her. Besides Jane’s thirst for approval from others, another motif in the book is that she submits to no one and sacrifices her principles for nothing, such as her rejecting St. John’s proposal of marriage. Rochester juxtaposes the Jane that loved and treasured him to the Jane that repulsed and broke free of his love with an image of a “resolute, wild, free” and triumphant creature that refuses being controlled and held captive in its cage any longer. He also confessed that although he is the master of the house, he is not able to posses Jane’s self-willed soul. Jane’s character shines as she develops into a mature woman who dictates her own destiny. She would rather break free of Rochester’s…
Jane’s plain and normal features – of which do her no good to distinguish her from the typical woman – prevent her from receiving fair and equal treatment to women born with blessed genetics. For example, in chapter 3 in which Jane’s cousin John bullies her, and gets her into trouble for defending herself, the house servant Abbot makes a comment to the other servant, noting that “if she were a nice, pretty child, one might compassionate her forlornness; but one really cannot care for such a little toad as that”, to which the other servant, Bessie, replies with a remark in which she notes that she can easier sympathize with Jane’s cousin Georgiana due to her beauty and grace. Even the older women in this book don’t give Jane the benefit of the doubt because of her appearance. Because Jane does not have any exceptional genetic features, somehow her worth as a person devaluates to a standard in which she cannot even receive sympathy. Furthermore, Jane shows the result of a lifetime of belittlement because of her appearance in chapter 26 when Mr. Rochester – the master of the…
Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre tells the story of Jane’s growth and development as she searches for a meaningful existence in society. Author Faith McKay said, “No matter what your family happens to be like…it affects who you are. It matters.” Jane is an orphan, forced to battle a cruel guardian, a patriarchal society, and a rigid social order. (Anderson, “Identity and Independence in Jane Eyre”) Jane has concrete beliefs in what women deserve, as well as obtainable goals for how she imagines her place in society as a woman (Lewkowicz, “The Experience of Womanhood in Jane Eyre”) and with self-growth, Jane Eyre was able to define herself as well as equip herself with wisdom and…
There 's a passage from Bronte 's Jane Eyre that brings light to the patriarchal relationship between Jane and Rochester. Although Rochester has shown on multiple occasions that he has minimal control over his emotions and has the capacity to lash out, Jane admits her love for him and her feelings of safety around him. The scene depicts Rochester 's dominance over Jane as he holds her, and without a word, she falls completely useless under his perceived power. This ties in with the themes of the class surrounding the patriarchal dominance of the Victorian period, as Jane struggles and fails to fight back against her superior, yet still tries to maintain her sense of self and intuition. Bronte 's use of masculine imagery and the usage of the soul as the internalized truth highlights the traditional masculine and feminine roles of the Victorian era.…
When Jane arrives at Thornfield, she is immediately branded as inferior by Mr. Rochester, who boasts about his many travels and experiences which he claims Jane will never have the pleasure of knowing due to her inferior class. In chapter 24, he refers to her as merely a “plain and Quakerish governess,” highlighting her inferiority. When surrounded by a higher class society, Jane is treated as a servant, without intelligence or value. Blanche Ingram, a member of Mr. Rochester’s party, openly exclaims before Jane that “there are thousands of reasons why liaisons between governesses and tutors should never be tolerated a moment in any well-regulated household,” (p. 206) representing the views of many higher class members of society who treat lower classes as if they were universally inferior.…
Seeing Rochester among his high-class houseguests, Jane realizes that he has more in common with her than he does with them. Despite Jane’s and Rochester’s different class backgrounds, their master-servant relationship, and the strict gender roles of Victorian society, Jane…
Jane included. He needs to be in control of every aspect of his life, and he…
As a woman during her time, Jane must live up to strict expectations of society. Women were seen as inferior to men during this time and only through marriage did they hope to gain power and upward mobility. Typically, upper class women in the Victorian Era were married to men in their own social class to ensure wealth and status. When Jane becomes a governess, she endured a more rigid part of upper class society’s expectations than when she was in the lower class at Lowood. Through social norms, she is inferior…
Ellen DeGeneres, Oprah Winfrey, and Tyra Banks, modern-day renowned television celebrities, are examples of strong, independent women who influence and inspire many people. In Charlotte Bronte’s novel Jane Eyre, the main character of Jane is an orphaned girl who feels abused and neglected living with the Reed family. As the story progresses and she gets older, she makes friends such as Helen Burns, the girl she met at Lowood, and sheds her feelings of loneliness. As she befriends more people, she overcomes her hesitant tendencies and expresses herself openly. In the same way as the aforementioned celebrities, Jane develops into a strong and confidant woman who ends up falling in love with Mr. Rochester. Jane is initially lonely and doubtful but throughout the book her personality blossoms into one of confidence as she learns to stands up for herself. As a result, she becomes a strong and assertive woman who expresses her opinions candidly and grows to love Mr. Rochester.…
She has been an orphan from a young age and as a lowly born, orphan female, she has faced oppression all her life. Although she has faced oppression and threats to her autonomy, she continually succeeds in showing she can be a free thinking, independent female (Murphy, 2013) The first time we see Jane stand up to male authority is through an outburst she directs towards John after he throws the book at her, "Wicked and cruel boy!" I said. "You are like a murderer--you…
Jane expresses her desire to be with Rochester when she says, "I'll not leave you on my own accord" (Bronte 546). This is the first time in the novel that Jane expresses content with who she is with where she is living. Jane describes her marriage by saying, "I am my husband's life as fully as he is mine. No woman was ever nearer to her mate than I am" (Bronte 554). It is evident that Jane feels a close connection with Rochester, and this is one of the first times in her life that she does not feel isolated from everyone she is with.…