In her gothic novel Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte tells a story of a young, poor orphan who is raised by her bitter aunt, Mrs. Reed, along with abusive cousins and maids. After years of repulsive treatment, Jane attends a strict all-girls school, Lowood, and embarks a teaching profession at Thornfield, which fits her ambitions of putting her competent skills to work. Jane holds an ambiguous role in society while undergoing a journey of trials and challenges against feminism, deceit, and rejection. However, Jane pulls through with fortitude, recognizing that her moral intuition and self-worth are much more valuable than the opinions of others.
Bronte expresses Jane’s obstinate view of feminism by revealing her dismay against the inferior treatment
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After leaving Thornfield behind with minimal pay, Jane struggles to find money, food, shelter, and an occupation. One cold winter night, Jane is desperate for a warm, cozy place to lodge. She comes across a cabin with three women: Hannah and two sisters, Diana and Mary. Nearing the state of death, Jane knocks on their cabin door and Hannah opens up with an agitated look. Jane pleas for a piece of bread and a room to stay. However, Hannah resists, "Distrest, the very feeling I dreaded, appeared in Hannah’s face. ‘I’ll give you a piece of bread, but we can’t take in a vagrant to lodge… You should not be roving about now; it looks very ill… Here’s a penny; now go -- Move off.’ ‘But I must die if I am turned away.’ … ‘Get up! for shame! Move off, I say’” (296-7). No matter how much Jane asks for help, Hannah disgustingly shoves the beggar away. Although she finally receives food and a place to stay after St John’s request, Jane does not allow Hannah to be dismissed from her faulty inferior treatment. The following day, she confronts Hannah for her unfair prejudice when Jane sought help. Hannah then apologizes for her mistaken judgement. Jane does not allow the prior inferior treatment from Hannah to pass by as if it had been of no importance. She takes the matter seriously, revealing Jane 's character which is solely against the public’s harsh treatment towards low rankings and the poor.
Ultimately, Charlotte Bronte expresses Jane Eyre 's coming of age experience through various circumstances dealing with women’s rights, treachery, and isolation. Her righteous values and acuity are put to the test through a cycle of adversity. Jane finds the strength and courage to withstand hardships, to bend and not break, and to realize that she drives her own destiny, not
Mrs. Reed likewise separates Jane from the Reeds’ social circle by confining her to the nursery while her cousins spend their days in the drawing room (22) and calling Mr. Lloyd, the apothecary for “ailing servants,” instead of the family physician for Jane’s illness (15), thus placing her among the servants. However, the servants too reject Jane from their group—Miss Abbot told Jane that she is “less than a servant” because she does “nothing for [her] keep” (9). Jane thus
Prudence, like Katherine, views her as a threat but grew to love her when the stories told by the town were deemed false (74). Prudence and Kit retreat to Hannah’s house every day, symbolizing an area of peace and friendship. The friendship among the women signifies a tie between the town and Hannah grows to be an important figure in both Kit’s and Prudence’s
Jane’s ability to undergo an atrocious youth allowed her to gain her tenacity. Though she does question herself, ultimately, Jane pursues her own individuality and self-respect. Jane’s pursuit complicates itself when she encounters Mr.
Jane develops a *find quote about jane thinking her crush on Rochester is childlike* but is morally derailed when it is revealed that Mr. Rochester has been hiding his feral wife in the attic. This presents Jane with the arduous decision of choosing to stay with her love or to leave in the night. Jane chooses the latter the author, Emily Brontë writes, ***find quote**. Though this must have been a difficult decision, Jane choose, out of her selfless nature, to pursue an uncertain and dangerous path just to preserve a principled world. This is not only an impressive response when she was tested but it is a display of feminism.
Jane was raised by two significant women: Mrs. Reed and Miss Temple. It is evident from these relationships that it is imperative to have respect and affection for a connection to flourish. Although Mrs. Reed does not have Jane's best interest at heart, Miss Temple shows her the opposite remark. Mrs. Reed is abusive and harsh towards Jane, depriving her of the love and care that she deserves. She treats Jane as inferior, excludes her from family events, and makes her feel insignificant.
At the beginning of the text, the narrator says “Personally, I disagree with their ideas… I believe that congenial work would do me good” (Gilman 648). This inner dialogue illustrates that at the beginning of her stay, she believed she was okay and just needed to keep herself occupied with her passions such as writing; however, her husband insisted that she needed treatment for her “nervous condition”. This demonstrates that the narrator is subject to the opinion and decisions of the men in her life and that she has no other option but to obey them and their commands. At the end of the story, the narrator then writes “‘ I've got out at last,’ said I, ‘in spite of you and Jane?
In Charlotte Brontë 's, Jane Eyre, we see a reversal of gender roles for both Mr. Rochester and Jane. In multiple scenes of the book the two switch back and forth from their “natural” roles, which ends up benefiting the two. In the story, Mr. Rochester, the big burly owner of Thornfield, occasionally drops his natural patriarchal role to become a feminine character. Jane also does this as she takes on a more masculine role from time to time, and drops her feminine complacency. While usually both characters dropping their gender-specific roles could turn out bad, in this story, dropping the stereotypical gender roles by blurring them leads to happiness by the end of the story.
In the novel we follow the protagonist, a young Victorian woman who struggles to overcome the oppressive patriarchal society in which she is entrapped. It is a story of enclosure and escape, from the imprisonment of her childhood to the possible entrapment of her daunting marriage. Throughout the novel Jane must fight against her inevitable future that society has already chosen for her. We see her attempt to overcome the confinements of her given gender, background and status. She must prove her worth against the men she encounters throughout her life, showing her equality in intelligence and strength.
He places her in the nursery of the colonial mansion, despite her requests to be placed otherwise, “I don 't like our room a bit. I wanted one downstairs... but John would not hear of it” (Gilman, 2). The narrator’s husband dictates all aspects of her life to the point where she internalizes her husband 's authority, accepting his dominance over her, “I sometimes fancy that in my condition if I had less opposition and more society and stimulus—but John says the very worst thing I can do is think about my condition, and I confess it always makes me feel bad,” (Gilman, 2). Even though the narrator knows what she needs is to be active surrounded by people instead of cooped up alone in a house out in the countryside, she abruptly stops her train of thought as she remembers John’s instructions to not think about her condition.
Bronte 's Jane Eyre transcends the genres of literature to depict the emotional and character development of its protagonist. Although no overall genre dominates the novel exclusively, the vivid use of setting contributes towards the portrayal of Bronte’s bildungsroman (Realisms, 92) and defines the protagonist’s struggles as she grapples with her inner-self, and the social expectations of her gender. The novel incorporates Jane’s frequent conflicts, oppression, isolation and self-examination as she defends her identity and independence. Set amongst five separate locations, Bronte’s skilful use of literal and metaphorical landscapes, nature, and imagery, skilfully intertwines with the plot and denotes each phrase of her maturity.
Jane Eyre: A Quest for True Happiness Charlotte Bronte’s classic heartfelt novel entitled “Jane Eyre” depicts how an unloved orphan constantly wishes for affection and acceptance throughout her life. Even at an early age in life, she never truly understood what it meant to be “loved” and what it means to “love” others. With this, maturing into a young lady definitely opened her eyes to the realities of life. Moreover, the novel also depicts a patriarchal society where women aren’t respected with dignity and equality. In this coming of age novel, discover how a young woman courageously faced her fears and triumphed with love in the end.
The titular Jane in Jane Eyre struggles to free herself from the power of others to achieve independence throughout the course of the book. As a child, she fights against unjust authority figures, and as an adult, she spurs multiple unequal marriage proposals. Bronte, through Jane asserts that a woman should be independent from others. When Jane was young, she tried to free and defend herself from unjust authority figures. When Jane 's aunt unfairly confines Jane to the Red Room, Jane launches into a verbal diatribe against her aunt.
Charlotte Brontë´s novel Jane Eyre is considered one of Britain´s most classical literary work. The story consists of a hybrid of three genres, the Gothic novel, the Romance novel and the Bildungsroman and many critics have praised the novel. Though, the novel got a great deal of good criticism in contemporary time, its immediate reception was controversial. The story plays out during the Victorian period in Britain where the social norms were strict and there was a big gap of equality between the genders. This essay will analyse how the gender roles are portrayed and if they are modern or traditional.
Jane goes against the expected type by “refusing subservience, disagreeing with her superiors, standing up for her rights, and venturing creative thoughts” (Margaret, 1997, p. 325-346). She is not only successful in terms of wealth and position, but more importantly, in terms of family and love. These two needs that have evaded Jane for so long are finally hers. Adding to her victory is her ability to enjoy both without losing her hard-won independence. Everybody has the rights to pursue happiness, to pursue the true spirit of life, which can be seen from Jane Eyre’s struggle for independence and equality.
From a little girl Jane was seen as deceitful, unworthy and some say ill-mannered, but as she grows older she sees her potential and sets out to show everyone that she is capable of being loved, respected and show that she can do anything she sets her mind to. To feel as if her life is not miserable but that she had a purpose. Jane then sets off to find this purpose or this reason to live in every stage of life. Since the death of her parents Jane was forced to move in with her uncles wife who is not even blood related. At first, Jane stands up to her aunt and tells her exactly how she feels about her when she takes things to far and locke's Jane up alone in a room where her uncle died and she falls ill.