Reality – deep, significant reality – is the great characteristic of the book. It is an autobiography – not, perhaps, in the naked facts and circumstances, but in the actual suffering and experience.
In some places, the story moves extremely quickly and omits portions of Jane’s life, only describing the edited highlights of her life: after the typhus epidemic at Lowood, eight years pass in just a few paragraphs. Yet, at other moments, each detail is fully recorded as Brontë tries to convey the reality of Jane’s experiences, such as the events leading up to her incarceration in the Red Room. The language used is Standard English, often making use of Latinate words, in a formal style. Archaic vocabulary, like words such as phlegmatic, is also used. The type of language is effectively used to show changes in emotion, by way of contrasts in formality of tone, length of words and sentences, and sentence structure. Many of the sentence structures used, the said Eliza for instance, are archaic and seem very formal to the modern reader. Brontë utilizes pathetic fallacy often in the novel by making the weather relate to the mood of the characters, and the seasons coincide with Jane’s relative fortune: during the period of the novel set in Gateshead, it is winter, whereas when Rochester proposes to Jane it is summer, with skies so pure, suns so radiant. In Jane Eyre, metaphor and symbolism is often taken from nature: the chestnut tree being split in two by lightning symbolises the fact that Jane and Mr Rochester will also be split apart; and the passages from Bewick’s History of British Birds in the first chapter represent Jane’s feelings and emotions at that time: solitary rocks, and forlorn regions of dreary space. Brontë takes advantage of dialogue as a method of communicating tension in relationships, and the quality of sentence structure denotes the intelligence or status of the person speaking. Status is also indicated by the way in which a character is addressed: those equal status are referred to by their Christian names, whereas those of higher status are called by their title and surname.
Jane is the eponymous main protagonist of the novel. There are certain aspects of Jane’s character that are established early on and which stay as the core of her personality throughout; at the same time the novel shows how she learns and changes. Her experiences with other characters lead to refinement of these characteristics and a greater self-knowledge, in addition to certain events in her life influencing her development and learning. Throughout the novel, Jane shows a passionate, stubborn and emotional side to her character in her outbursts against those who oppress her: she is outspoken with Mrs Reed when Jane feels that Mrs Reed has lied about her character to Mr Brocklehurst; and after St John proposes, Jane is once again roused because she does not want to be trapped in the loveless marriage he was offering. Furthermore, Jane fights against inequality, her retaliation against John Reed being an example of this. Jane shows immense determination at many times throughout the narrative: leaving Lowood for an unknown environment takes great courage, as does leaving Mr Rochester. Nevertheless, Jane decides to attempt to better her situation, and knows what she needs to do in order to do so. A further example of her great resolve is when she refuses St John’s proposal, despite his ceaseless psychological maltreatment, and subsequently travels alone to find Mr Rochester. Moreover, when Jane ascertains that Thornfield has been razed to the ground, she continues her search in spite of everything, and never loses hope of finding Mr Rochester intact. The same two examples evidence Jane’s great independence, especially at a time when women were characteristically reliant on men. Jane’s social status and gender present many challenges: as a woman travelling alone she is in a vulnerable position. However, Jane’s strong tenacity enables her to overcome this obstacle. She is also tested by love and society, but proves herself to be highly moral, with a strong conscience and Christian principles: her refusal of Mr Rochester’s offer to be his mistress instigates a testing battle against her conscience, but, ultimately, however attractive the idea is in some ways, her principles tell her that it would be the wrong thing: she would lose the respect of others, and, more importantly, her own self-respect. The quality that permits Jane’s independence is her intelligence: it is her ability as a teacher that allows her to escape Lowood, and aids her again by providing stability in Morton. Jane’s aptitude is also demonstrated by her enthusiasm and quickness in learning, and her ability to teach herself from books, as seen during her time at Moor House.
Jane’s interest in education is not hard for the reader to perceive: even as a child, she is a fervent reader, and at Lowood she is eager to learn, working hard so that she might be permitted to learn French. In addition to this, she chooses teaching as her career, which is strong evidence of the importance of education to Jane. At Gateshead, Jane is deprived of education, other than when she is able to read a book from the library. Her choice of book is significant, both in indicating Jane’s intelligence and maturity of choice for her age, and as a metaphor for Jane’s attitude towards her surroundings, as I have previously mentioned. Lowood is a release for Jane, but she is still controlled and confined. Jane learns a lot from her experiences at Lowood, and not just from her academic learning: Helen Burns and Miss Temple have a profound effect on Jane. Helen teaches Jane a great deal about patience, tolerance and restraint. From Helen, Jane learns the qualities and values of her Christian religion, and she learns to be less passionate and more accepting of her situation in life. The inscription on Helen’s grave stone (which is put there by Jane), Resurgam (meaning “I will arise”), could almost be a “motto” for her approach to life, as she rises again from every challenge. Jane has a deep admiration of Miss Temple, in awe of her looks and her grace. For Jane, Miss Temple’s presence is what makes the hard life at Lowood bearable. Miss Temple is more than just a teacher to Jane. Through her friendship and example, Jane is not only re-educated, but her character is shaped as well. When Miss Temple leaves Lowood to get married, Jane finds that she has no reason to stay there. Looking at her surroundings, the influence of the natural landscape invites her to become adventurous again and reawakens her desire for liberty. It is this desire for liberty that leads her to Thornfield. Jane appreciates that she will have to settle for servitude, but realises that by taking control of her own destiny, she will become more independent. Jane’s situation at Thornfield is certainly more privileged than any other she has experienced in her life, but she is still not entirely independent, and still wishes to go out into the world and have new experiences:
I longed for a power of vision…which might reach the busy world, towns, regions full of life I heard of but never seen…I desired more of practical experience than I possessed; more of intercourse with my kind, of acquaintance with variety of character, than was here within my reach.
When teaching at the girls’ school in Morton, Jane learns about the great difference an education can make to a person: at first, Jane is not very positive about her position at the school because she finds it difficult to understand the broad accents of the girls and finds that the majority are illiterate, but after a time many of the children won her goodwill and…admiration. It took some time for Jane to stop seeing her pupils as all being the same and quite dull. However, she eventually found some of these heavy-looking, gaping rustics wake up into sharp witted girls enough. In Morton, Jane learns that the germs of native excellence, refinement, intelligence, kind feelings and other sophisticated personal traits are not restricted to those of high social status, Brontë’s message being that social status and wealth are not necessarily accompanied by good character, and vice versa. It is when she leaves Morton that Jane’s academic education comes to an end, and the acts of leaving Morton and refusing St. John’s proposal complete Jane’s lessons in life.
The main way in which education affects Jane’s life is in allowing her to become independent: education frees her from Gateshead, and leaving Lowood is later made possible by her ability as a teacher. It is through her post as a governess that Jane comes to meet Mr Rochester, and it is her intellect and experience of teaching that provides her with stability in Morton when she becomes the teacher at the school there. By the end of the novel, Jane has not only been educated academically, but has also learnt about who she is and grown as a person.
Charlotte Brontë’s personal experience influenced the novel in many ways. When Charlotte was eight, her father, a clergyman, sent her to a school for the daughters of clergy with three of her sisters. He thought education would be useful to his girls in the future, but their experiences were all too similar to those Charlotte Brontë makes Jane Eyre endure at Lowood. Her two elder sisters died of tuberculosis after less than a year, and Charlotte and her sister Emily were taken away from the school to return to studying at home with their father. Charlotte’s other experiences of school were not much happier. At 15, she was sent to Roe Head School to gain enough education to be able to work as a teacher or governess, where she worked hard and was successful. However, she found the routine stifling, and always longed for the holidays.
In Jane Eyre, Adèle’s minimal education acts as a foil to Jane’s relatively wide knowledge: Adèle has been taught to dance, sing, and recite poetry by her mother for the entertainment of guests, but has never been taught academic subjects like history and geography. Though being an orphan disadvantaged Jane and Adèle had the advantage of status, Jane was given better opportunities for education. In the 19th Century, young ladies were only expected to play the piano and sketch prettily. Jane Eyre can play like any other English schoolgirl but, as Rochester recognizes, she is an artist of rare talent. Yet neither Jane nor any other lady could respectably exploit her talent – the best she could hope for was to teach. At this time, there were almost no other ways for a woman of middle class, with education but without money, to earn a living. The only other possibility was marriage, and that could not be relied upon. Charlotte considered herself to be very plain, even ugly, and did not actually hope for marriage (although she actually received three proposals). Like Jane Eyre, she was always sad that she was not more obviously attractive: beauty was something she admired and longed for. Even a woman with gentility was out of place in Victorian society if they had no money, and they had to work to survive. Almost all ladylike employments were ill-paid, stressful and humiliating: dressmaking seemed a “genteel” occupation for a respectable woman but, in reality, it was desperately unrewarding work – employment was insecure, the hours dreadful and the wages minimal. The hardship and penury – contrasting with the often glamorous contacts they made – quite often led to seduction, followed by a rapid descent into prostitution.
Although Charlotte eventually earned a living as a novelist, her earlier work experience was identical to that of most other impoverished gentlewomen: she was employed as a governess. Governesses included what we now call teachers; women who worked in charity or boarding schools. Standards in these institutions varied greatly. Charlotte spent time back at Roe Head as a teacher, but she hated the job. It did not suit her and it left her no free time to write or even think about writing. When she was not teaching or marking books she had to work at mending pupils’ clothes. She became so ill and depressed that she had to leave. She tried working as a private governess, where she was paid a mere £20 a year, with £4 deducted for laundry. The low salaries received by governesses ensured that those who outlived their usefulness would save little or nothing, and end their days in the workhouse.
As well as being underpaid and overworked, a governess suffered from the contradictions inherent in their positions. She was a lady, admitted to the drawing and dining rooms when her employers wanted to show her off, and too good to eat or associate with even the upper servants (whose salaries were nonetheless at least as large as hers). But she was also and employee, and as such must be prepared to endure brusque treatment and severe rebukes, in addition to having to make herself unobtrusive so that her mistress should not feel rivalled. Even the governess’s authority over the children was insecure, since she had no power to discipline them without the mistress’s consent.
Charlotte did not like small children and was not cut out for the work of a governess. Her resentment for the slights she endured as a governess is reflected in Jane Eyre - for example, when Blanche Ingram recounts (in Jane’s hearing) the cruel fun she and her brother had at their governess’s expense:
“But poor Madame Joubert! I ser her yet in her raging passions, when we had driven her to extremities – spilt our tea, crumbled our bread and butter, tossed our books up to the ceiling, and played a charivari with the ruler and the desk, the fender and the fire irons. Theodore, do you remember those merry days?”
Through Lady Ingram, Brontë also suggests that many found their governesses an inconvenience and a source of irritation:
“My dearest, don’t mention governesses, the word makes me nervous.”
Non-fictional evidence proves that the governess’s life was singularly isolated and stressful.
The fact that the experiences of Jane Eyre are drawn from real events in Charlotte Brontë’s life makes the narrative of the novel feel more authentic to the reader. A contemporaneous reviewer remarked that:
If the authoress has not been, like her heroine, an oppressed orphan, a starved and bullied charity-school girl, and a despised and slighted governess (and the intensity of feeling which she shows in speaking of the wrongs of this class seem to prove that they have been her own), at all events we fear she is one to whom the world has not been kind. And, assuredly, never has unkindness been more cordially repaid. Never was there a better hater. Every page burns with moral Jacobinism. ‘Unjust, unjust’, is the burden of every reflection upon the things and powers that be.
This statement could not be more accurate. The reviewer has understood, without any knowledge of Brontë’s life, almost exactly how she was able to write so convincingly on the experience of an unfortunate school-girl who became a governess: the only real difference is that only one of Brontë’s parents was dead, not both, and she was not oppressed by her guardian.
I personally found the autobiographical style of the novel very involving, and shared Jane’s feelings of oppression and passion, injustice and integrity, desolation and elation, as the narrative took her from one situation to the next, with climaxes and periods of calm. The novel takes me on an emotional rollercoaster ride: there are ups and downs, sharp twists and loop-the-loops, and, ultimately, when the ride finishes, I find that I enjoyed the experience and want to have another go (which, incidentally, I did).
Education is an important theme in the novel of Jane Eyre for the reason that Jane’s life revolves around education: first at Gateshead, where her choice of reading material is used to symbolise her emotions; then at Lowood, where she is taught both academically and personally; subsequently, at Thornfield, she learns a great deal about her own emotions and also about society; and finally in Morton, where she learns languages with Diana, Mary and St. John Rivers, in addition to gaining independence and autonomy as the teacher at Morton school.
Jane Eyre is a challenging read because of the archaic style and language, along with the situations and ethics which are quite alien to the modern reader. However, there is a great deal that can be learned from reading Jane Eyre about Victorian society and values. The novel not only shows us the 19th century world, but also invites the reader to empathise with Jane’s situation. There is throughout Jane Eyre a murmuring against the comforts of the rich and against the privations of the poor, and the main themes in the novel remain current: feminism, and the advantages of education (a theme which is also seen in many of Charles Dickens’ novels).
In my personal opinion, Jane Eyre is a remarkable novel. It shows how intellect and unswerving integrity may win their way, and has an overall positive message: if you are determined, you can reach your goals. I think that this is an important lesson for life, and, apart from anything else, Jane Eyre is a thoroughly enjoyable read which I would gladly recommend to others.
