The above Paragraph mentions the unfair, sexist opinions of the male population had over the Victorian Women. It states that ‘…the change in society decreed that it was not ‘genteel’ for women to work……Salaries were very low especially when contrasted with those of a male tutor....’ The above quotes illustrate the harsh reality these women were forced to follow by their fathers, husbands, brothers etc. The fact that Charlotte Bronte was forced to publish Jane Eyre under the pseudonym Curler Bell reflexes the sexist views men had on women at the time. An educated woman wasn’t as valued as an educated man. This undignified position leads to the reason why women were refused equal rights and opportunities by the government. Hence, a women’s place in society ‘was in a factory as a servant or a governess, that is if you wanted a legal profession’
I think what Bronte wanted the audience to recognize was that service to the public should not be based on gender/lineage - rather, it should be based on intelligence and quality of service. I believe this was primarily aimed at men and her view was considered because at first, the audience thought her as a male author, therefore believing her opinion as ‘valid’. When Jane self-promoted herself in a national newspaper, I think what Bronte was trying to suggest to the audience that this is not ‘shameful and vulgar’ it’s merely a way of finding a job and a way one could make a living of oneself.
Charlotte Bronte wants the audience to know that something will go wrong - but she doesn’t simply tell us, she drops hints that all will not be well by showing the audience a number of factors to suggest that this is not a conventional marriage ceremony. Bronte also presents a number of bad omen and pathetic fallacy to present this.
One of these factors is the haste and speed Jane is driven to the church by her fiancée Mr. Rochester “Lingerer! My brain is on fire with impatience, and you tarry so long!” This quote gives us the idea that Mr. Rochester, because he is rushing, may be under some sort of pressure or is in immediate danger. We can see this by the way he shouts “Lingerer!” to Jane. As a newlywed-to-be, they should be in love and relaxed, that finally their big day has come. However, we see a contrast to this as Mr. Rochester wants it to be ‘over and done with’, rather that the process to be a success, that he is finally about to marry the love of his life, Jane.
Another bad omen is the actual name of the setting; “Thornfield hall”, which suggests pain and suffering to all those who enter the Hall. Pathetic Fallacy is also used to show the suffering to come. ‘.. A livid vivid spark leapt out of a cloud…rain rushed down….’ Pathetic Fallacy is used here to show the huge difference between Rochester and Jane’s happiness and the stormy weather. It can also serve to remind us of the ‘penetrating rain’ weather at the opening of the novel and how a bad event closely followed - 10-year-old Jane’s fight with Master John Reed leading to her spending the night at her beloved Uncle’s deathbed in the ‘Red Room’. This gives the audience some tense suspicions to reflect upon as we draw nearer and nearer to the ‘wedding’. This could also tell us that God may be angered by Rochester’s marriage proposal to Jane. Knowing that the majority of Victorians are Roman Catholics, and are fully aware of the religion and that Bigamy is a major sin, alerts the reader as to why God would be angry at them or if they have done something wrong? This creates suspicion and a negative outlook on Rochester and possibly Jane.
Another factor to the failure of this wedding is the small number of guests at the church when Jane finally arrives, at the heel of the impatient Mr. Rochester. It may be because of this, Jane can easily see the “two shadows” that “had slipped in before”. This wedding is obviously supposed to have been “quiet and humble” wedding as there is other family members or friends. The fact that the strangers were creeping around the church with their backs towards the couple, suggests that they aren’t supposed to be there - that they were not invited. This also serves as a final warning to us that this wedding will not happen. Evidently, the short ceremony is interrupted by the strangers as a reader discovers them to be Richard Manson and a lawyer! In the Victorian times, to interrupt on a wedding ceremony was very rare. Even Jane mention’s this, “…when is the pause after that sentence ever broken by reply? Not perhaps, once in a hundred years”. This tells the audience the seriousness of the case and this, again, is not the conventional/ordinary wedding.
So what happens in a conventional wedding? Firstly, the church should be pack with guests and other conventional people such as the best man, ring bearer, flower girl etc. They also should be more than just vows and Jane’s bridal dress the wedding. None of the other items that are expected at a conventional Christian wedding are there, which suggest to the Victorians that as this wedding is ‘invalid’ in their rules so this false wedding will not happen.
When the news does leak, and the discovery of Bertha is revealed, Bronte uses a number of literacy techniques to comment on the reaction of Rochester. This is an essential part - it reveals the true nature of Rochester and is the main part the audience have been waiting for - the climax.
Adjectives are used to describe Rochester’s tense and determined character. ‘He stood stubborn and rigid…’ This suggests that Rochester is angered that his ‘wedding’ had been interrupted. Perhaps, he was also feeling slightly anxious and nervous that his plan has been exposed; he would never see Jane again. Alliteration and repetition is also used to show anger, impatience and power. ‘…Without speaking, without smiling, without seeming….’ This could also suggest that Rochester is trying to convince himself that this out leak isn’t happening/not true or will not affect his so-called wedding in any way. Similes are used to show that he is very shocked when he is accused of having a wife. ‘Mr. Rochester moved slightly as if an earthquake had rolled under his feet’. Mr. Rochester refuses to react to the new and is determined not to let it affect him.’…moved slightly…’ suggests that the supremacy of the news is similar to an earthquake - strong enough to move even a very stubborn person like Rochester.
All the same, the two main devices that take an immediate impact on the Victorian audience were Blasphemy and Images of Fire. Bronte knew that many Victorians were religious and knew highly of the punishment of hell. They also associate Blasphemy with hell, evil and the devil. Both are used to express the anger of Rochester; and the extremeness of it. ‘The devil is in it if you can not answer distinctly. I again demand what have you got to say?’ At this point, Rochester is aware that he has, evidently, lost Jane forever, and the audience has begun to understand this. Mr. Rochester uses Blasphemy to show that he doesn’t care about anything anymore - not even about his religion. However, many Christians will be able to feel sympathy for this man as he had no choice to whom he wished to marry, as the reader soon learns. The quote ‘…..eye was both spark and flint….’ shows that Rochester is controlling his explosive anger and is resorting to calm words and emotions rather than displaying signs of aggressiveness.
The Secret of Thornfield hall has been revealed - there is indeed a Mrs. Rochester. Bronte uses the physical appearance and emotions of Rochester to suggest to the audience that this news is dominant, making this scene the highlight of the novel. Before the interruption, Jane describes him being ‘….so bent up to a purpose…so grimly resolute……such steadfast blows, ever revealing such flaming and flashing eyes’ This suggests that Rochester is very tense and even anxious for anyone to find out his plan, trying to fool both the whole town but the audience as well - this is done on Bronte’s part. His determined state of mind reflexes the ‘grimly’ attitude Rochester has on the situation and also demonstrates to the audience of this firm view of ‘this WILL go to plan or else.’
At this Climax, the audience witness Rochester’s conflicting character change suddenly, creating a sense of emotions, that this is where everything goes wrong for Rochester, no matter what he does within his unlimited power. This suggests that there is a need of suffering for Rochester, as if he is to bear the burden for making two innocent women suffer.
During all this commotion, Jane is unheard of, though ‘collected’ and ‘in no danger of swooning’. Eventually when Jane retreats to her room speechless, she analyses the events that had just happened and observes ‘what is to come of her’ in terms of respectability in society. In the paragraph, ‘Jane Eyre who had been an ardent, expectant woman……’ near to the end of Chapter 26, the author uses the contrast between negative and positive comparisons to suggest that Bertha who is symbolizing the ‘bad’ aspect, has completely ‘struck’ Jane’s happiness ‘with a subtle doom’. Adjectives are also used to give us an idea of how badly her happiness was eliminated. This forces Rochester to become the cause of the failed ceremony. ‘…drifts crushed the blooming roses….’ This quote, like many others in the said paragraph, shows that as her joy began to ‘bloom’, Rochester, together with Bertha, ‘crushed’ her contentment, which is primarily the reason why Jane decides to leave Thornfield Hall.
Finally, perhaps the main cause of this ‘wedding’, the Creole wife of Rochester, Bertha Mason. Sickness inherited from her mother, Bertha was taken away from her sunny Caribbean home to dull, grey, cold England, force to marry Rochester because of his connections to her family. Bronte’s use of animal imagery and Goth-like verbs contributes to the preconceptions the reader has of Bertha, before we even see her. Before her discovery, we take notice of ‘demonic laugh-low’ and ‘goblin laughter.’ It is describe to ‘twain by a savage, sharp, a shrilly sound that ran from end to end of Thornfield Hall.’ These quotes suggest that there may a monster, demon of some sort hidden with the shadows of the Hall.’ the curious laugh, distinct, formal, mirthless.’ Rule of Three is used here to further emphasise the horrors concealed within Thornfield Hall. Laughter has connotations of its own - symbolising madness, darkness and animal references to hyenas and other ‘madden’ animals.
In my opinion, Bertha represents a number of views and ideologies of the Victorian citizen of the insane and individuals of other various backgrounds and complexions. As Bertha isn’t the typical Victorian, she is used by Bronte to represent women who did not conform. From a once attractive woman whose ‘lavishly displayed’ charm ‘dazzled and stimulated’ Rochester to propose, to a disgraced, free spirit ‘a woman tall and a large with thick and dark hair hanging down her back’ as well as ‘….lips swelled and dark; the brows furrowed; the black eyebrows widely raised over the bloodshot eyes’ These descriptions give the audience an idea that Bertha isn’t someone to respect; that she is someone to consider close to an animal. This has caused wide criticism of the portrayal of Bertha, as it may symbolise cruel, discriminated views of the insane and non-English people. Bronte may be simply expressing the ignorance and foolishness of the Victorians towards People of different complexions or was she showing her true colours as a racist woman to both Creoles and other people with disabilities? - We may never know.
However, we do know that there are hundred of criticisms since the publication of this novel that have seen this book as a direct attack to the misfortune. The following extract is from the Sheet given to me by my English Teacher entitling; Bertha Mason - the Colonised, Insane ‘Other.
‘Many Critics have slated that Bronte’s delineation of Bertha is not only racist but also an insensitive portrayal of insanity. However, this representation might be a true approach to describing a character suffering from mental illness, reflecting the mistreatment by populace of the Victorian era towards the insane. Research of the time suggests that this may be true.’
Kenneth Ramchand’s ‘Critical Perspectives on Jean Rhys’ is about the Wide Sargasso Sea in the Critical Point of View of Mr. Ramchand. It states;
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=e2vvsl9jXYUC&pg=PA194&dq=The+Wide+Sargasso+Sea&sig=zeo6rKO0fllaAOYM8_k01WQkrYo#PPA76,M1
Both of the above quotes, emphasise the same aim - to raise awareness of the so-called racist view, Bronte had on her representation of Bertha. Her ‘insensitive portrayal’ to this character has caused wide speculation throughout the Victorian Era.
In conclusion, Jane Eyre, though a part of the similar journey of Bronte’s autobiography, is also a novel of moral purpose. It illustrates the need to express issues that she felt was important and what she wanted to address to society. Some of the issues mentions are the unfair and injustice treatment of women and children who didn’t conform; the insensitive care of suffering patients; racist implications on creoles and other people of different facial appearances and the mistreatment and general abuse on women. Publishing Jane Eyre created her gusts of opportunity, as well as revealing these issues to the general public of Victorian Society.
