Romantic poetry and ninetheenth century novel - Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte and Tintern Abbey by William Wordsworth
Title: Romantic Poetry and the Nineteenth Century Novel
The texts studied offer a variety of human situations. In some, the principal character or characters are obviously social beings; in others, they are isolated, either literally of figuratively. Considering two of them assess the ways in which the main protagonists are presented. In literary terms, how effectively do the writers explore the life stories of such individuals?
'Jane Eyre' by Charlotte Bronte and 'Tintern Abbey' by William Wordsworth both integrate characters that appear to be isolated. In these two texts it is interesting that the poetic speaker and the fictional narrator are the isolated characters and that Bronte and Wordsworth have both taken events from their own lives and adapted them into these texts. The main idea that I am going to discuss relates to the view that the two characters in the texts are both similar in the way that they are both seen to be isolated. Although they do show appear social at times, the fact that they are isolated is most obvious.
In many ways the speaker in the poem and the fictional narrator choose to be isolated and bring isolation upon themselves. They both make choices which affect their isolation. In 'Tintern Abbey' the speaker chooses to go walking alone and seems happy with his isolation. It is not something that he is afraid of, if anything he embraces the opportunity to be detached and reflects on the advantages of being in a remote place alone. In 'Jane Eyre' Jane often makes choices that lead to her isolation, she chooses to leave Thornfield and is destitute and she often chooses to conform to convention even though she doesn't believe in what is expected of her.
As I have briefly mentioned it is interesting that the events in the novel and the poem mirror events that both Bronte and Wordsworth experienced in their respective lives. Wordsworth himself also appeared to prefer his own company and this is a characteristic that began in his early childhood. In his writings about childhood experiences, for example in 'The Prelude', he was often alone. There are other examples of his solitary nature as a child in 'Nutting' and 'Expostulation and Reply'. 'Tintern Abbey' is very much about himself appreciating nature as he did also as a child, it seems that Wordsworth himself was isolated and he thought it important to consider and appreciate nature fully. Wordsworth illustrates that it is possible to be isolated and alone but also happy in doing this. Similarly in many respects 'Jane Eyre' is based on Bronte's own experiences; Bronte was herself a teacher, a governess and she turned down two marriage proposals. This made Bronte particularly sensitive to the difficulties faced by young woman and also the feeling of isolation.
Both of the texts show a journey, although of different lengths, which are each significant and develop the isolation of the characters. In 'Jane Eyre' the reader follows her through the journey of life, from childhood events right through to her as a passionate and strong-willed woman whose aspirations confound convention. Jane is a poor orphan and is bullied by her cousins as a child and so the reader can immediately identify a sense of isolation. As she grows up she is torn between her true nature and social convention, at the beginning of the novel she is ...
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Both of the texts show a journey, although of different lengths, which are each significant and develop the isolation of the characters. In 'Jane Eyre' the reader follows her through the journey of life, from childhood events right through to her as a passionate and strong-willed woman whose aspirations confound convention. Jane is a poor orphan and is bullied by her cousins as a child and so the reader can immediately identify a sense of isolation. As she grows up she is torn between her true nature and social convention, at the beginning of the novel she is angry and rebellious but as she grows up she learns how to control her wilder passions so that they do not destroy her. This also isolates Jane in many ways, as she has to keep her feelings to herself. The fact that Jane is a woman growing up in early Victoria Britain is also a feature in Jane's isolation. She has to continually try to gain respect in a society that does not value her or her talents throughout her life journey. As she grows into an adult and finds love in Rochester Jane begins to feel happier. However she is forced to isolate herself by fleeing Thornfield when she finds out Rochester is already married. Throughout the novel Bronte shows the reader how Jane develops during the journey of life and the reader can identify how she is isolated. At Gateshead she is still a child and is bullied and locked in the red-room, when she leaves for Lowood she moves into girlhood and is isolated once again when her friend Helen Burns dies. Jane is an adolescent when first at Thornfield, is forced to leave here at one point and is destitute for several days. Jane also seems to grow psychologically in Volume I Chapter10 shown by the use of repetition "I desired liberty; for liberty I gasped; for liberty I uttered a prayer." Jane realises that she has the inner resources to escape her isolation at this point in her life. Jane eventually reaches maturity at Marsh End and becomes fulfilled with her marriage to Rochester. The structure is suggestive of growth and supports the theme by showing the reader how Jane is isolated as she develops. The structure of the novel is therefore effectively that of a Bildungsroman, or a 'novel of development', in which the protagonist's growth is traced through childhood, into adulthood and maturity.
In Wordsworth's 'Tintern Abbey' the speaker is also on a journey, although a much shorter one and isolation is obvious for the most part of the journey. Most of the characters who appear in Wordsworth's poetry are solitary in some way; there are none who appear to be the sociable type which can be found in the works of other Romantic poets, such as Byron's 'Don Juan'. The reason for this is perhaps that Wordsworth thought it important to consider and appreciate nature fully. The speaker in 'Tintern Abbey' is walking along the Banks of the Wye and is describing in vivid detail his appreciation of nature. It appears that the speaker is alone and has been to the place before, he recalls how it was the last time he was there and describes changes that have occurred. It is only towards the end of the poem that the speaker reveals that his sister is there and apparently has been throughout the entire visit. Similarly as Jane is considered to be of a low social class being a woman in Victorian society, the sister in the poem is obviously seen in the same way. There is an obvious imbalance of power that isolates both the sister and the speaker in the poem as he chooses not to acknowledge her until towards the end. The speaker appears to be happy and content throughout the poem and is quite happy to be isolated:
"Therefore let the moon / shine on thee in thy solitary walk; / And let the misty mountain winds be free / to blow against thee: and, in after years, / When these wild ecstasies shall be matured / Into a sober pleasure; when thy mind / Shall be a mansion for all lovely forms, / Thy memory be as a dwelling-place / For all sweet sounds and harmonies" (Lines 134-142)
The use of imagery and symbolism in each of the texts exhibit similar features. Bronte gets her imagery from literature, especially from Shakespeare and the Romantics, hence the similarity between the theme and imagery of isolation in 'Jane Eyre' and 'Tintern Abbey'. There are many references in 'Jane Eyre' to nature, in particular birds and Jane is aware of her isolation when she likens herself to the "stray and stranger birds" that Rochester throws crumbs to. After Jane has run away from Rochester her heart becomes "impotent as a bird" that "with both wings broken...still quivered its shattered pinions in vain attempts to seek him", again Jane is aware that she has made herself alone and isolated and she cannot cope. When Jane has fled from Thornfield and she is destitute and starving for days, looking for someone to give her a home St John likens her to "a half-frozen bird, which some wintry wind might have driven through their casement." These many references to birds and nature to reflect Jane's isolation compare to 'Tintern Abbey' in several ways. The whole poem is structured around the theme of nature and how the speaker walks alone and appreciates the nature and the sounds of nature that surround him. It is therefore clear that in both 'Jane Eyre' and 'Tintern Abbey' nature is symbolic of the main protagonists' isolation.
The two texts are both written in the form of first person narrative. Because 'Jane Eyre' consists of a first person narrative we largely see events and characters from Jane's point of view and this gives the story a high degree of authenticity. This also creates a very close bond between the narrator and the reader, therefore we are able to really comprehend how isolated Jane feels, her thoughts about it and we are able to empathise with her. There are also references to the reader, as though Jane is actually telling us the reader something in confidence about how she is feeling at that time, "Gentle reader, may you never feel what I felt" (Volume III Chapter 1). The narrative and the settings in each part of Jane's' life are related and emphasise once again how Jane becomes isolated. At Gateshead the tone is passionate and wild. This reflects the fact that the narrative is focused on a child at this point and shows us the more irrational elements in Jane's character. The tone at Lowood is cold, hard and constrained and reflects the isolation and limitations placed on young women by religious thought and social class. At Thornfield the setting is personal and symbolic, for instance the house itself is identified with Rochester and the narrative is almost torn between being open and restrained. It is obvious that Jane is falling in love with Rochester but she has to exercise self-control and so is hesitant in some ways about being completely honest to herself and is almost forced to isolate her feelings. At Moor House the tone again becomes more stifling and oppressive as Jane slips back into a more conventional way of behaving and begins to feel the limitations she has forced upon her.
In 'Tintern Abbey' again the use of first person narrative allows the reader to see how the speaker feels about his life and the isolation that he is faced with. It seems that the speaker seems to enjoy his own company, or rather, the sole company of nature. He is able to express his emotions in relation to the nature around him and the effect that nature has on his sensitivity:
"These beauteous forms, / Through a long absence, have not been to me / As is a landscape to a blind man's eye: / But oft, in lonely rooms, and 'mid the din / Of towns and cities, I have owed to them, / In hours of weariness, sensations sweet, / Felt in the blood, and felt along the heart; / And passing even into my purer mind, / With tranquil restoration" (Lines 23-31)
As I have demonstrated the fictional narrator and the poetic speaker are both very much figuratively isolated. Their journeys through life and events that they face cause them to be isolated and they both make choices themselves that lead to isolation in various ways. The way they describe their emotions and feelings is also comparable and illustrates how isolated they actually feel. The reader has an insight to two lives which, although are different in many ways, share the one obvious feeling of isolation.
Bibliography
Wright, D (1986) The Penguin Book of English Romantic Verse. Harmondsworth: Penguin
Bronte, C, ed (2000) Jane Eyre. (Edited by Margaret Smith, introduction and revised notes by Sally Shuttleworth) Oxford University Press: Berkshire
Pirie, D, ed (1994) The Romantic Period. Harmondsworth: Penguin
