The Use of Gothic in Charlotte Bront's Jane Eyre

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The Use of Gothic in Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre

Melissa K Medders Newton

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In Charlotte Brontë's novel, Jane Eyre, the use of Gothic is employed strategically by the author. De Sousa Correa states that the "...Gothic [is] so overwhelming present in Jane Eyre". By defining the Gothic novel and applying these aspects to analyse two/three scenes from the novel, this statement will prove correct. [C.F.1]

In Realisms, it is stated that "Gothic sensibility arose as a reaction against the Enlightenment's emphasis on reason and the ordered symmetry of neoclassicism" (71). For a novel to be considered a Gothic novel, it must consist of various characteristics to qualify it as a Gothic. The classic Gothic novel consists of both "emotional extremes" and "very dark themes". The novel's setting would be in dark, remotes places in large houses, mansions, or castles. The Goth[C.F.2] novel would include, as well, an anti-hero, a persecuted heroine, supernatural encounters, some sort of physical or psychological terror, or insane relative ("Gothic fiction", n pag[C.F.3]). Brontë's, Jane Eyre, fits the description of a Gothic novel. It has a persecuted heroine, is set in a dark, brooding house, complete with supernatural occurrences[C.F.4], a mad woman in the attic, and above all a sense of mystery. De Sousa Correa said "...We are aware of the intense relationship in Bronte's novel between the description of external conditions and the portrayal of individual thoughts and feelings". This "helps establish Jane's consciousness at the centre of the narrative where it remains throughout the rest of the novel" (87). Jane is portrayed as an outsider and the reader is made aware of this immediately (De Sousa Correa, 87[C.F.5]).
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The scene in which Jane's aunt, Mrs. Reed, locks her in the red-room is full of Gothic references. Through Jane's imagination and superstition about her uncle John dying in the room and the room's description, it can be described as a Gothic scene.? The red-room was rarely used; it was a spare room. It was decorated with a mahogany pillared bed "hung with deep red damask" and the windows "with their blinds always drawn down... the carpet was red... the crimson cloth" along with the other dark mahogany furniture made the room feel as if it was filled ...

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