Jane Eyre and Gothic Literature
Jane Eyre and Gothic Literature The first ever gothic novel was written by Horace Walpole in 1765 entitled the castle of Otranto. This genre became popular and inspired great writers such as Mary Shelley who wrote Frankenstein and Bram Stoker who wrote Dracula. Horace Walpole also inspired painters such as Henry Fuseli. The elements that distinguish a gothic novel to any other genre of novels are the active involvement of mystery horror and violence. Two other famous writers included Charles Dickens and Charlotte Bronte. In particular I am going to look deeper into Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. In the very first sentence of this novel the gothic elements are made apparent. "It was winter" Winter is very cold and bleak, in winter there are lots of thunder storms, howling winds and thick fog this emplys horror and distress, in films they always set frightening scenes in the dark or in the fog. Also in the opening of this novel Jane's taunts from her cousins are made apparent when she tells us about then laughing at her when she gets tired on their walks. Jane's troubled life is described to us, she tells us about the fact she is an orphan and that she now lives with her aunt and her cousins neither of which she gets on with. Her joy for literature got her into many scrapes at Gateshead hall, we are told about one time especially, when john hit her this happened many times
Jane Eyre: The Epitome of Independence and Rebelliousness
Jane Eyre: The Epitome of Independence and Rebelliousness ?????????98??(2)? ??? [email protected] Abstract: During the 1800's, the time period in which women are stereotyped as being "submissive, dependent, beautiful, but ignorant" in British society, Jane Eyre, the Charlotte Bronte's heroine, stands out as an independent individual. She struggles to resist the efforts of others to mold her to their own views of who she should be. Her loyal devotion to her own moral principles brings her a great deal of sufferings, but she survives a number of challenges to her personal beliefs. Jane Eyre preserves personal integrity in her search for a self-fulfilling happiness. Her self-respect, independence, courage, rebelliousness, outspokenness and honesty guide her in her journey to self-fulfillment. Such traits also shape her a splendid and eternal female image among literary works around the world for more than one hundred years. The article attempts to probe into Jane's complex characterization and moral vision reflected in her life at Gateshead, Lowood, Thornfield and Moors respectively. At the same time, the article also analyses the relationship between Jane's rebelliousness and social oppression, stagnation and religious hypocrisy in the hope of helping readers to appreciate the theme of Jane Eyre on more profound perspective. Key Words: independence rebelliousness
Jane Eyre - compare the first two chapters
JANE EYRE COURSEWORK The novel 'Jane Eyre' is an emotional journey through the often turbulent and isolated life of Jane Eyre. The eponymous character Jane Eyre starts her life parentless, left in the care of her careless aunt and the company of her cruel cousins. She escapes to school (Lowood) where she flourishes and eventually goes to work as a governess. She subsequently falls in love with the owner of the estate where she is governess, Mr Rochester, before discovering that his mad wife lives in the attic. After turning down St.John Rivers' proposal of marriage she returns to Mr Rochester and, after finding out his wife has died in a fire, marries him. We first meet Jane Eyre in a window-seat of her aunt's house, attempting to escape her worries by reading. Her aunt has separated her from the rest of the family for reasons including not being, "attractive and sprightly" in manner Her situation at Gateshead Hall appears to consist of isolation and loneliness. Her aunt despises her, consequently so do her cousins. John Reed, her only male cousin, regularly beats her for no particular reason and Jane says of him; "I trembled at the idea of being dragged forth by the said Jack" and John had "an antipathy to me". Mrs Reed and the servants ignore his behaviour and act as if they are ignorant of it. Mrs Reed, John, Eliza and Georgiana Reed are Jane's only family. Her
Jane Eyre - First two chapters review
JANE EYRE COURSEWORK Charlotte Brontë was born on April 21st 1816, at Thornton, in Yorkshire. She had many brothers and sisters, two of whom died of tuberculosis before she was born. Brontë had had a hard childhood trying to keep healthy and had been very unhappy at school, and the novel, Jane Eyre appears to draw on her own life and experiences in various aspects. The setting of the novel is in the Victorian Times, when a woman's place was at home and the husband's earning money by being a landowner or pursuing a profession. Brontë has created a heroin but has still made the character, Jane, to have a difficult childhood like herself (orphaned and penniless Jane being treated unfairly by her relatives) but to make something of her life as an independent woman. In the first two chapters of the novel, the author, Charlotte Brontë, establishes the background and uses a particularly exceptional technique to make us believe that Jane's relatives use her as a scapegoat and therefore this creates sympathy for her. The technique she uses in this novel, is descriptive writing to show in depth the feelings and surroundings in the first two chapters. She describes the feelings of Jane as a first person analysing herself and her own situations and how the Reed family bullies her. She also describes John's feelings because he is the only boy in the house and is portrayed as
Jane Eyre
In the novel, when asked if she is "book learned" Jane replies "yes very" explore how, despite her early experiences at Lowood and the attitude towards schooling for girls in the nineteenth century Britain, Jane manages to immerge as an educated, young woman by the end of the novel. At Gateshead as a child, Jane is a sensitive, loving, intellectual and thoughtful character, she is keenly aware of her status as an outsider. Jane accepts the disapproval of both John Reed and his mother for their cruelty towards her. "No; you are less than a servant"(page 14), Although Jane is ill-treated by John, she is mostly disturbed by the fact that she is abused without Mrs. Reed caring, moreover, if she does try to speak out she is directly abandoned or ignored, once again. In addition to this Jane shows some knowledge of history throughout her reading, especially when she expresses her feelings towards John Reed, throughout her anger. "Wicked and cruel boy!"(Page13) You are like a murderer-you are like a slave drive-you are like the Roman emperor's!"(Page13) Jane Eyre shows some understanding about the Roman history even though she is living in the nineteenth century and has never been to school. She is fully aware of what and how the Roman emperors were, and their cruelty towards most people. Also as Jane gains confidence from her reading, she can fight back to John immediately, this
How does Charlotte Bronte use setting and weather in Jane Eyre?
How does Charlotte Bronte Use setting and weather In Jane Eyre? The novel Jane Eyre tells of the events in the life of a woman, endlessly searching for a home. The author - Charlotte Bronte - uses setting and weather to show plot, atmosphere and character. She also uses a range of writing techniques, including pathetic fallacy and paradoxes to describe the emotions of the characters in the story. She was influenced by gothic and other literary traditions of her time when writing Jane Eyre. Jane Eyre was unlike other female characters in novels of her time, in the sense that she is not a 'robot' or a servant of society. She is very strong willed, has a mind of her own and she has very strong morals and ideas. Storybook heroines of Charlotte Bronte's time were the strong outdoors type, but not Jane Eyre. She was strong also, but in different sense of the word. "I never liked long walks, especially on chilly afternoons".(Pg.1) This quote demonstrates that Jane Eyre is not a typical heroine. She does not always do what is expected of her, she is her own person. Gateshead "There was no possibility of taking a walk that day... the cold winter wind had brought with it clouds so sombre, and a rain so penetrating, that further outdoor exercise was now out of the question" (pg.1). Bronte's use of descriptive language here gives you a mental image of the day and symbolises the
Charlotte Bronte's Style in Jane Eyre
Charlotte Bronte's Style in Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte's style of writing is distinctively her own. In her novel Jane Eyre, she writes in a style that is extraordinarily powerful and expresses quite accurately the meaning she wishes to convey. Her style of writing is characterized by a command of language, by spontaneity, by a chaste simplicity and by a felicity in the choice of words and in combing them into phrases, clauses and sentences. She uses a great deal of dialogue and has an excellent ear for the "idioms of class and age." She disliked ornamentation and the use of too many words and her style is therefore straightforward. It is, above all things, exact. The picture Charlotte Bronte draws of people and scenes are, in fact, unforgettable. Bronte indeed excels at character drawing. The beautiful Rosamond Oliver and the stately Blanch Ingram are set vividly before the reader; the bestial mad woman is shown with terrifying realism. As she excels at character drawing she also excels at scene drawing. The moorland over which Jane wonders; Hey Lane, in which she first meets Mr. Rochester ("I was a mile from Thornfield, in a lane noted for wild roses in summer, for nuts and blackberries in autumn, ... but whose best winter delight lay in its utter solitude and leafless repose"); the candle-lit room at Moor House into which the homeless Jane gazes, are all described so that
What features of Jane Eyre can be considered Gothic?
What features of Jane Eyre can be considered Gothic? You may wish to consider Bronte's use of language in relation to the following: setting and location; description of atmosphere; description of character; description of key events; and the nature of Rochester's relationship with Jane. A Gothic novel is a type of literature, which became very popular in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. In this time, society was governed by strict moral codes. The "Gothics" would escape into a world of dark, supernatural and wild passions. The word 'Gothic' meant barbarous and wild and many writers liked to involve these elements in their novels. Gothic novels were usually set in foreign countries, particularly in Catholic countries in Southern Europe, and usually set in the past, in the Middle Ages. Many Gothic novels took place in castles, dungeons and monasteries, and were supernatural and mysterious, involving ghosts and monsters. Gothic novels often follow this pattern: a young beautiful girl who is rather helpless with no family, is abducted by a rough, dark villain who imprisons her in his castle. After much danger and possible exploitation, she is rescued by a good, pleasant young man who falls in love with her. Gothic novels are always very dramatic and mysterious, with a great deal of detailed description and suspense and tension. Charlotte Bronte did not
The Theme of Isolation in Jane Eyre
The theme of isolation is utilized in Literature to shape the principal characters and provide a particular vision on some crucial aspects of their identities. The fact is that the identity of a person is created through certain social and cultural interactions with people, but isolation deprives him/her of acquiring the completeness of identity. Jane Eyre, the principal female character of Jane Eyre is portrayed as an entirely isolated personality. Jane is a little orphan who is treated cruelly by her aunt and who is isolated from the rest of the household. When Jane is sent into Lowood Institution, her isolation is aggravated; she is transformed into a reserved and serious woman with low self-esteem and lack of hopes. This vulnerable and emotionally destroyed woman lives in her own created world, and when Rochester, a person whom she loves, alienates from her, she can no longer endure this isolation. . Although Jane Eyre experiences anger and scorn towards her relatives, she manages to destroy these emotions. This young woman who feels isolation since childhood meets a person who experiences the same loneliness, and falls in love with him. This powerful feeling saves her from despair and finally destroys her isolation, she no longer wants to alienate from people, and especially from Rochester. In Bronte's narration both characters destroy their isolation and find necessary
Jane Eyre Coursework - "Locked rooms are important in the story of Jane Eyre. Comparisons between Jane's ordeal and the ordeal suffered by Bertha Mason".
Jane Eyre Coursework "Locked rooms are important in the story of Jane Eyre. Comparisons between Jane's ordeal and the ordeal suffered by Bertha Mason". In the novel Jane Eyre the first locked room that is mentioned is the Red Room. Before this no locked rooms are mentioned, but it is like Jane is in a locked room for the whole time that she is in Gateshead, because she is not allowed to do anything or touch anything that isn't hers. The reader gets the impression that she feels trapped as if in a locked room. This impression comes from the bullying Jane has to suffer from the young Master Reed in chapter one. "You have no business to take our books, you are dependant mama says. You have no money, your father left you none, you ought to beg and not live here with gentlemen's children". Another time when Jane is left out is when Georgina, Eliza and John are gathered around their mother, who is lying down by the fire. Jane, who is excluded, stands by the door stating "Me she has dispensed from joining the group". This immediately makes the reader feel sad and it also gets the message across that she is alone. The first proper locked room that the reader learns about is the Red Room where Mrs Reed places Jane. Mrs Reed places Jane in the Red Room because Jane said to Master reed "You are like a murderer, you are like a slave driver, you are like a Roman Emperor".
