Book Review - "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë.
Book Review "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë "Jane Eyre" is the timeless classic, telling the story of a girl who finds that beauty is found within, rather than on the outside. Written by Charlotte Brontë in a Victorian England time setting. This novel, though set over a century ago, still has issues with relevance to modern day society. Orphaned at a very young age, Jane lives with her cruel and criticising aunt until being sent to an all girls seminary. She stays at the Lowood Institution until the age of eighteen, when she advertises for a post as a governess. She receives one at an estate named Thornfield. This is where she meets Mr. Rochester, the owner of the estate and her true love. When she learns his dark secret, she flees to another part of England. She meets St. John, a man she finds attractive for his looks, but does not like what he holds inside. She realises she can only find happiness back at Thornfield and returns to marry Rochester. Jane is attracted to Rochester, even though she does not find him handsome. "...It was not easy to give an impromptu answer to a question about appearances; that tastes differ; and that beauty is of little consequence..." After answering no to Rochester's question of whether or not he was handsome, she goes on to tell him that appearances mean little or nothing. One of the purposes of this book is to make us realise
Has the Gothic novel tradition influenced 'Jane Eyre'?
Has the Gothic novel tradition influenced 'Jane Eyre'? I believe that the gothic novel tradition has indeed influenced the novel that is Jane Eyre. Most gothic novels contain supernatural encounters, remote locations, complicated family childhood, ancient monad homes, dark secrets, suspense and a successful conclusion. The story contains the majority of these elements. The romantic section in the novel has a fairytale theme; this is quite common if the story is to follow the gothic tradition. We meet the Byronic hero 'Mr Rochester' and therefore we expect a damsel in distress but Jane never presents herself in this manner. In fact, it is she who rescues 'Mr Rochester' and Jane becomes the heroin. 'He laid a heavy hand on my shoulder and leaning on me with some stress, limped on to his horse. Soon afterwards, Mr Rochester and Jane fall deeply in love with one another, but due to the gothic tradition, there must be someone or something that must block Jane from achieving true happiness. According to the gothic tradition, good will overcome evil. We are not sure what evil Jane will have to overcome but it appears in the form of Bertha. Bertha is indeed a true gothic character. The only place in Thornfield where Jane is forbidden to explore is the third floor of the mansion. This gives suspense and curiosity to find out what or who is in the third floor. At first, it
The Role of Education in Charlotte Bront(TM)s Jane Eyre
Essay-The Role of Education in Charlotte Brontë's "Jane Eyre" Done by Diana Griciuviene Af 0606 U Charlote Brontë in her romantic novel Jane Eyre presents factual information and attitudes toward education in the19th century England. As far as is known, during this period people experienced the harmful effects of severe class division typical of the era. At all levels of society boys and girls were taught separately. The children of poor or workingclass families were taught in local schools and the children of upper and upper-middle-class families were enrolled in exclusive private schools (known as public schools). Additionaly, young children in upper-class and upper-middle-class families - both boys and girls - often received their earliest education from governesses. In other words, before 1870, education was largely a private affair. Throughout the novel, we can explore Jane's own education at one of the Victorian charity school , her work in education at one of the local school, her position as a governess and beneficial consequences of the education also. The Lowood School for girls, portrayed in this novel, can be described as one, which curriculum was designed particularly to train children to a lower-middle class occupation, such as becoming a governess or a school teacher, unlike private schooling for upper-class girls, which focused much more on acting like
Jane Eyre. How Does Charlotte Bronte Create Sympathy For Jane?
How Does Charlotte Bronte Create Sympathy For Jane? 'Jane Eyre' is a novel written and published in 1847 by Charlotte Bronte; the author had very strong opinions as a young woman although during the time period in which it was written it was unusual for a female to have such views. To overcome this issue Bronte used the pseudonym of Currer Bell to create the correct impression on the public. Since the pseudonym seemed ambiguous in gender the readers of that time would assume the opinions were of a male, hence taking the opinions seriously. Charlotte Bronte uses multiple techniques in order to create sympathy for Jane, figurative language, personification and atmospheric descriptions are just a few methods the author uses in conjunction with Jane's own personal feeling and actions to thoroughly ensure the reader can empathise with Jane's distressed situations. So, firstly the main technique used by Bronte is gothic imagery which is used throughout the novel. Charlotte Bronte used an almost excessive amount of gothic descriptions to thoroughly stress the sympathy created for Jane. A gothic atmosphere is given by the natural imagery of the weather, 'the cold winter wind had brought with it clouds so sombre, and a rain so penetrating', Bronte's use of negative adjectives; 'cold', 'sombre' and 'penetrating', gives the impression that Gateshead is surrounded by bleak, grey weather
Jane Eyre - How has the character changed throughout the novel?
Jane Eyre Essay How has the character changed throughout the novel? The character of Jane Eyre evolves and changes even as an actual woman would throughout the course of her life. Jane Eyre becomes self-sufficient; firstly as a governess, and then as the headmistress of her school and lastly as a wealthy woman by her inheritance. She has also formed her own values, and gained her own set of morals, by learning from the people she met and the adversities she endured. Lastly, she has matured, and become content with herself and her position, become what she views as an equal to Mr. Rochester. Jane Eyre grows more self-sufficient as the book progresses. She needs to do this, as it is a part of her becoming an adult, and because her own self-sufficiency is something she feels she needs to achieve before she gains self-assurance, and a clear sense of her own worth. At first, in the novel, she is obviously completely reliant on others, as a child. She thinks "Speak I must: I had been trodden on severely, and must turn: but how? What strength had I to dart retaliation at my antagonist?". These thoughts were just before Jane Eyre's outburst to her aunt about how cruelly she feels she has been treated, and how much she hates her aunt. The words are very reminiscent of the literature of the time; too grand and righteous for a child, but successfully expressing the anger the author
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
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
The function of landscape or the environment in Jane Eyre.
Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre The function of landscape or the environment in Jane Eyre. ***** We must first distinguish between the above options. 'Landscape' seems more restrictive to terms of geography than 'environment', which, as the focus of this essay, I am interpreting as referring to physical surroundings and their effect in creating intangible environmental aspects of the social, spiritual, and atmospheric. Ostensibly this could include certain elements of landscape, and I will be discussing some brief relevant descriptions in the context of environment as a more holistic concept. So to what purpose does Brontë put her description of environment in Jane Eyre? According to Delia da Sousa Correa, we are made aware from the offset of the novel of the 'intense relationship... between the description of external conditions and the portrayal of individual thoughts and feelings' which 'establishes Jane's consciousness at the centre of the narrative'. How each 'external description conveys Jane's...feelings' and also how they foreshadow later events and settings. Brontë's use of imagery and symbolism in her description of environment is integral to the novel. She uses the setting to further the reader's appreciation of Jane's inner feelings, physically expressing, complimenting, and intensifying her emotions. The autobiographical first person narrative style of Jane
How does religion affect the novel Jane Eyre by charlotte Bront?
How does religion affect the novel Jane Eyre by charlotte Brontë? In the preface to Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë writes, "narrow human doctrines... should not be substituted for the world-redeeming creed of Christ." And this is not the only place that religious references, more specifically Christian references, are mentioned in the preface. In fact there are Christian references in many places in the preface. Charlotte Brontë was the daughter of a Church of England vicar who would almost certainly affected her religious beliefs and in the time the book was written religion played a larger part in the day-to-day lives of most people. As you can tell from these comments in the preface and her religious influences, Charlotte Brontë is clearly Christian so in this essay I will discuss the effect her religion had on the novel. I will do this by analysing the portrayal of religious characters. First I will distinguish which characters are religious characters. In order of appearance in novel, the first notably religious character would be Mr Brocklehurst, the treasurer and manager of Lowood institution. Another student at Lowood, Helen Burns was also a devout Christian, and finally Mr St John Rivers, a man who took Jane into his home when she ran from Mr Rochester after discovering about his insane wife, Bertha. The other notable characters, including Mr Rochester and
The novel is about a girl called Jane Eyre who is orphaned when she was a baby and sent to live with her auntie. Her auntie then ships Jane of to Lowood Institution. Which is a boarding school for girls
Jane Eyre Draft The novel Jane Eyre was written over a hundred years ago by Charlotte Bronte. The novel is about a girl called Jane Eyre who is orphaned when she was a baby and sent to live with her auntie. Her auntie then ships Jane of to Lowood Institution. Which is a boarding school for girls. The girls are treated very badly, hardly given any food, and the teachers are allowed to hit the girls with a birch to punish them. The conditions at Lowood Boarding school are very different to schools these days. Education then and education now are very different for schools weren't compulsory or free until the late 1800's. The schools could hold up to 300-400 children, the children were taught mathematics, reading and writing most of the reading and writing was from the bible. The living conditions and food were basic, and mostly everything revolved around the bible. Also the teachers were legally allowed to hit a child's hand, wrist and legs with a bitch if they were naughty/disobeyed a teacher. Yet nowadays the conditions are different, teachers cannot hit children and the teachers give the pupils respect. Jane went to live with her Aunt Reed and her three cousins when she was orphaned. They treated her with no respect and her cousins bullied her. She was unloved and uncared for. So her Aunt Reed decides to send her to Lowood Institution because they are sick and tired of
