Discuss Charlotte Bront's use of violence, in the text Jane Eyre, that captures the reader's attention in relation to scenes, settings and characterisations?
Discuss Charlotte Brontë's use of violence, in the text Jane Eyre, that captures the reader's attention in relation to scenes, settings and characterisations? The author of Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë, uses depictions of mental, physical and natural violence throughout the text to interest the reader and create springboards towards more emotional and dramatic parts of the novel. By doing this, Brontë not only uses violence to capture the reader's attention, but also leads the reader on an interesting journey throughout the book. This violence is raised through three particular things that include the following. Scenes, such as the burning down of Mr. Rochester's house by Bertha and the fight between Jane and her cousin John. Settings that include the Red Room in which Jane Eyre is locked in as a child and the Attic in which Bertha Mason is locked. Also Characterisations of Bertha, Mrs. Reed and to some extent Jane herself shed light on the use of violence.Charlotte Brontë uses violence
throughout the book to keep the reader interested and at the same time creating a springboard for emotional and dramatical scenes. The first instance of this occurs when Jane is very young and she quarrels physically and verbally with her cousin John. This leads to Jane being locked up in the Red Room, which her uncle died in, and her transfer to Lowood, which is an institution for orphaned children. Here Brontë characterised violence through John by him attacking Jane, and Mrs. Reed by her locking Jane up in the Red Room. The room being red is also significant in ...
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throughout the book to keep the reader interested and at the same time creating a springboard for emotional and dramatical scenes. The first instance of this occurs when Jane is very young and she quarrels physically and verbally with her cousin John. This leads to Jane being locked up in the Red Room, which her uncle died in, and her transfer to Lowood, which is an institution for orphaned children. Here Brontë characterised violence through John by him attacking Jane, and Mrs. Reed by her locking Jane up in the Red Room. The room being red is also significant in the use of violence, as not only has someone died in it, but also the colour red is usually associated with violence and anger.John's violent dominance towards Jane, (pg. 17, Chapter 1, Volume 1), and Mrs. Reed locking her up in a room, (pg. 18, Chapter 1, Volume 1), thus causing her to faint through fear, is indeed a means of interesting readers. Through this violence, Jane then proceeds to Lowood.At Lowood she wins the friendship of everyone there, but her life is difficult because conditions are poor at the school. Dominated by Mr. Brocklehurst, Jane feels intimidated and the text begins to lose its violent nature, including its interest. Jane begins to make friends and the reader believes that there is no more violence throughout the book. All up until typhus kills many of the students. Here the violence of nature kills Jane's best friend at the school, Helen Burns, (pg. 96, Chapter 9, Volume 1),. Brontë used this scene to make Jane stronger in the book, which is appropriate, as mentally strong people cope with violence in a more rational way. This opens a gateway into more dramatic scenes and Jane's acknowledgement of death and violence.As Jane grows up and passes the age of eighteen, she advertises herself as a governess and is hired to a place called Thornfield. It is here that the real violence of the story begins and the reader is entranced with scenes that use suspense to ensure the reader's enjoyment of the book. Obviously Brontë knew that a thriller (violence that is not fully revealed till the latter part of the book) is a significant way to keep readers interested. So she writes a scene where someone (Mr. Mason) is mysteriously stabbed (pg. 236, Chapter 5, Volume 2), and doesn't enlighten the reader on who did it but does hint that someone else (Mr. Rochester) knows. There is no way of knowing why this happened, who does it, or if Mr. Mason is going to live or die. That is why Charlotte Brontë used violence to create this kind of suspense. So a person would be interested enough in the novel to keep reading. The mystery is a mystery itself, there is a secret at Thornfield and Jane can sense this. Then there is the mystery of the person who committed this act of violence. Jane suspects who it might be, but she is not for sure. To find out the mystery of the house and the person who did it is a wise way to capture a reader's attention. As the story unfolds, the reader finds out about a lady named Bertha, who is Rochester's original wife, and a character that strives on violent acts.This is the part of the book that exclaims that every character has violence, and if read carefully how very close Jane is to Bertha. Jane describes Bertha as a ghost or a vampire after the wedding veil is torn (pg. 316, Chapter 10, Volume 2). Mr. Rochester similarly thinks of Jane as a spirit and witch. Bertha scratches and bite, and Jane scratches her cousin John Reed. Bertha is tied to a chair and locked in the attic, whilst Jane was told to sit in her chair and is locked in the Red Room. This certifies that when Jane follows her passions and loses her self-control she behaves and is punished like Bertha, therefore creating violence.Perceptively, the novel Jane Eyre is based particularly around the depictions of violence as to grab the reader's attention. Charlotte Brontë's views on the Victorian woman are indeed not of what they were supposed to be. Therefore she wrote this story to show everyone how women should see themselves and how they should be treated no matter the cost. Her problem was not to translate her contention, but keep the reader interested. She therefore used violence throughout the novel and within scenes, settings and characters as she pleased to make Jane Eyre a story of a woman's dramatic journey through life depicting dominance and violence.
