Isolation In Jane Eyre Essay

Published in 1847, under the pseudonym Currer Bell, Jane Eyre, is “ one of the most widely read of English novels.” Written by Charlotte Bronte, this novel made a major impact on the Victorian reading public, as well as today’s viewing public. With about thirteen television and film adaptations, it is not surprising that Jane Eyre is one of the most filmed novels. Unlike most books of its time, Jane Eyre took its readers on a journey into the restricted life of women living in the nineteenth century. For certain, these nineteenth century women were dominated by the overbearing men of their time. Thought to be submissive and unreasoning, women were expected to allow the men in their lives to make all decisions. In this novel, Jane Eyre, an orphan, applies the education and tools she gained throughout her life of struggle to become a strong, independent woman. Along the way, Jane repeatedly faces alienation from society, yet works to find happiness for herself. Through this, it is evident that Bronte conveys an alienation theme by exhibiting Jane’s isolation from society, and Jane’s struggle to find a place in the social hierarchy.
For the first ten years of Jane’s life, residing with her cousins the Reeds’, she is
In each place that Jane resides throughout her life, Bronte created an environment in which Jane felt misplaced in the social hierarchy. At Gateshead, Mrs. Reed and her children continually bully Jane into believing that she is not worthy of notice. Facing a similar situation at Lowood, Jane is made out to be an outsider as Mr.Brocklehurst attempts to turn Jane’s pupils against her. Lastly, at Thornfield, Jane faces a different sense of isolation in which she has more class than the servants, but less class than the Ingram party. Bronte’s use of this motif sheds light on the life of women living in the nineteenth century and their struggle to find a place in