Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre tells the story of Jane’s growth and development as she searches for a meaningful existence in society. Author Faith McKay said, “No matter what your family happens to be like…it affects who you are. It matters.” Jane is an orphan, forced to battle a cruel guardian, a patriarchal society, and a rigid social order. (Anderson, “Identity and Independence in Jane Eyre”) Jane has concrete beliefs in what women deserve, as well as obtainable goals for how she imagines her place in society as a woman (Lewkowicz, “The Experience of Womanhood in Jane Eyre”) and with self-growth, Jane Eyre was able to define herself as well as equip herself with wisdom and…
One of the most important and widely accepted mores of the Victorian era is Christianity. Everyone is expected to believe in Christ and follow the precedents he has set throughout their life. Bronte exhibits this when Jane has been traveling through the woods and surrounding towns of Moor house for several days and believes she is going to meet her demise. Jane falls to the ground and utters, ‘“I can but die,’ I [say], ‘and I believe in God. Let me try to wait His will in silence”’ (Bronte 387). Jane is a good Christian and has always believed in God and done her best to obey his rules. For believing in him Jane believes she shall be saved in death, for God shall gladly accept all Christians into the afterlife. Then Bronte proves how true this belief is. After voicing her belief in God, Jane is saved from a lonely death by St.…
Past events in a character’s life largely affect that person’s present and future actions by altering their attitudes and values that guide those actions. Jane Eyer's life was defined by exile. Her childhood was filled with unjust punishment, her school days were melancholy, and, even as an adult, her life continued to be secluded from modern society. Tribulations such as these come with the soul purpose of molding one’s spiritual life. Jane relied on her faith alone for support, and survived triumphantly. This small hope was the enrichment of her alienation. Through Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte uses this character’s experiences to contribute to the development of the entire work.…
Charlotte Brontë’s novel, Jane Eyre was produced in the Victorian era, when social elitism was in its prime and there was great segregation between the upper and lower estates. The former was composed of the clergy and nobility and was defined by wealth, privileges and lavish lifestyles. The middle class, conversely, were the most frustrated by the exclusiveness of the upper estate. Possessing skill, intelligence and assertiveness, they believed that rank and power should derive from talent and merit, rather than from noble birth. Through the demonisation and infliction of a tragic downfall upon “Master Reed”, Brontë condemns the life of pleasure and honour, the lifelong inactivity so heavily indulged by those born into the aristocracy. By characterising Mr Brocklehurst as excessively and hypocritically pious, Brontë highlights the upper clergyman’s propensity to masquerade as a great nobleman, rather than to exercise the competence and benevolence integral to his role. Finally, Brontë implements a love of “servitude” and disdain for a “still … doom”, as well as the ambiguous social position of a governess in her protagonist, Jane Eyre, rendering her an agent for the middle class’ philosophy on worthiness of privilege. Ultimately, Brontë’s Jane Eyre calls for the reformation of the Victorian social structure as the extremities involved in social elitism ignore the inherent needs of man.…
Every topic in life can be portrayed as a controversial issue. There always have been two sides to every discussion and there always will be two sides. In the novel Jane Eyre, feminism is portrayed as the main controversial issue. In the early 19th century, women lived in a world that measures the likelihood of their success by the degree of their “marriageability”, which would have included their family connections, economic status and beauty. Women were also subject to the generally accepted standards and roles that society had placed upon them, which did not necessarily provide them with liberty, dignity or independence. This novel explores how Jane defies these cultural standards by her unwillingness to be defined by “marriageability”, unwillingness to submit herself to a man’s emotional power and her desire for independence while keeping her dignity.…
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte portrays the life of a young girl named Jane Eyre and the cruelties she experiences and witnesses in her life. Jane lives at Gateshead the house of her late uncle, with Mrs. Reed, her aunt and three cousins: John, Georgiana, and Eliza. Her family at Gateshead treats her poorly, they abuse her and wonder why she stays with them at Gateshead. Soon they send her off to a school for girls where Jane is introduced to unfamiliar people and a diverse way of life. Three of the countless individuals that Jane encounters all have their own views of Christianity that affect Jane. The three, Helen, Brocklehurst and St. John, each provide Jane with a different understanding of religion and morality.…
Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre illustrates the significance of self-respect, confidence, and integrity in overcoming several predicaments. Bronte portrays this through Jane, who possesses both a sense of self-worth and dignity, which are continually tested and depicted throughout the novel. These attributes are illustrated when she refuses St. John’s hand in marriage, leaves Rochester after discovering his secret that he is married, and when she bravely stands up to Mrs. Reed.…
Religion plays a prominent role in the life of Jane Eyre, and arguably the two most religious characters she encounters are Helen Burns and St. John Rivers. Both play similar—if slightly different—parts in Jane’s own personal faith. Both portray a noble and self-sacrificial Catholicism. But while Jane may admire these characters and try to emulate the qualities they possess, she ultimately bends toward her own style of faith—one that is self-affirming rather than self-denying; one more Protestant than Catholic.…
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.…
Throughout the novel Jane Eyre, the main character, Jane, not only struggles to find herself and her purpose, but also attempts to find her own outlook of religion. On her journey, she meets three drastically different variations of Christian faith. Although she does not accept any religion of those that she encounters, these characters eventually lead her to the discovery of her own outlook on God. The first character she comes across is Mr. Brocklehurst, the owner of Lowood and a harsh and hypocritical Christian. She immediately rejects Mr. Brocklehurst’s religious views as his abuse of power fueled by his beliefs becomes apparent. During her stay at Lowood, Jane meets Helen Burns, a Christ-like character devoted to her faith. Helen’s…
Jane Eyre, a nineteenth century novel written by Charlotte Brontë, follows the life of its title character as she attempts to navigate her world as a young woman without family or prospects. Jane Eyre is classified as a bildungsroman, or a “coming-of-age” story. Throughout the novel, issues of feminism and religion arise as prominent themes that Jane must come to terms with as she works to find her place in Victorian society. Conflict exists among scholars regarding this relationship between religion and feminism in Jane’s bildungsroman. Some scholars choose to view the two themes as separate issues, while others believe they work together, and in some cases even depend on one another throughout Jane’s journey in the novel.…
Everyone goes through life searching and questioning what really matters to them and what their own true beliefs are, it’s just the normal progression of life. In Jane Eyre, Jane is seen as searching, and questioning her own spiritual beliefs from an early age. Jane struggles to find the right balance between ideas of faith and her own principles. Jane meets Mr. Brocklehurst at a very young age and leads Jane to question everything about religion; this moment illustrates Mr. Brocklehurst as an embodiment of harsh evangelical religion that seeks to strip others of their “excessive” pride or of their ability to take pleasure in worldly things which represents how Jane feels toward the subject of organized religion. Jane’s first observations…
Franklin, J. Jeffrey. “The Merging of Spiritualities: Jane Eyre as Missionary of Love.” Nineteenth-Century Literature 49.4 (1995): 456-482. Print.…
• Brooker, P & Widdowson, P 1996, Charlotte Bronte: Jane Eyre. A Practical Reader in Contemporary Literary Theory, Prentice Hall/Harvester Wheatsheaf, Hertfordshire, pp. 107–131.…
Set in the nineteenth century, Jane Eyre describes a woman’s continuous journey through life in search of acceptance and inner peace. Each of the physical journeys made by the main character, Jane Eyre, have a significant effect on her emotions and cause her to grow and change into the woman she ultimately becomes. Her experiences at Lowood School, Thornfield Hall, Moor house, and Ferndean ingeniously correspond with each stage of Jane’s inner quest and development from an immature child to an intelligent and sophisticated woman…