How and why are selected canonical texts re-written by female authors? Answer with close reference to Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre and Jean Rhys’s Wide Sargasso Sea. The Sargasso Sea is a relatively still sea, lying within the south-west zone of the North Atlantic Ocean, at the centre of a swirl of warm ocean currents. Metaphorically, for Jean Rhys, it represented an area of calm, within the wide division between England and the West Indies. Within such an area, a sense of stability, permanence and identity may be attained, despite the powerful, whirling currents which surround it. But outside of this ‘sea’, one may be destabilised, drawn away by these outside forces, into the vast expanse of …show more content…
She also establishes a literary relationship between Jane and Antoinette, which Bronte does not describe. Rhys also invites comparison between Bronte and herself, in terms of the feminist writer. I shall consider these in due course. Rhys (p)reviews Jane Eyre by correspondences in thematic content and characterisation. Her book was written for very personal reasons and invited many comparisons with events in her own life. Antoinette represents the culmination of her female fictional characters. In Rhys’s fiction, for the leading lady, we can invariably read Rhys herself. I have therefore focused on those themes with direct relevance to Antoinette. There are a whole series of binary oppositions and comparisons considered by Rhys: Love-hate, fear-attraction, black-white, Anglican-Catholic, history-fiction, freedom-captivity, male-female, British-French. Their number, along with the clear lack of distinction between them, are indicative of the conflicting forces at work, both within Dominican society and those impacting on it from outside. The history of the country reflects both internal and external conflicts. Most notably, prior to 1834, between Britain and France. Two key, connected themes grounded in the social and cultural history of Dominica, are slavery and exploitation. The social and cultural shift created by the Emancipation Act 1833 was enormous: the enslaved were free and the
the Jane still only at the age of ten has to stand up against 'the sea
A flower stands high in an empty field. It moves with every gust of wind and grows with every sunny day. At a single moment any one of the seven billion people on this Earth could have plucked it from the soil, yet for now, it remains in an upright position. Much like this flower, throughout life people are continuously influenced by those around them. Every person is changed constantly by the people around them, and their future is always altered because of this. In the novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronté, Jane Eyre is impacted greatly by characters such as Mrs. Reed, Helen Burns, and Mrs. Temple. These characters, just like the flower at mercy its environment, had left a great impact on Jane.
How can a girl, who started out with nothing, blossom into a well educated, generous, blissful woman? Well, in Jane Eyre, the main character overcomes all obstacles thrown at her and makes a great life for herself. From a miserable, orphaned young girl to a happily married, well educated woman, Jane Eyre transforms immensely throughout the novel. Through her many experiences in essential locations, she grows significantly at Gateshead, Lowood School, Thornfield, Marsh End, and Ferndean.
The word choice here reflects Jane's situation - she is like the ground, 'petrified' under the influence of her aunt, whose behaviour is mirrored in the term "hard frost" because of the icy discipline she bestows. Mrs Reed's attitude towards Jane highlights one of the main themes of the novel, social class. Jane's aunt sees Jane as inferior as she had humble beginnings: she is "less than a servant". Jane is glad to be leaving her cruel aunt and of having the chance of going to school.
sea that he has immense connections with. This little portion of the great unknown, in all of it's
The purpose of Bronte's novel is to demonstrate that women could go beyond the oppressive limitations of their environment and find fulfillment. Jane's cries for love are mistaken as evil outburst by those who wish to keep women repressed. Oppression of women was so great that women even in the home were expected to be nonproductive. The ideal or perfect Victorian women were ones who adopted an image of repose or idleness, basically to show the world they could. Nervousness and fainting were expected in women, and certain disagreeable topics or bad news could cause such traits to erupt. By trusting in her passion, by trusting in her own abilities, and by making her own decisions, Jane is able to overcome the agony all around her. Homeless, starving, and misjudged, Jane is
Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre is presented in the Victorian Period of England. It is a novel which tells the story of a child's maturation into adulthood. Jane's developing personality has been shaped by her rough childhood. She has been influenced by many people and experiences. As a woman of her time, Jane has had to deal with the strain of physical appearance. This has a great effect on her mental thinking and decision making. Jane Eyre's cognitive and physical attributes have been affected by her environment throughout her life.
Throughout the poem, the ocean metaphor juxtaposes the static plots, highlighting the results of structured government in the United States. Before the travelers arrived, an “emerald ocean” spanned the land (Dickey 18, 6). The native grasses “undulated,” which the different line lengths mimic (1). Even with the introduction of new plants, they all work harmoniously, creating a “medley” (7). The ocean metaphor symbolizes the fluidity that people can obtain before the structure of strong government and systemic structures. However, once the travelers arrive, “the ocean...is drained” to build a town (9). They devolve the ocean into “neat and static squares” (12). Again, the lines parallel the plants, transitioning from undulating lengths to boxy, straight-cut lines similar to the “rows and columns straight” of the plots (14). The structure created classes, giving greater opportunities to those they deemed important and worthy, while the unwanted were relegated to bad plots: “Fruitful nearest the cottage” while “Shrubs to the darkest plot” (18, 19). Government and this perpetual culture have divided America into groups based on type, not fluid, not interacting, only giving different levels of worth depending on what they find most helpful. Once a land of fluidity, symbiotic relationship, everyone worked together, on an equal footing.
Bronte has purposefully rejected the idea of a conventionally beautiful heroine; she told siblings ‘I will show you a heroine as plain and small as myself’. As a reader we have more respect for Jane because of these virtues, she has more emotion and does not appear placid. She questions everything, which is unfortunate at Gateshead as Mrs Reed doesn’t ‘like cavillers or questioners…there is something truly forbidding in a child taking up her elders in that manner.’ Jane is shown to possess a strong and rich inner life, but we notice also how much she internalises and, when attacked, retreats and finds solace in solitude, in the world of art, and in contact with nature.
Bronte’s Jane Eyre gave a voice to women in the Victorian era. Bronte embedded her feminist ideas into her novel, Jane Eyre. Her belief in marrying for love was a head of her time. Bronte used Jane to explore the depth at which women could act in society. Her ideas on women being more educated brought on thoughts of equality of a different level.
Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre can be characterized in many ways as a variation of Cinderella. There are several versions of this popular fairy--tale. At the time Bronte’s novel was published, the Grimms’ book of tales, which included Cinderella, was very popular. According to Sally Mitchell, "The serious interest in folklore was spurred by the translation, in 1823, of the stories collected by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm." A version of Cinderella was also written by Charles Perrault. Both Perrault’s and the Grimms’ tales have a place in Bronte’s narrative. There is no specific evidence of her reading these yet, "Bronte could easily have known two versions of the Cinderella tale: the
All throughout the novel Charlotte Brontë uses her life and what she experienced to influence her novel Jane Eyre. By including similar situations from Brontë’s childhood life and her job as a governess and applying them to Jane Eyre’s life, it gave the novel a more realistic feel. Also by doing this it seems to help Brontë live out some fantasies through Jane that she would have never experienced during her
Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre emerges with a unique voice in the Victorian period for the work posits itself as a sentimental novel; however, it deliberately becomes unable to fulfill the genre, and then, it creates an altogether divergent novel that demonstrates its superiority by adding depth of structure in narration and character portrayal. Joan D. Peters’ essay, Finding a Voice: Towards a Woman’s Discourse of Dialogue in the Narration of Jane Eyre positions Gerard Genette’s theory of convergence, which is that the movement of the fiction towards a confluence of protagonist and narrator, is limited as the argument does not fully flesh out the parodies that Charlotte Bronte incorporates into her work. I will argue that in the novel
"red room" she is told by Miss Abbot: "No; you are less than a servant
The Gothic Features of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte 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.