Quest for Self in Jane Eyre and Villete
"Why is Villette so disagreeable? Because the writer's mind
contains nothing but hunger, rebellion and rage." Matthew Arnold, 1853.
Matthew Arnold was certainly forthcoming about the defects of both Charlotte Bronte's mind and of her novel. Indeed he was not alone in his reaction to her; Anne Mozley in The Christian Remembrancer ;in April 1853 wrote in reaction to Bronte's other great work of "rebellion", Jane Eyre, that she had to make "a protest against the outrages on decorum, the moral perversity, the toleration, nay, indifference to vice which deform her picture of a desolate woman" (my italics). Mozley even went far enough to label Jane Eyre a "dangerous
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Without language the self is mutilated and silenced and, as Tanner notes in his introduction to Villette, "to be wordless is to be powerless". By having Jane and Lucy narrate their own stories Bronte allows them to create self, to free themselves from the repression of silence and to be powerful. The implications of this are obvious if the same principal were to be applied to other novels - how different would Great Expectations be if Estella rather than Pip narrated the action or if Thackeray's narrator in Vanity Fair were to be replaced with Becky Sharp? This, however, is not to deny that both Lucy and Jane are flawed narrators. Jane's story is essentially an intellectually detached adult's view but this does not stop the "undeveloped [and] imperfect" child view manifesting itself in her story. Jane is also profoundly middle class - she is convinced that everything foreign is intrinsically unhealthy and immoral as shown in her desire to make Adele "English" and in her fear of the Indian climate. If Jane expresses some features of an unreliable narrator then Lucy is seriously flawed. Initially she appears precise, lucid and detached. However in her description of the events between Paulina and her father her tone is not in keeping with the pathos of the situation. If the red room at
It was in this tale that Odysseus is trapped in a cave by a menacing cyclops, known as Polyphemus. In an attempt to escape the young hero feeds the cyclops wine till he becomes drunk and finally passes out. Of that moment Odysseus takes his chance and stabs the giant in the eye. Preceding events then occur allowing for the hero to escape. Jane in this moment is on guard, not wishing people to discover wither her past or her true identity. She originally seemed perfectly content to tell them almost nothing. It isn’t until St. John says that he must know her history or else he cannot help her and that he will aid her to the utmost of his power that she finally obliges. This allusion stresses the fear she has of being found out and foreshadows that her telling this story or becoming close to this family will result in a blow. It is ironic, however, that unlike Polyphemus, Jane is rewarded for putting her guard down. In telling her story to her saviors, St. John is able to conclude her true identity and she collects freedom and happiness in her new found fortune and familial
If we look at the world, through Jane's eyes we see that she is a
“Writers often highlight the values of a culture or a society by using characters who are alienated from that culture or society because of gender, race, or creed.
Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre is a coming-of-age story about an unconventional woman's development within a society of strict rules and expectations. At pivotal moments in Jane's life, she makes choices which are influenced by her emotions and/or her reason. Through the results of those choices, Jane learns to balance passion and practicality to achieve true happiness.
On page 83, Mr. Rochester has a “massive head”, “granite-hewn features” , “great dark eyes” and fine eyes too”. The reader is supposed to think of him as someone who is a predator towards Jane because of his mean looking and dark features and because of Jane’s past experience with men in power. Readers are supposed to be wary of Mister Rochester.
Jane would not like to be poor as poverty is looked down upon and equivalent to being an immoral and degraded human being. For Jane to be a respectable woman in society she must remain with the Reeds. John acknowledges Jane’s dependency: “You have no business to take our books; you are a dependent, momma says; you have no money; your father left you none; you ought to beg and not to live here with gentleman's children like us, and eat the same meals we do, and wear clothes at out mamma’s expense (14).” Jane is continuously reminded of her inferior position at Gateshead and powerless dependency to people that do not even love her. At this early age Jane has already been integrated into Victorian society as negative notions about the poor have been internalized. Born the daughter of a poor clergyman, Jane is believed to be of lesser value than the Reeds; however, she has passionate tendencies and is unable to control her emotions when necessary.When being abused by John and accusing him of being “like a murderer” (14) she is described as being a “picture of passion (15).” Jane must learn to temper her “fire” because untamed emotions have consequences. Her consequence comes when she is imprisoned in the red room, a visual representation of the intense emotions that have manifested in
Throughout Jane Eyre Charlotte Brontë uses the character Jane as a tool to comment on the oppression that women were forced to endure at the time. Jane can be seen as representative of the women who suffered from repression during the Victorian period, a time when patriarchy was commonplace. Brontë herself was affected by the time period, because according to Wolfe, she was deprived “experience and intercourse and travel.” (70) Thus Jane offers a unique perspective as a woman who is both keenly aware of her position and yet trapped by it despite repeated attempts to elevate herself and escape the burden placed on by her different suitors. Although superficially it seems that Jane wants to break away from the relationships that further
The first passage is from when Jane Eyre is locked in the attic room by force by Abbot and Bessie. Despite her just being punished, along with her earlier treatments, young Jane sees this room as a “jail.” She feels trapped. Unable to express herself in the ways that she sees fit without being tormented by John, or scorned by Mrs. Reed, Jane is forced to accept and take the abuse. When she passes the mirror, she sees a tiny white figure. “All looked colder and darker” to her “than in reality.” She was looking at herself. It is a case of Jane’s internal feelings reflecting on her external appearance and situation. Jane wants to break free and express herself, but feels restrained by her body and her restrictions. The “glittering eyes” that she describes represent her will to be free. It shows a shimmering of hope that she holds on to. The description of “moving while all else was still” also shows how Jane is the only one in the house that is capable of this type of expression. Everything else in comparison to her
A constant theme throughout Jane Eyre is the search for love. Although this could be shown through many of the novel's key characters, it can most readily be shown in the experiences of Jane Eyre herself. The novel begins with her searching for love and it finally ends with her finding it, for good, in Mr. Rochester.
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.
In the novel, Jane Eyre, the author Charlotte Brontë’s real life experiences influence the novel heavily throughout. Some of Brontë’s life events are paralleled through the novel and are morphed to fit the main character, Jane Eyre, with a similar but better life compared to Brontë’s. There are three major experiences that Jane encounters through her life in the novel that have a few correlations with Charlotte Brontë’s which are their childhood life and her experience in an impoverished school, and her work as a governess.
Parallel to many of the great feministic novels throughout literary history, Jane Eyre is a story about the quest for authentic love. However, Jane Eyre is unique and separate from other romantic pieces, in that it is also about a woman searching for a sense of self-worth through achieving a degree of independence. Orphaned and dismissed at an early age, Jane was born into a modest lifestyle that was characterized by a form of oppressive servitude of which she had no autonomy. She was busy spending much of her adolescent years locked in chains, both imaginary and real, as well as catering to the needs of her peers. Jane was never being able to enjoy the pleasures and joys that an ordinary and independent child values. Jane struggles
Jane’s approach could be considered romantic and embodies conventional feminist concepts; she remains headstrong and stubborn in the face of injustice. The representation of Jane as a strong, independent woman upholds the belief that woman can achieve their goals. Jane does precisely this; she marries Rochester, becomes a part of a family as well as gains financial independence. The way in which Bronte represents Jane is emphasized through her narrative stance. The reader is presented with a firm and rebellious character, her diction is simple and assertive. She addresses the reader directly and is able to identify and challenge the problems she faces with determination. Furthermore Jane is able to identify and comment on how she feels woman are subjugated by their society; she denounces that “woman are supposed to be very calm generally: but woman feel just as men feel […]” (Bronte
Subjective novelists tend to use personal attitudes to shape their characters. Whether it be an interjection of opinion here, or an allusion to personal experience there, the beauty of a story lies in the clever disclosure of the author's personality. Charlotte Bronte and Voltaire are no exceptions. Their most notable leading characters, Jane Eyre and Candide, represent direct expressions of the respective author's emotions and impressions. In their stories, Bronte and Voltaire create fictional settings and imaginary scenes. However, through the psyche of their leading protagonists, Bronte and Voltaire genuinely portray their own inner world they are their own
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