Imperialism In Jane Eyre

“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.

In the novel, ‘Jane Eyre’ by Charlotte Bronte, setting is used throughout the novel to illustrate the development in the character. The novel is revolved around five separate locations, ; the Reed family's home at Gateshead, the wretched Lowood School, Rochester's manor, Thornfield, the Rivers family's home at Moor House, and Rochester's rural retreat at Ferndean, these settings all play a very important part in Jane’s life as they all represent the development of Jane’s character and the different period’s of her eventful life.

Scottish author, Christopher North (also known as John Wilson) once said, “His Majesty's dominions, on which the sun never sets” in reference to the large span of territory occupied by the British Empire. At the height of its power, Great Britain held territory on all of the seven continents and ruled over about one-fourth of the world’s population. A map of the British Empire in the 19th century published by the History of England shows that Great Britain occupied areas such as Canada, Australia, Egypt, South Africa, modern day India, Honduras, and many other lands. The primary purpose of British imperialism was to acquire as much foreign territory as possible in order to gain abundant amounts of raw materials and to create a market for British

Throughout the course of history, social hierarchies have existed across the globe, spanning from prince to pauper or business tycoon to lowly scrivener. Authors, in turn, have written works regarding social class, often examining the negative effects of societal structure on personal growth. Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre takes place in Victorian England, in the age of industry and genesis of industrial capitalism. The novel’s protagonist, Jane, first lives a life of neglect, then a life in poverty, and eventually finds her happy ending. Through Jane’s personal experiences and interactions with fellow characters, Brontë analyzes the effects of social class. Professor Chris Vanden Bossche’s article analysis “What Did ‘Jane Eyre’ Do? Ideology, Agency, Class and the Novel” examines social inclusion and monetary pressures placed on the central characters during this pivotal era of English history. Through the Marxist lens, Jane Eyre can be understood in terms of complexity and character motives. Vanden Bossche effectively argues that external forces, like money and people, both motivate and repress Jane into choosing her own path. Thus, a more developed explanation is made for Jane’s various behaviors regarding social inclusion and societal rebellion.

Throughout the Victorian Age, male dominance deprived women from freedom of choice. In Charlotte Brontë’s novel, Jane Eyre, Jane Eyre repeatedly struggles to become an independent young lady due to the troublesome men in the story. There are several male characters who control, humiliate, and abuse their power over Jane. The author manages to depict patriarchal dominance through the characterization of John Reed, Mr. Brocklehurst, and Mr. Rochester.

Though Jane is well educated and possesses the etiquette and training of a person in upper class society, social prejudices limit her because she is simply a paid servant, in their eyes. While at Thornfield, Jane falls desperately in love with the owner of Thornfield Hall, Mr. Rochester. Jane is Mr. Rochester’s intellectual contemporary, but her social status prevents her from being his true equal. In the novel, Jane proclaims, “Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong!—I have as much soul as you,—and full as much heart!” (Bronte 637). After Mr. Rochester finally proposes, Jane is hesitant to marry him because she feels as if he would be lowering himself to marry her. This feeling greatly increases after Jane discovers he is married to Bertha Mason, and that he keeps her locked away in Thornfield’s attic due to her insanity. Mr. Rochester proposes that Jane becomes his mistress, which, according to Victorian society, would be more fitting since Jane is a plain governess. Jane realizes that she can never compromise her morals that way and leaves Thornfield. While on her own, Jane still strives to gain independence, discovers new kin, and learns she has a wealthy uncle who has left her a large inheritance. After her loneliness and longing for Mr. Rochester becomes too great, she returns to Thornfield. Jane is

Before she can become Rochester 's wife, Jane must prove her acceptability based on class. Does she have an upper-class sensibility, despite her inferior position at Thornfield? For example, when Bessie sees Jane at Lowood, she is impressed because Jane has become "quite a lady"; in fact, her accomplishments surpass that of her cousins, yet they are still considered her social superiors based solely on wealth. The conversation emphasizes the ambiguities of Jane 's family 's class status and of the class system in general: Should a lady be judged based on academic accomplishments, money, or family name? The novel critiques the behavior of most of the upper-class characters Jane meets: Blanche Ingram is haughty and superficial, John Reed is debauched, and Eliza Reed is inhumanely cold. Rochester is a primary example of upper-class debauchery, with his series of mistresses and his attempt to make Jane a member of the harem. In her final view of Thornfield, after Bertha has burned it down, Jane

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë depicts the rigid social structure and clear division between the upper and lower classes of Victorian society, in which wealth and status determined one’s beliefs, career, and treatment from those surrounding them. Those of the upper class did not typically converse or involve themselves with those viewed as beneath them; however, Jane Eyre fights the separation between the classes to which she has fallen victim at both Gateshead and Lowood school. Her refusal to conform to the hierarchy eventually leads to the meddling between the Victorian-era elite and peasant class, as seen through Jane Eyre’s romantic relationship with Edward Rochester, an upperclassman and

Throughout the novel of ‘Jane Eyre’ a colonialism and isolation are reflected throughout the novel, mainly through the treatment of Bertha Mason in Jane Eyre as she is cruelly locked in the attic due to her husband, Mr Rochester deeming her as insane. Bertha is described in a demon like manner whereas Jane represents a rebellious young woman who can be closely linked to a modern woman with the values and independence the contemporary readers possess. Jane does not represent any of the desired values by Victorians as Jane stands up to Rochester and acts as his equal rather than his lesser half. The presentation of Bertha being demonic was also highlighted by Solomon as she ‘represent[s] the flames of hell fire’¹ showing the devilish manner Bertha is presented in and the mistreatment of her as an individual, however, it also shows the historical views towards the mentally ill as Bertha isn’t seen to have a sickness but rather she is possessed. Fire is also associated with heat like Bertha as she is aligned with the ‘hot’ West Indies. Bertha is seen as villain as she constantly jeopardises Jane and Rochester’s future, however she can be seem to catalyse Janes personal development and self-awareness due to the positions Jane is left in due to Berthas presence.

Bertha Mason is indirectly meant to be view as a combination of both innocent and villain. Without knowing her existence until the very end of the novel, one has a tendency to pity her character. I mean, we have an individual who is married to Edward Rochester but finds herself imprisoned on the third-story of Thornfield, without any company to love her the way any human should be. Although it’s understandable that Rochester is upset that he got trick to marry her, yet he should’ve gotten a divorce and taken her to get the treatment she needed. Consequently, for these reasons, it’s undeniably to speculate that Bertha provides that innocent individual who didn’t necessarily have control for the actions she made. This is because when one suffers

“Jane Eyre” is a book centred around female duality. In a time when females were still expected to fulfill their “womanly duties,” Charlotte Bronte wrote a novel dealing with a woman’s view on morality & sexuality, passion & sensibility, and conformity & insanity, among other themes. This motif of duality plays a strong part in the dynamism that makes up the book, and is not limited to the themes, but is also used to relate many of the characters to the titular Jane. In “The Mystery at Thornfield,” Valerie Beattie makes claims that the character Bertha Mason’s insanity is a representation of rebellion toward the limitations of Victorian women. Not only is

The novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë displays a variety of different themes throughout the novel. During the time period in which the novel was published, Great Britain had begun their conquest of Africa and Southeast Asia in a scramble for resources, causing mass death and suffering as a result of the native resistance. Thomas Tracy argues that Jane Eyre is written through a perspective of colonial criticism. Tracy claims that the ending of the novel exemplifies this theme with St. John’s mission to India given as the main example of the colonialist theme being present in Jane Eyre.

Jane Eyre’s Red Room is red like blood, but nothing is bloodier than the ledger of British Imperialism. The British war machine focused on the exploitation of civilizations for their labor and natural resources without regarding the indigenous people. Charlotte Brontë uses her novel, Jane Eyre, to display the nature of imperialism through her characters. Bertha, St. John, and Rochester represent different aspects of imperialism. Thomas Tracy’s “Reader, I Buried Him: Apocalypse and Empire in Jane Eyre” analyzes the use of character relations to biblical figures in order to display their relation to imperialism. While Tracy correctly states the characters are archetypes of imperialists, his connections to Biblical figures often overlook the obvious relation in an attempt for third or fourth level analysis . While his connections are valid, they fail to recognize the direct relation to imperialism which diminish his argument with far stretched connections. Tracy does correctly assign characters to similar Biblical figures, and matches the archetypes of the imperial characters. Bertha represents the colonized savage whose horrors are locked away from the world, St. John demonstrates the religious motivation of conquest and the underlying roots of it , and Rochester represents the nature of the imperialist .

With an attempt to distinguish between the old and the new, Charlotte Bronte creates the character of Bertha Mason as the exhibition of female repression and desire frequently found in the East. Bertha Rochester is the emblem of Eastern society, one which the British see as static and barbaric, and Jane Eyre is representative of the Western Civilization. In Reaches of Empire, Suvendrini Perera argues that "if the barely human prisoner caged in the Thornfield attic is the truest expression of women's anger and aspiration . . . [it is overlooked] that she is also the racial Other incarnate - a bestial, violent creature with an inordinate sexual appetite, caught in the colonized West Indies and confined 'for her own good' by a master who has appropriated both her body and her wealth" (82). If the reader only sees Bertha as the surrogate of Jane, one neglects to take note of the enriching importance of the text's suppression of Bertha. Charlotte Bronte presents Bertha as a sexually vigorous woman. This can be seen when Rochester indirectly describes

Scottish author, Christopher North (also known as John Wilson) once said, “His Majesty's dominions, on which the sun never sets” in reference to the large span of territory occupied by the British Empire. At the height of its power, Great Britain held territory on all of the seven continents and ruled over about one-fourth of the world’s population. A map of the British Empire in the 19th century published by the History of England shows that Great Britain occupied areas such as Canada, Australia, Egypt, South Africa, modern day India, Honduras, and many other lands. The primary purpose of British imperialism was to acquire as much foreign territory as possible in order to gain abundant amounts of raw materials and to create a market for British