Jane Eyre And Jean Antyse Analysis

“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.

Jane Eyre is a young orphan being raised by Mrs. Reed, her cruel, wealthy aunt. A servant named Bessie provides Jane with some of the few kindnesses she receives, telling her stories and singing songs to her. One day, as punishment for fighting with her bullying cousin John Reed, Jane’s aunt imprisons Jane in the red-room, the room in which Jane’s Uncle Reed died. While locked in, Jane, believing that she sees her uncle’s ghost, screams and faints. She wakes to find herself in the care of Bessie and the kindly apothecary Mr. Lloyd, who suggests to Mrs. Reed that Jane be sent away to school. To Jane’s delight, Mrs. Reed concurs.

A very prominent theory and ideology that has always been popular throughout the ages has been the complex subject of the battle of the sexes. In extreme cases there is often a battle of power and will within a relationship. More modernly this can be seen as the “who wears the pants” ideology, in which a partner tries to see who holds the most power in a relationship. In this post-colonial novel by Jean Rhys, this theme is taken to a whole new level. The two major characters in this work are Antoinette and Mr. Rochester, a couple in a very complicated relationship surrounded by dark pasts and differences in the socio economical level as well as in cultural

Jean Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea (1966) presents some of the complicated issues of postcolonial Caribbean society. Rhys’ protagonist, Antoinette Cosway, a white Creole in Jamaica, suffers racial antagonism, sexual exploitation and male suppression. She is a victim of a system, which not only dispossessed her from her class but also deprived her as an individual of any means of meaningful, independent survival and significance. However, Antoinette’s narrative perpetuates her agency and validates her quest for self and identity.

It is in vain to say human beings ought to be satisfied with tranquility: they must have action; and they will make it if they cannot find it. Millions are condemned to a stiller doom than mine, and millions are in silent revolt against their lot. Nobody knows how many rebellions besides political rebellions ferment in the masses of life which people earth. Women are supposed to be very calm generally: but women feel just as men feel; they need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts, as much as their brothers do … It is thoughtless to condemn them, or laugh at them, if they seek to do more or learn more than custom has pronounced necessary for their sex. (Bronte 112-13)

When it comes to creating a sports team, the coach looks for a variety of players that displays different talents. He needs different players to contribute to the different aspects of the game. Just like a coach uses a variety of players on a team, Bronte applies contrasting characters and their eloquent attributes to produce one of the strongest amalgamated novels written in the 1800’s. Using this opposition, throughout the novel Jane Eyre, the author, Charlotte Bronte, utilizes her characters and diction of the dialogue to depict the contradiction between society’s Victorian realism and natural world of Romanticism. As this contradiction begins, the author portrays the Victorian Era’s emphasis on realism through the alterations of the protagonist’s

Throughout the novel Jane Eyre we can see that Jane the main characters creates many relationship while she lives her life. One of the main relationships that she has is the one with St. John Rivers. He is the one that gives her shelter when she runs from Mr. Rochester and forgets her money on the coach. St. John is a minister that’s wants to go on a mission but needs a wife to go with him. The relationship built between St. John and Jane is very important and has a huge impact on Jane.

In a fit of rage and curiosity, Rochester angers Antoinette with unkind words about her mother and cruel accusations of madness within her. After realizing that Antoinette was close to opening up in an emotional, messy way, Rochester attempts to push the conversation to another, more reasonable time. Antoinette responds with passion of her own: “‘You have no right,’ she said fiercely. ‘You have no right to ask questions about my mother and then refuse to listen to my answer’” (Rhys 117). With her fierce and aggressive words, Rochester eventually succumbs and listens to Antoinette’s truth about her mother’s life. Rhys portrays a defiance to the early and perpetual idea of women being regarded as a lesser sex and having a more passive, emotional, and second-class lifestyles in their relationships. This is greatly seen in Antoinette’s interactions with Rochester. Antoinette’s ability to attack Rochester’s oppressive nature with such forceful language not traditionally seen in women of her time shows her resistance to a submissive, lonely life typical for her gender. In an interest to preserve their futures and relationships with their husbands, most women would stand back and take whatever blows came their way, but Antoinette stand aside. Antoinette’s direct opposition, specifically when she says “you have no right to ask questions… and then refuse to listen to my answer” shows how she fought back against Rochester’s dominance. Antoinette’s

Charlotte Bronte, an English writer, was born on April 21, 1816 in Thornton, Yorkshire, England. At the age of five, Bronte’s mother, Maria Branwell, dies. Consequently, she grows up in a strict Anglican household with her religious aunt and her father, a clergyman. In 1824, Bronte and her sisters, Emily, Maria, and Elizabeth attend a school for clergymen's’ daughters at Cowan Bridge, but they continue to study mostly at home. Ultimately, tuberculosis kills her older sisters. She becomes a teacher for a short time, then changes her occupation to a governess. In 1839, she decides that she hates the job and quits. Furthermore, she starts to prepare for the establishment of her dream school. The school, however, does not prosper.

In the critical responses provided in the Penguin Books edition of Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys, it is stated that “the only difference between [Jane and Antoinette] is their positons, one is on the edge of the empire, the other at its center” (162). The unnamed author of the response undermines the importance of this difference and fails to see how it affects both the representations. Without acknowledging that Jane narrates from the center, characterised by Walker (1999) as white male and heterosexual, it is easy to read her narrative as a chronicle of a marginalised orphan who overcomes the odds forced upon her by society and fate to become a self-sufficient, Byronic woman who defies societal expectations of woman and asserts herself

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

Is social class something that can be altered, Jane Eyre? The novel is written by Charlotte Brontëand the main characters within the novel are Jane Eyre, Mr.Rochester, The Reed’s and Blanche Ingram.This story tells the tale of a lowly orphan raising herself up the social ladder.The theme of the story is social class and how people are viewed for their different backgrounds like Jane Eyre was when she was with the reeds or when she first saw Mr.rochester or when she compared herself to Blanche Ingram.

Her inability to separate reality from dreams exhibits the lack of control she has over her own life. The above mentioned dream roughly parallels Jane Eyre's first dream of Rochester. As Humm points out in his essay, Antoinette's dream can be seen as a sort of inverse of Jane Eyre's. Jane's nightmares revolve around Rochester’s receding figure, and subsequently her inability to reach him. Antoinette's are based on a malevolent figure approaching her, thereby capturing her vulnerability as a character. Moreover this notion of control is also captured through the use of multiple narrators in the novel whereby Rochester, even though un-named, takes over the narration in part two, thereby literally silencing

In the novels Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte and Wide Sargasso Sea by Jane Rhys, the writers tell the readers about how two women, named Jane and Antoinette, have to deal with their hardships in multiple ways. However, they both find ways to overcome their losses and regain for their independence. Jane and Antoinette are alike in many ways, but, while Jane is plain, Antoinette is pretty and sexy. Jane is loved by Rochester; Antoinette is hated by him. Rochester accuses Jane of having magical powers: “ fairy as you are—can’t you give me a charm, or a philter, or something of that sort” (Bronte 466). Antoinette actually uses a love potion on him, which makes him think: “You tried to poison me” (Rhys 153). Antoinette uses a voodoo potion to try to force Rochester to love her, which makes him hate her more than ever. Both Jane and Antoinette are prisoners of their intense feelings for the man they love, which makes them become a victim of betrayal.

Do changing circumstances truly alter a person’s character? Throughout the book, Jane Eyre, many people take up residence in the life of young, plain Jane Eyre. As the circumstances of the book unfold, Jane comes across hypocrites, servants, people of worldly nature, people of pride, and even people of insanity. They all influence her life in different ways and their decisions, alongside hers, change the circumstances in her life. In the end, Jane’s character is drastically transformed by each of the circumstances she encounters. In contrast, Jane’s master, Mr. Rochester, a proud and selfish man, confronts trials and impeding circumstances, yet his character does not alter until almost everything in his possession is taken from him.