Jane Eyre By Charlotte Bronte

Violence is the most recurrent gothic convention used in Jane Eyre, which is prominent in Charlotte Brontë's effective development of the novel and the character of Jane Eyre, who, throughout this novel, is searching for a home in which she would have a sense of belonging and love which would ultimately resolve this exact unfulfilled need she had as a child. The neglect she experienced in her childhood is manifested in the way she is treated by her aunt, Mrs. Reed, as in the first page of the novel Jane Eyre admits: ‘Me, she had dispensed from joining the group, saying, 'She regretted to be under the necessity of keeping me at a distance’’. This opening shows how there is a clear line of separation drawn between Jane and her relatives due to her complicated family background which consequently results in their reluctance to accept her into their environment. These complications lead to her maltreatment, which also adds on to the violence she experiences acting as a catalyst for the development of the character and her subconscious quest.

Gothic literature began and was very strong at the time of the Romantic Writers Movement. Gothic novels share common characteristics that contribute to the overall feeling of the novel. Most Gothic novels involve a setting that typically added mystery and suspense. The novel usually took place in a castle-like structure that was dark, scary, and isolated (Examine). In addition, the story enveloped omens or visions, supernatural or inexplicable events, overwrought emotion, women in distress, and a tyrannical male (Elements). Both Charlotte and Emily Bronte wrote gothic novels that used many of these characteristics, but their novels also transcended the boundaries of the genre. The novels Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre follow the gothic tradition in regards to setting, atmosphere, and supernatural events. However, both novels break from tradition in the matters of feminism and heroines.

Jane Eyre was perceived as a female gothic novel due to the images of darkness within the novel. Bronte constructs the female language by giving the main protagonist a gothic imagination. This imagination is elaborated through the representation of imagery. It is first shown in the novel the red room which one could argue is associated with darkness and is evidently a source of punishment for her, ‘Take her away to the red-room, and lock her in”(Brontë and Dunn, 2001,p.9). We can depict from the verb ‘lock her in’ that this room is a form of isolation for Jane and a source of entrapment for her when she acts out. The fact that she is being imprisoned even at home reflects how the private sphere and norms the Victorian era harbored effectively

As her childhood years are nearing the end, Jane Eyre was hired to become the tutor of Thornfield. She became the school teacher of the little girl named Adele. Thornfield was a place of passion. Her passion begins to emerge, and once it starts to leak out, there is no turning back. One of the ways we can see that Thornfield is a place of passion is through the color red, and it’s usage is decorations. When Jane arrives to Thornfield, the maid Mrs. Fairfax, takes Jane on a tour of the house. Jane sees red used in the decorations and furniture in Thornfield. “Yet it was nearly a very pretty drawing-room, and within it a boudoir, both spread with white carpets, on which seemed laid brilliant garlands of flowers; both veiled with snowy moldings of white grapes and vine-leaves, beneath which glowed in rich contrast crimson couches and ottomans; while the ornaments on the pale Parian mantelpiece were sparkling Bohemian glass, ruby red; and between the windows large mirrors repeated the general blending of snow and fire.” Since red is a symbol of passion, Charlotte Bronte is trying to show how Thornfield is filled with passion by using red even in the decorations. While staying at Thornfield, Jane experiences a fire that begins to consume Mr. Rochesters room. Jane is awakened in the middle of the night and smells smoke. She goes into Mr. Rochester’s room to find the bed engulfed in flames. She is able to use the water basin and put the fire out saving Mr. Rochester. Jane thinks Grace Poole a servant who is mentally unstable set the bed on fire, but the reader later finds out it was a woman by the name of Bertha. “I was within the chamber. Tongues of flame darted round the bed: the curtains were on fire. In the midst of blaze and vapor, Mr. Rochester lay stretched motionless, in deep sleep.” This is Jane’s first instance with passion in

“This book might have been written by a woman but certainly not a lady.” It is bildungsromane (Triska); a type of novel concerned with the education, development, and maturing of a young protagonist (Dictionary.com). Jane Eyre was a very shy, plain, and reserved person. Even though she had a very plain look she had a passion that wasn’t expected of her (Green). She also had hopes and dreams and aspirations. So I wonder, how might Jane Eyre react to the women of today?

Jane Eyre The novel Jane Eyre is a story about a stoic woman who fights her entire life through many trials and tribulations until she finds true love and achieves an almost nirvana-like state of being. The manner, in which Charlotte Bronte writes, her tone and diction especially, lends its self

This alienation worsens when Mrs. Reed has Jane unfairly locked in an old room, referred to as ‘the red room.’ The red room is where Jane’s kind uncle died nine years prior, and where Jane has a life-altering experience. Jane spends a large part of this scene inspecting and describing the gothic elements of the room. She describes the room as “chill,” “silent,” and “solemn.” (Brontë 9). At first, she shows no fear of being in the old room alone, and her attitude parallels the “solemn” room; however, as the room grows dark, Jane’s courage wavers, and she thinks of the dead Mr. Reed. Jane’s thoughts of the dead overwhelm her, and she believes she sees a ghost. After screaming and alerting Mrs. Reed, Jane tells that her to take her to the nursery and not leave her locked in the red room, but Mrs. Reed says that she should stay an hour longer for her interruption. Out of fear and panic, Jane

Jane Eyre is a novel that features a rollercoaster of traumatic events that shows the growth of a young girl. In the graphic novel version of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, Jane learns how to fend for herself whenever no one else had her back. The overall mood of the graphic novel is mysterious. This is due to the fact that Jane experiences random encounters of the supernatural, creepy places, spiritual events, and horrible strokes of luck.

Throughout this gothic novel, three supernatural Jane Eyre, the protagonist, experiences many hardships throughout her life from childhood to adulthood. Jane’s primary fear is losing Mr. Rochester. After Jane leaves Thornfield Hall, she constantly thinks of Mr. Rochester in her spare time. While away from Mr. Rochester, Jane’s relationship is tested; if she truly loves him, then she will return to Thornfield Hall. When Jane can no longer stand not being with Mr. Rochester, Jane returns to Thornfield and sees that the building is burnt down. This makes Jane very anxious and questions if Mr. Rochester is still alive. The middle-aged man tells of Mr. Rochester’s whereabouts, and Jane feels “fully assured by these words that Mr. Edward–my Mr. Rochester (God bless him, wherever he was!) was at least alive” (433). Jane feels relieved to know that Mr. Rochester still lives and that she can love him again; however, Jane also wonders if Mr. Rochester no longer loves Jane the same way before she left Thornfield. Upon reuniting with Mr. Rochester, Jane is scared that he no longer loves her, but she is reassured when he says, “she is all here: her heart too. God bless you, sir! I am so glad to be near you again” (441). Mr. Rochester praises the Lord for Jane’s presence and rejoices that he is with her again. Jane accepts Mr. Rochester for who he is and does not care that he is crippled and blind. Thus, the extreme fear that Jane faces confirms that Jane Eyre is a gothic

Belonging, equality, and society verses self are all common ideas in the media. These themes will always be present in the world because humans are always searching for self-actualization, to be treated as equal or better, and to keep self-morals despite pressuring societies. The novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontё explores these themes. Authors tend to write what they know and these themes can reflect how Brontё viewed the world around her. Charlotte Brontё uses Jane Eyre to explore 19th century feminism, sense of belonging and family, and how to keep individual morals when society does not favor those morals.

In Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, the relationships Jane has with the male characters demonstrates her coming of age from dependence to independence because Jane begins by rebelling against John and Mr. Brocklehurst, she leaves Mr. Rochester, and denies St. John’s proposal. Jane’s acts of rebellion against John Reed shows that she is tired of being dependent on him and his family. Also, by showing signs of rebellion to Mr. Brocklehurst when she first is interviewed to see if the school Lowood is the right place for her shows that she yearns for independence. Jane’s standing up to Mr. Rochester by leaving him shows that she is not dependent on him. Jane’s refusal of St. John’s proposal shows that she is an independent woman who can do things for herself. Considering the connection between the men in Jane’s life and her coming of age from dependence to independence, it is important to analyze her first show of instability with John Reed and Mr. Brocklehurst.

Tim Bartlett ENG 396 March 23, 2011 Funhouse Mirrors: Jane Eyre and Bertha Mason “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

She is described as indistinguishable from either ‘beast or human being’, her mannerisms both gothic and animalistic, ‘it snatched and growled…gazed wildly at her visitors’. Jane’s use of the pronoun ‘it’, heightens the sense of otherworldliness surrounding her appearance and simultaneously adds to Jane’s confusion concerning Bertha’s indeterminable form. This removal from the canny and the normal, when encountering Bertha adds to the heightened sense of Gothicism which runs throughout the novel. Importantly, especially when reading Jane Eyre within a feminist framework, Bertha is described as ‘a big woman, in stature almost equalling her husband’, compared to Jane who is often described, by Rochester, as a ‘fairy’. Implies a significant difference between the self-contained, neat and puritanical Jane, and the aggressive, overbearing Bertha, who is both mentally ill and a physical match for her husband, whereas Jane’s small ‘bird-like’ figure figure implies

Imagery in Jane Eyre     Charlotte Bronte wrote the novel Jane Eyre in the mid-eighteen hundreds. In her novel she expresses her views on many important factors present during this time including social problems such as race, class, gender, and the role of religion. Each of these factors affects the way that the protagonist, Jane Eyre, grows as a person. Throughout the novel Charlotte Bronte uses images and symbols that either influence or represent Jane's growth. Bronte uses a common imagery throughout the novel reflecting images of "fire and ice." She also uses symbols in Jane's life such as the red-room, from her childhood, and the character Bertha Mason Rochester, during her time at Thornfield. Other characters who

Gothic novels generally are tense and effectively establish dark moods as a result of their supernatural and other mysterious elements. Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre is a great example of what can be achieved through such techniques. Brontë uses gothic techniques in order to create ominous atmospheres and to foreshadow tragic events, among other things. By no means were these techniques implemented merely as a part of the gothic movement. Supernatural elements occasionally appear throughout the novel in order to propel the plot forwards, express theme, and for characterization.