Jane Eyre Happiness

     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.

Equally, Jane had great respect for St.John as a brother. However, when he asked her to marry him, although his only reason for this decision was he assumes that she is a suitable partner for him on his mission to India. Just when Jane was about to accept his offer, she hears Mr. Rochester call for her. She becomes delusion and runs after calling. By refusing St.John, she has overcome her reason of not marrying Mr. Rochester but she ends up following her passionate love for

So, Rochester showed the brother (Richard), the priest, and Jane his wife. He explained how Bertha had lit his bed on fire, stabbed Richard, and destroyed Jane’s wedding veil's; she was more a monster than a wife. Heartbroken by learning of this marriage, Jane fled to her room where she stayed for hours upon hours. "Jane Eyre, who had been an ardent expectant woman - almost a bride - was a cold, solitary girl again: her life was pale; her prospects were desolate (341)." When she finally emerged, Rochester tried to convince her to stay with him. “I have for the first time found what I can truly love–I have found you. You are my sympathy–my better self–my good angel–I am bound to you with a strong attachment (363).” This was not something she could not do; as Rochester said, "...[It would] strip you of honour and rob you of self-respect (346)..." The next morning, Jane left Thornfield Hall with some money and few possessions. She did not say goodbye to

It instead shows Jane’s inner struggle to do what is “right” versus what she desires. The separation between the voice of herself and her thoughts exhibits her helplessness to change her path from what her mind has already decided. This displays the heavy influence society has on Jane, which is further proven by the personification of Jane’s two strongest rivaling emotions. The heavy influence of a patriarchal dominated society is evident in her “Conscience” being a strong male figure, whereas her “Passion” is a weaker, feminine figure. Similarly, the strongest reasoning for Jane to leave Thornfield is driven by the patriarchal demand for a female to remain “pure” until holy marriage, rather than Jane’s own desire to leave, further solidifying the idea that the voice given to her mind is not just her own internal thoughts, but also the demands and expectations of

Jane Eyre is a very motivated character. Motivated by her detest against those who stood higher than her. She goes on to do everything in her power to prove that a person isn’t defined by their riches, and is in fact, consumed by them. It all started from the rivalry of her and her wealthy and abuse aunt. She was motivated to excel in her studies, in hope of proving to herself that true happiness can be found, not by riches, but by hard work. When Jane has a surprise visit from Bessie, she requests Jane to show off her talents, and when Jane plays the piano and shows Bessie her paintings, she says, "The Miss Reeds could not play as well!", "Well, that is beautiful, Miss Jane! It is as fine a picture as any Miss Reed's drawing-master could paint, let alone the young ladies themselves, who could not come near it; and have you learned French?" (Bronte 92). Bessie’s responses is an indication to Jane that her hard work is paying off, giving her a sense of relief. Even

Faith and religion rests in the core of Jane’s character and actions, but also causes tension with her independence. At Lowood, she struggles to reconcile her desire to rebel against oppression and injustice with the words of Helen saying to submit like Christ. She chooses to submit, experiencing an “extraordinary sensation”, feeling “as if she was a martyr” (67). Through her submissions, she learns to be virtuous. This virtue is challenged when she must choose either to be Rochester’s mistress, or to forsake the man she loves, jeopardizing her happiness. Abiding by God’s law, she leaves, believing that “God directed [her] to a correct choice” (366). Jane faces her fiercest tension when she faces St. John’s proposal to marry him and become a missionary’s wife. She desires to continue in God’s will, telling St. John that “I will give my heart to God”, but knows that marrying him goes against her every desire. She wishes to be free from St. John; she desires her independence. She nearly submits, were she “but convinced that it is God’s will” that she marry St. John (426). She prays for Heaven to “show [her] the path” (426). Jane truly seeks God’s will, and in return, “seemed to penetrate very near a Mighty Spirit” (427). Her devotion to God is rewarded as she prays in her “different way to St. John’s” (427). God releases Jane from a life married to St. John and allows her to return to Rochester and become his wife. Jane’s faith in God allows her to make virtuous

Furthermore, Jane says “I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself” (Chapter 27, Bronte.) This statement greatly represents the growth that Jane has undergone. She no longer dreads the solitude that once haunted her because she respects herself enough to realize that she did not deserve to experience such great dismay. Through independence and self-recognition, Jane has discovered the importance of loving oneself. Without the reliance on the thoughts of others, the once extremely troubled girl found bliss through a lack of outside control. In regards to her relationship with Mr. Rochester, Jane understands that she must leave him behind to maintain her own well-being. She does not allow the wealth or proclaimed love from Rochester to skew her decisions and she does not linger to dominate the life of her lover. Instead, she moves forward to continue her endless pursuit of happiness and independence.

God directed me to a correct choice” ( Brontë 306-307). Jane would never have been truly content had she stayed with Mr. Rochester at that time, because she would be ashamed to be a mistress. Jane does go back to Mr. Rochester after his wife has died and decides to marry him since they can be equals. The last man that Jane stands up to is St. John, the man who takes her in after she runs away from Mr. Rochester. St. John asks Jane to marry him so that they can go on a missionary trip in India. Jane refuses his proposal and when asked why she will not marry him Jane answers, “ ‘ because you did not love me; now, I reply, because you almost hate me. If I were to marry you, you would kill me. You are killing me now’” (Brontë 351). Jane would have been so miserable had she married John especial after refusing him once, since he would also harbor bad feelings against her. Also, since Jane does not marry John, she is free to marry Mr. Rochester, the man she truly loves. Jane gets her happy ending, however the females in The Good Earth do not.

Charlotte Bronte’s “Jane Eyre” has captivated readers for generations. As with all coming of age novels, young adults can relate to the struggles and triumphs of Jane. Jane’s setting influences and parallel her emotions. A reader can see the novel through her eyes and perspective. In Bronte’s “Jane Eyre,” the location often parallels Jane’s emotional growth through the tone presented by the environment, resulting in the different places she lives revealing her journey through depression. Jane’s behavioral patterns and thoughts suggest clinical depression that affected her choices throughout the novel and her life at Gateshead, Lowood, Thornfield, Marsh End, and Ferdean.

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

Essay Topic #11 “Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance, ” Charlotte Lucas. Jane Austen’s novel, Pride and Prejudice, follows the love story of a bright, independent girl named, Elizabeth Bennet. Elizabeth comes from a well-off family, but due to her having no brothers and only sisters, her duty as a women is to find a husband to spend the rest of her life with before her father dies and her family loses all claim to their home and fortune. As many women in the Regency period, love and happiness was not an option. In Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen presents happiness in marriage as solely a matter of chance, explored through the unlikely love and marriage between Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth.

Not only does the relationship even out, the biggest way Jane keeps her independence and her character traits is that she chooses to go back to Rochester. She sets aside her brain and uses her heart fully in making the decision. “It was my time to assume ascendency. My powers were in play and in force,” (301). She went back to Rochester and married him because she wanted to. She did not need to marry Rochester for his money or his social status, she married him because she wanted to. One of the biggest themes of Jane Eyre is the ideal woman and the struggle between choosing to be passionate or suppressing it. At the very end, it is most fitting for the character to develop in such a way that she chooses to be passionate. During the time of the novel as well, women were meant to suppress their wants and desires but the novel is very ahead of it’s time. It’s showing that it is perfectly alright to marry for love and marriage won’t make you lose your independence.

Also, even though Rochester and Jane were of different classes, Charlotte Bronte presents him as an intelligent person. Both Edward and Jane enjoy conversations with each other. However, Jane does not express her feelings as clearly as Rochester does. So he dresses up as a gypsy and tries to find out what she thinks of the marriage, which everyone assumes that he will with Blanche. Although, both Jane Eyre and Rochester have are fond of each other, Edward was deceitful to Jane. For example, when Jane found out about Mr Rochester’s first wife, he first says that they can run away as ‘brother and sister’. However Jane refuses. Rochester tries another tactic and asks her to be his mistress. But Jane was too virtuous to accept the offer and had no other alternative but to leave Thornfield.

Rochester. At first Jane sees him as rude and disrespectful due to his cold and gruesome remarks, but it is her fight and how Jane stands up for herself that leads to one of the most known relationships in literature. Eventually Rochester asks Jane for her hand in marriage but at the scene of the wedding, we come to learn, that Rochester is already married to an insane woman, living in his attic, named Bertha. With this Rochester asks Jane to run away with her to Europe, this is exactly where Jane is faced with a very hard decision between following her heart as everyone wants to do, or keeping her respect and dignity. We can see the respect Jane now has from Rochester when he says to her, “I was wrong to attempt to deceive you; but I feared a stubbornness that exists in your character” (Bronte 354). This shows that Jane has gained Rochester’s respect and the ‘stubbornness’ in Jane’s character is the best thing for her, for without this trait Jane could never gain respect from others, especially men, in his novel. Knowing that Jane has decided to leave her, Rochester begins to persuade Jane to stay with him. He says, “Oh, Jane, this is bitter! This – this is wicked. It would not be wicked to love me” (Bronte 355). Jane replies, “It would to obey you” (Bronte 355), showing that she will not give into his pleading, regardless of how much she loves him because to obey him would lead to the loss

John, his character and marriage proposal is not sufficiently emphasized in the film, neither is the fact that Jane actually considered his request to marry him and go as missionaries in India. It is a fairly significant moment in Jane’s life, having encountered with a second proposal and romantic prospect, although so unlike the first one. St. John serves as a foil to Rochester: the first one is cold, austere, ambitious, religious and reserved, while the other is passionate, impetuous, dark and mysterious. Marrying Rochester, Jane would fulfill her emotional need for love and affection but would neglect her duty to her moral principles and to her dignity (by becoming a mistress while Bertha was still alive). On the other hand, marrying St. John would bring her spiritual and moral satisfaction (as she would have a religious and righteous partner), while also leading a meaningful life as a missionary in India and having the opportunity to be more than just a governess, but, nonetheless, it would be a loveless, passionless marriage. This internal battle Jane faces between having to choose whether to gratify her emotions or her moral principles is not highlighted in the film, although, in my opinion, it represents a crucial point in her life. In the novel, she earnestly considers St. John’s proposal before finally making her decision: ‘“Shall I?” I said briefly; and I looked at his features, beautiful in their harmony, but strangely formidable in