Jane Eyre vs Wide Sargasso Sea Essay example

Charlotte Bronte’s piece Jane Eyre depicts the struggle for independence from an oppressive and dominant

Jane Eyre's literary success of the time has been cheaply commercialized. In other words, Bronte's novel never got the appreciation it deserved, in the areas it deserved. Many 19th century critics merely assigned literary themes to their reviews to "get it over with". Critics commended Jane Eyre for everything from its themes to its form. However, their surface examinations amount to nothing without careful consideration of the deeper underlying background in Jane's life where their hasty principles originate. The widely discussed free will of Jane's, her strong individuality, and independence are segments of a greater scheme, her life. For example: Jane's childhood serves as the

The essence of any true magnificent piece of literature is not what one can see in words. It is what one can see behind the words. It is through the symbolism and imagery found in works of literature that a reader can truly connect with the writer. Charlotte Bronte epitomizes the spirit of the "unread but understood" in her Victorian work Jane Eyre. There have been numerous essays and theories presented examining the complex symbolism and imagery used by Bronte in Jane Eyre. Much of the imagery she uses concentrates on passion, fantasy, and the supernatural. In this essay I will examine Bronte’s use of fire and heat imagery pertaining to Mr. Rochester and Jane’s love relationship.

Ultimately, the relationship of Jane Eyre and Edward Rochester consists of each on being the guiding light, or literal sight, for the other. Rochester becomes the happiness in Jane’s life and depends on her to lead him by the hand through his darkness, or actual blindness. Their love together is the bright light in their relationship that will face constant scorn and derision for its age gap, partial disability, and station

represent freedom, for which Jane longs and finally finds by the end of the novel. Fire is another symbol used by Brontë: When

Several natural themes run throughout the novel, one of which is the image of a stormy sea. After Jane saves Rochester's life, she gives the following metaphor of their relationship:

Women who had no claim to wealth or beauty received the harshest of realities in America’s Victorian era. Author Charlotte Bronte – from America’s Victorian era – examines and follows the life of a girl born into these conditions in her gothic novel Jane Eyre (of which the main character’s name

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.

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

Jane, through much of the first half of the novel, is put into circumstances where she feels she must fight for herself. The plights she faces are seen with the incessant description of cold, dark, and frigid settings. She being a child and a girl no less is expected to be timid, respectful, and to simply take everything without malice, but she cannot. Symbolizing Jane as fire, the author is telling us that to be idle is simply against her nature. Even Mr. Rochenchester takes note of it stating what a “fire-spirit” she can be. We know, due to this, that Jane will be breaking or at least challenging a few societal conventions of her time period which she does in the case of her feelings about gender roles, love, and class. Like fire she is lively and not easily controlled (in her case not controlled by the familial and societal expectations of her).

First, he uses an example when Jane Eyre is situated in Gateshead. In this particular conflict, Aunt Reed is the harsh oppressor, as she consistently punishes Jane Eyre, yet Jane is able to resist this brutal punishment. Aunt Reed continues to punish Jane when she exiles Jane into Lowood Institution, the school for poor and orphaned children. Although this first example demonstrates the struggle Jane faces between ‘fire’ and ‘water,’ a more powerful situation would be when Jane is thrown into the red-room at Gateshead. This example not only shows Jane’s ‘fire’ symbolically, but most importantly, literally. The red-room in Gateshead is where Mr. Reed died, and all of the furnishings in the room are decorated red, including the carpet. It is apparent that red symbolizes fire in this situation. In addition, Jane acts aggressive when she is locked in the red-room, “…you thrust me back – roughly and violently thrust me back into the red-room, and locked me up there…” (Brontë 45). Jane panics when she realizes she is trapped in the room, so she first demonstrates her ‘fire’ when she screams and bangs violently on the door. She continues to yell when Bessie and Abbot enter, pleading them to allow her to exit. In the end, Jane demonstrates the ‘water’ aspect. After a sever punishment, Jane is submissive and remains quiet.

Readers learn that the symbolism of fire and water contributes to the novel by supporting the main theme. While reading the novel one may easily be confused by Brontë’s intricate story, but with the help of Solomon, it is easier to gain a better understanding of this story’s main theme. He explains that Jane is a median between the extremes of fire and water. For example, Jane has to choose between the two marriage proposals of Edward Rochester, who represents the fire, and St. John Rivers, representing the water. The two men are, as Solomon explains, written to be complete opposites that both contain icy or fiery qualities that lure Jane’s love. However, Jane can also be accurately described as one of the causes of the presence of fiery and icy emotions in her life due to her inability to know the feeling of love. “…She has the fire of bodily love…but also the cool control of the soul” (Solomon, 40). Solomon describes these virtues as what Rochester sees as “Jane’s

Charlotte Bronte’s novel Jane Eyre embraces many feminist views in opposition to the Victorian feminine ideal. Charlotte Bronte herself was among the first feminist writers of her time, and wrote this book in order to send the message of feminism to a Victorian-Age Society in which women were looked upon as inferior and repressed by the society in which they lived. This novel embodies the ideology of equality between a man and woman in marriage, as well as in society at large. As a feminist writer, Charlotte Bronte created this novel to support and spread the idea of an independent woman who works for herself, thinks for herself, and acts of her own accord.

     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.

One could look through the enticing piece of literature that is Jane Eyre through a variety of lenses, two significant lenses being mythological and autobiographical. Charlotte Bronte creates an imaginative plot line that encaptures her readers and contributes to the essence of her work as a whole. Bronte combines the lenses of mythology and autobiography not only to appeal to her readers but to balance out the fairy-tale like events with realistic and real-life issues.