Jane Smiley A Thousand Acres Analysis

During the 19th century female authors were commonly degraded especially when books had a sexual nature. A now notable biography from this period is Charlotte Brontё’s “Jane Eyre”, a detailed account of the life of a young girl that blossoms into adulthood having to face the challenges and social norms of the time. In many works of literature a character intentionally deceives others to either hurt or offer protection. In “Jane Eyre” a character intentionally deceives a loved one with the intention to protect everyone including himself. This particular deception plays a large role in developing the characters of the narrative and the plot development, contributing to the work as a whole.

The novel Jane Eyre is about a young lady who was treated unfairly and all she really wanted was happiness and kindness. Many characters get introduced in this novel and many of them change, but Jane Eyre would have to be the one who changes the most. She doesn’t change in a physical way, but her mind set changes. Throughout the novel Eyre becomes frustrated, hopeless, and open minded.

By investigating the gender roles of the Victorian Era in Jane Eyre and looking at the more modern presentation of gender roles in The Eyre Affair, a clear understanding of these author’s intentions to expose the gender issues can be seen. Jane Eyre is a classic novel in which orphan Jane opposes societal expectations by becoming an intelligent,

Jane Eyre is a personal journey for independence and belonging in an extremely unpleasant society. Jane Eyre is very distinctive from other romantic pieces of the era, in the fact that it portrays a woman searching for equality and dignity through independence from those who treat her as a second hand citizen. Finding independence is Jane’s only way to combat the situation she is stuck in time and time again throughout her life. Throughout Jane Eyre, Jane, attempts to find independence and a sense of belonging, while also attempting to form open and equal relationships.

This paper will be a unique interpretation coupled with an analysis of rhetoric in A Thousand Acre’s by Jane Smiley. This non-fiction novel is told in third person omniscient and is focused on the point of view of one of the main characters, Ginny Cook. A Thousand Acres was a modern-day retelling of Shakespeare’s King Lear; set on a large farm and small town in Iowa. This setting is important to the plot because it is more realistic compared to a far away mystical land that is detached from its audience. Smiley uses various rhetorical and literary techniques within her book to engage readers while still keeping to the basic storyline previously written by Shakespeare. Smiley’s use of language positively aids the imagery and emotions seen

This can be highlighted by contrasting Rhiannon’s influence during the wedding feast, with Rhiannon’s influence after her son’s disappearance. During the wedding feast Prince Pwyll grants Rhiannon to the man she did not want to marry “You better not say anymore for I have never seen such a feeble-witted performance” Rhiannon is aware that as a woman in Welsh Medieval society she must conform to the role of a wife and following marriage produce an heir, therefore her impatient nature towards Prince Pwyll is down to her feeling like she has not been able to work the system to her benefit to the result of having the husband she desires. This is a reflection of Welsh society as women were held to a fairly high status by Welsh Law regarding property, rights over their children, and to an extent marriage due to the three grounds of divorce, unlike other regions of European society. As the tales’ progress the influential power Rhiannon exerts is diminished, this can be exemplified with the chambers maids lack of faith in Rhiannon. “Poor souls, you will come to no harm for telling the truth.” However, no matter

views of Rose and Ginny, and domesticated to believe that "When we are good girls and

Charlotte Bronte, in her most famous novel, Jane Eyre, carefully utilizes different characters to influence and shape Jane’s personality throughout the story. Bronte uses varied actions and emotions to do this, but one of the main actions is abuse. Though not in every setting in the novel, abusive tormenting people are spread throughout the story that change Jane and her future. These ill-mannered actions can completely change Jane’s mindset, personality, and life-story. In Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, cruel male protagonists alter Jane’s character through physical, psychological, and emotional abuse.

The family farm despite the absent economic power of a male character leads the Hopewell women to assume all the open roles while simultaneously maintaining their femininity (Smith 36); they must assume a dual task by acting male in public but privately preserving their womanhood. These gender roles, however, cannot be fully explained without looking at the relationship between mother and daughter; despite their common sex, their relationship is seen as a disturbing force where mother and daughter are at often at odds with each other.

Mildred and Mary were controlled in the worst way such as jealousy and the norms of

“Mother” starts her story rather ferociously telling her husband, “I ain’t goin’ into the house till you tell me what them men are doin’ over there in the field” (Freeman, 10). Unfortunately, Adoniram Penn is building a new barn on the site set aside for her new home 40 years earlier. “Father” tells her he wants her to “go into the house...an’tend to [her] own affairs” (Freeman, 10). Mary Wilkins Freeman purposefully writes Adoniram telling Sarah her place is in the house with the children and he wants her to stay there. Freeman wants her women readers to relate to this situation of male dominance. When Sarah does finally revolt the significance of that revolt will have a deeper meaning for Freeman’s readers, they want Sarah to outwit her husband. Adoniram does not quite recognize the woman he married for who she really is. Sarah Penn was more than willing to take on the role of wife and mother as long as he fulfilled his role as provider for the family and his promise of a new house was still an option. When he went back on his word of building her home Adoniram received a glimpse of the true woman he married. When the reader looks closely at her there is a strength of character Sarah Penn cannot hide forever. Freeman writes that Sarah “looked as if the meekness had been the result of her own will, never the will of another” (Freeman, 10).

The Lord of the castle and Stephen Hill both possess oppressive and imperious characteristics which lead them to desire dominance to fulfill their sadistic egos .“Till envy the lord of the castle posses’d, For he hated that poverty should be so cheerful” (Robinson 82). The Lord asserts his dominance over the Dame to the point where he feels he has to send her to prison simply because she remains content even after he sent his yeomen to threaten her for singing.“ with this other Maid, to church Unthinking Stephen went Poor Martha! On that woeful day A pang of pitiless dismay Into her soul was sent: A fire was kindled in her breast, Which might not burn itself to rest”(Wordsworth 285). Stephen has so much influence over Martha that her emotions didn’t affect his approach or decision to marry the other maid before he broke her heart. The yearning for dominance from the male characters significantly affected the way in which women were treated in the Romantic era by limiting their opportunities and belittling their self-esteem.

Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë, is set in 19th century England, and tells the story of a young woman named Jane Eyre who undergoes many hardships as she matures and ultimately grows into a more complex person. The people Jane encounters throughout the novel both shape her opinions and the person she becomes, and serve as foils, or characters who set off other characters by strong contrast. Many of Jane Eyre’s supporting characters possess unflattering or unfavorable qualities. The way they treat Jane, the manner in which they interact with other people, and their worldviews, either positive or negative, equally impact Jane, and serve as a contrast for Jane’s own traits. Brontë’s use of foils in Jane Eyre as a method of characterization enables the reader to better understand Jane as a character, and emphasize certain

Instead of preserving their innocence and taking on the traits of an independent women, both the female character’s in the Grimm Brother’s and Carter’s stories give into the traditional theme of marriage and belief that women need a man to survive. In the story “Ash Girl,” all the women go crazy when they hear that the prince is hosting several balls to find a worthy wife. The women, like objects and prizes to these men, dress up fancy and work hard in becoming the most suitable bride for the prince. It is clear that the norm for young girls at the time is to marry and have a man by their side and because of this, women are seen to be inferior to men. It is both the prince’s royal status and his male authority that influence the step mother to say “cut the toe off” and “cut a piece off your heel” to fit the shoe (Grimm 28). The step daughters willingly do as they are told, in the same way that Ash Girl unthinkingly rides away on the horse not because anyone forces them to do so, but because they live in a society that pressures women into marriage; teaching them that it is the key to

With one being brought up in a medieval time with a different status and set of morals, and the other being brought up in a world where the men control the ways of business and family, both Shakespeare and Jane Smiley introduce their own respective versions of a strong willed woman who sets out for freedom from her overbearing father. Shakespeare creates the malicious controlling character of Goneril in his play “King Lear”, who sets out to destroy her father in order to get what she believes she deserves. Jane Smiley, in her modern counterpart “A Thousand Acres”,then went on to create Ginny, who is mild minded woman who caves into her father’s tyranny. In the same ways, both Ginny and Goneril have a tyrannical father who forces them to succumb