Juxtaposition in Jane Eyre: Merging Contradictory Voices

It was in this tale that Odysseus is trapped in a cave by a menacing cyclops, known as Polyphemus. In an attempt to escape the young hero feeds the cyclops wine till he becomes drunk and finally passes out. Of that moment Odysseus takes his chance and stabs the giant in the eye. Preceding events then occur allowing for the hero to escape. Jane in this moment is on guard, not wishing people to discover wither her past or her true identity. She originally seemed perfectly content to tell them almost nothing. It isn’t until St. John says that he must know her history or else he cannot help her and that he will aid her to the utmost of his power that she finally obliges. This allusion stresses the fear she has of being found out and foreshadows that her telling this story or becoming close to this family will result in a blow. It is ironic, however, that unlike Polyphemus, Jane is rewarded for putting her guard down. In telling her story to her saviors, St. John is able to conclude her true identity and she collects freedom and happiness in her new found fortune and familial

Compare or contrast the role that reason (logic or logos) and passion (emotion or pathos) play within the novel.

On page 83, Mr. Rochester has a “massive head”, “granite-hewn features” , “great dark eyes” and fine eyes too”. The reader is supposed to think of him as someone who is a predator towards Jane because of his mean looking and dark features and because of Jane’s past experience with men in power. Readers are supposed to be wary of Mister Rochester.

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.

Through a close reading of the selected passage of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre: An Autobiography, a reader can see that Jane attempts to separate herself from her decisions by personifying her emotions and giving them a specific voice, which strongly reflects the societal views of the time. At this point in the story, Jane has discovered, on her wedding day, that Mr. Rochester is still married to a woman named Bertha, and that woman still lives in his house. Distraught, Jane locks herself in her room and tries to decide what she should do. When she wakes up the next day, she is again confronted with what she needs to do in the wake of her discovery.

Charlotte Bronte’s novel, Jane Eyre, is a coming of age story, about a young, orphaned, and submissive girl growing up, through many hardships, into a young, passionate, and free willed woman. Charlotte Bronte begins the story with a ten-year-old Jane Eyre living with an impartial and sometimes cruel aunt, Aunt Reed. Aunt Reed, after neglecting Jane for the whole of her life, finally decides to send her away to boarding school, to Lowood School. Upon her departure, Jane expresses a measure of autonomy and agency, the first of many episodes in which she “gathered her energies and launched them in this blunt sentence – ‘I am not deceitful; if I were, I should say I loved you; but I declare I do not love

Many themes are brought into the readers' attention in Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre and when first reading the novel, we all tend to see it as a work built around the theme of family and Jane's continuous search for home and acceptance. The love story seems to fall into second place and I believe that the special relationship between Jane and Mr. Rochester needs to be thoroughly discussed and interpreted, because it holds many captivating elements, such as mystery, passion or even betrayal. The aim of this essay is to analyze the love story between the two protagonists and to illustrate how the elements forming their relationship resemble the ones in fairy tales. Jane Eyre has been often compared to fairy tales such as

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.

From beginning her life as an orphan, to eventually becoming a happy wife, Charlotte Bronte’s character Jane Eyre overcomes what seems to be insurmountable odds in her quest for happiness. The story follows the title character across many years and destinations, resulting in a full novel that despite its length remains riveting from beginning to end. Bronte’s skillful use of foreshadowing and clever punctuation are some of the many methods used to engross readers throughout the story. These techniques have proven to engage readers for more than a hundred years since its original publication in 1847.

In the novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, the title character’s journey is full of challenges that shape her development. These are constructed of times spent as four main places; Gateshead, Lowood, Thornfield, and Ferndean. At Gateshead Jane is too quick-tempered but only to lose her lively spirit at Lowood. At Thornfield she become overly passionate and guided by her emotions but balance is achieved at Ferndean. Jane Eyre becomes as complete character as she learns to find the balance between the intellect and the passions. In doing so, she touches the life of Edward Rochester and in fulling herself helps Rochester humble himself and achieve a perfect balance by example.

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 final chapter’s of Bronte’s Jane Eyre have been a subject of discussion since it’s first publication. Many say the the ending does not fit and other argue that it does. There is a lot of evidence pointing to the latter. The conclusion reveals the fate of Mr. Rochester and Jane, Adele, and of St. John. All of the endings, a mixture of both happy and tragic, to fit with the entire story and can explained because of the Victorian era. This essay will argue that the conclusion of this novel, more specifically that Jane does go back to Mr. Rochester, is extremely fitting to both the plot and the essence of the novel.

Jane’s approach could be considered romantic and embodies conventional feminist concepts; she remains headstrong and stubborn in the face of injustice. The representation of Jane as a strong, independent woman upholds the belief that woman can achieve their goals. Jane does precisely this; she marries Rochester, becomes a part of a family as well as gains financial independence. The way in which Bronte represents Jane is emphasized through her narrative stance. The reader is presented with a firm and rebellious character, her diction is simple and assertive. She addresses the reader directly and is able to identify and challenge the problems she faces with determination. Furthermore Jane is able to identify and comment on how she feels woman are subjugated by their society; she denounces that “woman are supposed to be very calm generally: but woman feel just as men feel […]” (Bronte

Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre is a powerful literary masterpiece filled with remarkable and complex characters. Chief among these is Jane Eyre, the main character herself. Ms. Bronte has written Jane Eyre as though Jane were speaking to the reader, inviting him or her to hear the story of her life’s most important challenges and triumphs. It is through the telling of this story that the reader gets to know Jane, and becomes able to draw parallels from Jane’s experiences to their own. While the forms that challenges and triumphs take in one’s life are always diverse, as they are for Jane in the novel, these twists and turns in life’s path tend to serve the same purpose: to renovate and mold one’s character, as they do Jane’s. Throughout the novel Jane Eyre, Jane’s character transitions through several drastic changes: first from a child overwhelmed by injustice to a young woman capable of suffering patiently- then simultaneously from an emotionally isolated young woman to a relationally vivacious one, and from a reserved and submissive young woman to an assertive one- and finally, from a destitute and dependent young woman to one who is wholly independent and confident.

Jane Eyre, a poor little orphaned girl in the beginning of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, is described as a “capricious witch” (271) by her fiancé, Mr. Rochester, when she asserts her independence as a powerful woman. Despite their differences in social status, age, and gender, Jane and Mr. Rochester find a shared position as outcasts: hardly fitting the Victorian era stereotypes of propriety. Their romantic relationship; Jane, a governess, and Mr. Rochester, her employer, disregards nineteenth century English social class conventions. Since Jane grows to to achieve personal autonomy and reaches a sense of intellectual maturity, she demands respect from Mr. Rochester. The effects of Mr. Rochester’s psychological repression from his dark past contribute to his moody behavior toward he; when he becomes threatened by Jane’s self-control and influence over him, he further perceives her as the archetypal coy seductress. The effects of Jane’s experiences of being oppressed as an impoverished, young governess empower her to refuse marriage until she can have Mr. Rochester’s true love without sacrificing her integrity.