Love Vs. Autonomy In Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre

After refusing to marry Mr. Rochester she leaves Thornfield with no destination. She turns up at the Moor House, the residents there are St. John Rivers and his sisters Diana and Mary. These residents Jane learns are her cousins. After having stayed there for quite some time, St. John starts to have feelings for Jane. In an attempt to hide his true feelings, he asks Jane to marry him for the sole purpose to be his missionary wife in Africa.

Criticisms of relationships have been addressed in novels throughout our time, but they are central theme in Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. Specifically, readers can see criticisms of relationships built on passionate love. Example of this are seen through Rochester

Furthermore, this demeaning and negative attitude Jane is exposed to is further instigated when her cousin, John Reed, expresses her situation by saying: "You have no business to take our books; you are a dependent, mama says; you have no money; your father left you none; you ought to beg, and not to live here with gentlemen's children like us". The truth of Jane's unfortunate situation is expressed against her which results in her feeling no true support from this family and confides only in her childhood nursemaid- Bessie, who although behaves inconsistently and has “a capricious and hasty temper”, is the closest mother figure to her. Furthermore, the friction between Jane and John is further emphasised when the first physical aspect of violence is introduced to the reader through a graphic portrayal, further showing the ultimate rejection Jane experienced

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

Though Jane is well educated and possesses the etiquette and training of a person in upper class society, social prejudices limit her because she is simply a paid servant, in their eyes. While at Thornfield, Jane falls desperately in love with the owner of Thornfield Hall, Mr. Rochester. Jane is Mr. Rochester’s intellectual contemporary, but her social status prevents her from being his true equal. In the novel, Jane proclaims, “Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong!—I have as much soul as you,—and full as much heart!” (Bronte 637). After Mr. Rochester finally proposes, Jane is hesitant to marry him because she feels as if he would be lowering himself to marry her. This feeling greatly increases after Jane discovers he is married to Bertha Mason, and that he keeps her locked away in Thornfield’s attic due to her insanity. Mr. Rochester proposes that Jane becomes his mistress, which, according to Victorian society, would be more fitting since Jane is a plain governess. Jane realizes that she can never compromise her morals that way and leaves Thornfield. While on her own, Jane still strives to gain independence, discovers new kin, and learns she has a wealthy uncle who has left her a large inheritance. After her loneliness and longing for Mr. Rochester becomes too great, she returns to Thornfield. Jane is

Jane begins her life in isolation at Gateshead, abused and misunderstood by her Aunt Reed and cousins. She is constantly reminded of her worthlessness to them and the fact that they view her as a burden, and is literally

Following this dramatic scene, there are many situations in which her individualism can again be sensed. During her stay at Lowood Jane is emotionally subdued and her personality is in many ways suppressed. It is not until after Miss Temple, the person that seemed to shine light on the school, leaves that Jane realizes the restrictions that she is under. It is at his point that she has the sudden urge to leave the confinements of the school, seek a job as a governess, and experience the “varied fields of hopes and fears,

Charlotte Brontë’s coming of age novel, Jane Eyre, deals with the struggles of womanhood and finding strength in the toughest of times. Jane Eyre is a young woman who, throughout the novel, becomes stronger and more independent. In Essaka Joshua’s critical essay, “‘Almost my hope of heaven’: idolatry and messianic symbolism in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre,’” he analyzes the idolization of character’s as gods; however, in Judith Leggatt and Christopher Parkes essay, “From the red room to Rochester's haircut: mind control in Jane Eyre,” they analyze the idea of mind control in Jane Eyre.

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.

In Charlotte Bronte’s gothic fiction Jane Eyre, a young woman challenges authority, faces adversity which she overcomes, and is determined to marry not for others, but for love.

These demands include requests such as working at his school, learning the same language he is learning, and eventually entering a loveless marriage with him. These requests place Jane Eyre in a position where she feels threatened by a misleading, authoritative figure. In the face of these hardships, Jane Eyre learns of her inherited wealth. The fortune signifies her unambiguous independence from social injustice. This helps her to reject St John Rivers marriage proposal, “...she will be liberated from the necessity of marrying where there is no love” (Moglen 51-52). In her denial of St John Rivers, Jane Eyre is reassured that she does things for herself, she can not be persuaded into another one’s wishes, and that "...she must be her own guide..." (Gordon 50). Refusing a man’s marriage proposal is just another example of Charlotte Bronte’s attempt to obliterate accepted, social norms of the

Bronte’s feminist ideas radiated throughout her novel Jane Eyre. There were many strong and clear examples of these ideas in Bronte’s protagonist, Jane, her personality, actions, thoughts and beliefs. From the beginning of the book, Jane’s strong personality and her lack of following social expectations were quiet clear. “Women of the Victorian era were not part of a man’s world, as they were considered below them.”(VanTassel-Baska, 4) The class divisions between a man and a woman were very distinctive. Jane however ignored this. When Jane first met Rochester, the whole scene presented a feminist portrait of Jane. A women walking alone in that era should never address a man, but Jane went out of her way to help Rochester stating that “if you are hurt, I can help” (Bronte, 98), Jane even let him place a hand on her shoulder. Jane believed that “women were supposed to be very calm generally, but women felt just as men felt” (Bronte, 116), which showed her perseverance and persistence in being independent and proving that men should be equal to that of women. This was of

Parallel to many of the great feministic novels throughout literary history, Jane Eyre is a story about the quest for authentic love. However, Jane Eyre is unique and separate from other romantic pieces, in that it is also about a woman searching for a sense of self-worth through achieving a degree of independence. Orphaned and dismissed at an early age, Jane was born into a modest lifestyle that was characterized by a form of oppressive servitude of which she had no autonomy. She was busy spending much of her adolescent years locked in chains, both imaginary and real, as well as catering to the needs of her peers. Jane was never being able to enjoy the pleasures and joys that an ordinary and independent child values. Jane struggles

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