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Names In Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre

Decent Essays

In Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, the titular character goes on both a mental and physical journey throughout the novel. Jane calls several different places home throughout her life, and encounters different milestones and challenges that shape her into a person at each one. The names given to these places and the people Jane comes across in them are used to represent what will happen to her while she is living there. Bronte’s use of the meanings of names as symbols is called etymology. For the duration of Jane’s time moving between several different homes in England, her life changes drastically, causing her to adapt to new situations and develop as a person. It was no accident that the names of the people and places Jane encounters on her journey mirror these situations. Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre uses the names of both characters and locations as symbols to represent Jane’s experiences at each of the places where she lives through her life. …show more content…

The Reeds take care of Jane because both of her parents died at a young age, making her an orphan. While living here, Jane’s extended family subjects her to neglect, abuse, and hate. This caused Jane to feel as if she were alone at Gateshead. Bronte’s naming of the residence shows how Jane feels like she cannot move beyond the “gate” separating her from the others living at Gateshead, stating “I was clearly a discord at Gateshead Hall; I was like nobody there; I had nothing in harmony with Mrs. Reed or her children, or her chosen vassalage.” (Bronte 17). Jane saw that even Mrs. Reed’s servants were accepted in the house, while she was not. The use of “gate” also could represent how Jane’s time at Gateshead Hall was only the beginning of her struggles and development into an independent

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