Passion and Practicality of Jane Eyre
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.
Jane is a spirited woman, and her emotions give her a strength of character that is unusual for a female heroine of this period. Rather than being nervous and oversensitive, Jane expresses her feelings through anger. The first example of this occurs at one of the pivotal moments of her life, when John Reed hits
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When she is locked in the Red Room, she flies into a fit of temper, and "...prepared as my mind was for horror, shaken as my nerves were by agitation, I thought the swift darting beam was a herald of some coming vision from another world. My heart beat thick, my head grew hot; a sound filled my ears, which I deemed the rushing of wings; something seemed near me; I was oppressed, suffocated." Too much emotion leads to irrationality, and Jane is ill for some time as a result.
Having found a new strength in rebellion, Jane is placed in another oppressive situation: Lowood School. In this situation, there is little opportunity for her to resist; she has a different lesson to learn. Shortly after her arrival at Lowood, Jane meets Helen Burns, who teaches her patience and rationality. Helen is in many ways a Christ figure, accepting what happens to her as God's will and speaking often of heavenly rewards. When Jane is falsely accused and humiliated by Mr. Brocklehurst, her instinct is to lash out in anger, and she finds it difficult to deal with her emotions. When Miss Temple asks her to explain why the accusations are false, it is Helen Burns' words that allow Jane to present her side of the story fairly. "...mindful of Helen's warnings
exposes her in front of the school, she tries to accept it and go on.
During the scenes at Lowood Academy, Brontë compares Jane's strong personality to the reserved and submissive Helen Burns. The teachers often punish Helen excessively, yet she never once objects or even questions their discipline. When Jane asks her about this self-discipline, Helen simply explains that it is her "duty" to bear the punishment submissively (58). Although Helen's "proper" female behavior does not entirely
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
Jane Eyre is the story of a girl 's life from age 10 to about 19 she starts out living as an orphan with her aunt and her cousins. And like any other orphan her in pretty much sucked.
Once Jane is locked in the red room in chapter two, she is able to reflect on everything that just happened. The red room is the chamber where Jane’s kind uncle died; he took her to Gateshead when her parents died. This shows Jane’s strength of character. Most children would be frightened and would be screaming with fear to be let out of this cold, haunted and dark chamber that they had been locked in. But Jane thinks about it rationally, ‘’superstition was with me at that moment; but it was not yet her hour for complete victory’’. This also proves that Jane believes in superstition and clings onto a magical world. But after a while in the red room Jane does become terrified and begins to convince herself that something is going to
Once again, Jane is unfairly judged and it appears to her that the new life she seeks is long gone. She’s labeled as the outcast, similar to the way she’s treated at Gateshead. (Moseley 3) Jane is stricken; however, Helen Burns assuages the pain. Jane’s friendship with Helen Burns plays a crucial role in controlling her zealous manner. Helen is the archetype of a pure-hearted, caring person with genuine intentions. Her ability to withstand unfair treatment while she maintains her composure provides a role model for Jane to look up to. It’s this persona that Jane desperately needs at this point in her life, especially following the humiliation by Mr. Brocklehurst concerning her fate at Lowood. She teaches Jane the importance of self-control and
From her troubles with the abusive Reed family, her friendships at Lowood, her love of Mr Rochester and her time with the Rivers family, Jane 's character remains strong and vigilant despite the hardships she endures. Through the course of the novel, Jane 's character changes slightly but moreover reinforces itself as Jane uses people, situations and her personal experiences to gain knowledge, and assist her gaining her full character.
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,
Jane would not like to be poor as poverty is looked down upon and equivalent to being an immoral and degraded human being. For Jane to be a respectable woman in society she must remain with the Reeds. John acknowledges Jane’s dependency: “You have no business to take our books; you are a dependent, momma says; you have no money; your father left you none; you ought to beg and not to live here with gentleman's children like us, and eat the same meals we do, and wear clothes at out mamma’s expense (14).” Jane is continuously reminded of her inferior position at Gateshead and powerless dependency to people that do not even love her. At this early age Jane has already been integrated into Victorian society as negative notions about the poor have been internalized. Born the daughter of a poor clergyman, Jane is believed to be of lesser value than the Reeds; however, she has passionate tendencies and is unable to control her emotions when necessary.When being abused by John and accusing him of being “like a murderer” (14) she is described as being a “picture of passion (15).” Jane must learn to temper her “fire” because untamed emotions have consequences. Her consequence comes when she is imprisoned in the red room, a visual representation of the intense emotions that have manifested in
In the beginning Jane seems a strong character who is very rebellious; In the Victorian times it was considered “deceitful” for a child too speak out. Jane wishes to overcome this. And she does when she says, “I must keep in good health, and not
While Jane’s time at Gateshead demonstrated her immense sadness, Jane’s time at Thornfield reveals her sadness through depression, as it begins to evolve into anger and an internal struggle. Her correlation with madness and anger begins to appear when she goes into the attic. She states “I climbed the three staircases, raised the trapdoor of the attic, and having reached the leads looked out afar over sequestered field and hill, and along the dim skyline- that then I longed” (Bronte 114). Jane is trapped inside herself. She longs to escape from her emotions and internal struggles, yet cannot. The attic, the abode of Mr. Rochester’s insane wife, houses Jane’s emotions. She climbs up to the attic and views the world beyond it. She
When Jane is sent to Lowood (an all girl's school), she finds the first true love shown by an adult. Miss Temple, the school's superintendent) treats all of the girls with extreme kindness and gentleness. When the girl's breakfast is burned, she arranges for them to have the luxury of white bread and cheese to make up for it. Also, even while some of the other teachers like Miss Scatcherd and even the school's headmaster, Mr. Brocklehurst, are mean to the girls, she is always there for them with a hug and a smile. When Helen falls deathly ill, Jane sees how motherly and unfaltering Miss Temple is towards Helen. Another character who shows Jane love at Lowood is Helen herself. She is the first person Jane's age who is nice to her. Jane grew up with the Reed children's spiteful actions and attitudes toward her and never experienced a peer's kindness until she met Helen.
After the event, wherein Jane saves Mr. Rochester from the fire in his room, the fire being a symbol of passion, she returns to her room to sleep. However, she is unable to rest because she felt inside of her soul"... a freshening gale, wakened by hope, bore my spirit triumphantly towards the bourne: but I could not reach it, even in fancy — a counteracting blew off land, and continually drove me hack. Sense would resist delirium: judgment would resist passion." This passage makes very clear Jane's love for Mr. Rochester and also the contradicting emotions that she experiences. Jane describes the passion that she feels after she leaves from Rochester's room as "...a shore sweet as the hills of Beulah;" but when her sense takes over and she says "Sense would resist delirium: judgment would warn passion." The writer shows how the tension between passion and reason control Jane's mind. She is intent not to follow her feelings of love towards Mr. Rochester, but to act with reason. Her reasonable feelings would always wane those of
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, recounts the life of Jane Eyre and the developments she made as an individual through her experiences with positive and negative interactions. Mrs. Reed promises to her husband that she would care for Jane and treat her as her own. Because of Mrs. Reed’s jealousy and the idea that Jane was forced upon her, Mrs. Reed treated Jane with cold disrespect and hatred. The significance in Mrs. Reed’s character is the way in which she is unwilling to find compassion for Jane and maintains her hatred for her even as she lies on her deathbed; Mrs. Reed’s character has no positive development which makes her a significant character in the story. In light of Helen Burn’s teachings of unconditional forgiveness, Jane attempts to reconcile with Mrs. Reed. The act of true heroic strength and sympathy may be a reason for Mrs. Reeds discontent with Jane. Through Mrs. Reed’s lack of affection and harsh insensitivity, Jane uncovers her inner strength towards forgiveness and discovers her voice. From Mrs. Reed’s flaws, Jane gains qualities of strength, independence, and self love.