Who Is The Final Foil In Jane Eyre

Beyond the social values associated with appearance, Charlotte Bronte also points out the social ideals related to the importance of wealth. Jane seeks advice and comfort from Bessie in chapter 2, only for Bessie to tell Jane, “You ought to be aware, Miss, that you are under obligations to Mrs. Reed: she keeps you: if she were to turn you off, you would have to go to the poor-house” (Mrs. Reed, Jane’s aunt, constantly treats Jane crudely and unfairly). Bessie, in other words, tells Jane that she must put up with Mrs. Reed’s punishments and cruelties because her fiscal situation provides no alternative. Bessie shows no sympathy or remorse in her advice, as her worlds bluntly put the situation of context of how it “just is”. If one has no wealth, they become subject to whatever treatment comes to them and should expect nothing –

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.

In 1866, the press continued to provide coverage of the event and defended the former Governor because he protected the colonial order. One June 23, 1866, the Spectator defended the governor because “he threw himself into crushing the rising, and crushed it… to prevent injustices to the negroes, as he was to prevent injustice by the negroes.” Conservative sentiment sided with Eyre because he suppressed a rebellion that hurt British men and women. It was the Governor’s duty to protect the interest of the people because he worked through a struggle of “race, he was as much bounded to control the cruelty of the power in the ascendant, as to punish the violence of the wretched people who had tried in vain to get the upper hand.” The issue of race remained central to defending the Governor because it helped the masses understand why the politician acted in such a harsh manner. Additionally, the Jamaica Committee continued to press the public about their beliefs and this created further sympathy for Eyre. While the committee centered their arguments on the notion of law and colonial dependencies, Carlyle utilized the public’s fear of another race rebellion that would hurt the colonial order. Meanwhile, Mills firmly believed that “equality among the races” came before that of the law, because the law needed to protect blacks within the system. This also correlated with Mill’s notion of civilization

“Can I talk with you for a little while, Myra?” asked Miranda. “Before we part company, I have something to get off my chest.”

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.

Throughout Charlotte Brontë’s novel, Jane Eyre is afflicted with the feud between her moral values, and the way society perceives these notions. Jane ultimately obtains her happy ending, and Brontë’s shrewd denouement of St. John’s fate juxtaposes Jane’s blissful future with St. John’s tragic course of action. When Jane ends up at the Moor House, she is able to discover a nexus of love and family, and by doing so, she no longer feels fettered to Rochester. Moreover, Rochester is no longer Jane’s only form of psychological escape, and thus Jane is in a position to return to him without an aura of discontent. At the end of the novel, Jane is finally able to be irrevocably “blest beyond what language can express” (Brontë 459) because she is “absolutely bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh” (459).

Written by Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre tells the story of its title character as she matures and experiences all that life has to offer in 19th century England. Jane Eyre grows up as an orphan and seeks work as a governess at Thornfield Hall, where she meets and falls in love with Mr. Edward Rochester. After discovering that he is already married, she is introduced to St. John Rivers; he asks her to marry him for the sole purpose of being a missionary’s wife and she instead returns to Mr. Rochester, who she truly loves, and marries him. Throughout her journey, she learns many thing about Mr. Edward Rochester and St. John Rivers. Both men display similar characteristics, but as foils they exhibit many different characteristics as well. Both

Jane Eyre says, “‘he forgets pitilessly, the feelings and claims and of little people, in pursuing his own large views.’” When Jane Eyre declines St. John Rivers’ marriage proposal, he does not take her feelings into consideration. St. John Rivers soly recognizes how her rejection will affect him and his mission trip to India. This shows that he is not open to the ideas and feelings of others when he has a goal set in mind for himself. St. John Rivers says, “‘Rosamond a sufferer, a labourer, a female apostle? Rosamond a missionary’s wife? No!’” St John Rivers is a priest who devotes his life to God. His devotion to God can be considered a strength and a weakness. This can be portrayed as a strength because he helps others around the world by going on missionary trips, but he also sacrifices all the pleasures and luxuries in his life. Instead of staying at Gateshead and telling Rosamond Oliver how he feels, he leaves on a missionary trip to India because he believes she is not suited to be a missionary wife. His devotion to God causes St. John Rivers to be strict and self-denying. St. John Rivers’ way of helping those who are destitute can be considered a strength of his. Before

In the novel Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë, Bertha and Jane seem as if they are foils of one another. However, upon careful consideration, they are actually very similar. Both are scorned by society: Jane for her independence, and Bertha for her mental illness, they each have a part of them that is wild and untamed, and finally they both need Mr. Rochester in their lives: Jane for wages and his love, and Bertha simply for survival in a world that does not know how to treat mental disabilities.

Jane Eyre is a coming of age story following a young woman and her journey of self-growth. At the start of the novel Jane is living with her aunt and three cousins. They continuously abuse her, treating her like a stranger rather than a family member. At the age of ten Jane leaves her aunt's house and attends boarding school. It is at this school where she learns lessons of forgiveness and hope from a meek young woman named Helen Burns. Subsequently studying and teaching at the school for eight years Jane decides to become a governess at the mysterious Thornfield mansion. She falls in love with the owner of Thornfield and the two make plans to marry. Nonetheless on the day of there wedding Jane discovers that Mr. Rochester is already married and that he keeps his insane wife Bertha trapped away in the attic of Thornfield. Devastated by this information, Jane flees Thornfield and nearly dies from cold and starvation. Soon after she is taken in by the Rivers, two sisters and one brother. The passing of Jane's uncle reveals that she and the Rivers are cousins. It is also revealed that this uncle has left Jane all his fortune. This in turn leaves Jane extremely wealthy. Her cousin St. John Rivers ask Jane for his hand in marriage. However Jane comes to the conclusion that she still loves Mr. Rochester. After declining St. John's proposal Jane journeys back to Thornfield. When she arrives at Thornfield Jane discovers the mysterious mansion in burnt ruins. It is revealed that the

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.

Another sign of Jane’s independence was when she became eighteen, decided to leave Lowood and start a new beginning on her own to explore the world and fulfill the emptiness that she feels. In leaving Lowood Jane is enabled to experience more opportunities; love and romance, moving to Thornfield, making new close friends, also proving those that did not believe that she would ever come to much that she could accomplish great things in life. “I remembered that the real world was wide, and that a varied field of hopes and fears, of sensations and excitements, awaited those who had courage to go forth into its expanse.” (pg. 77) This shows how Jane Eyre recognizes that there is a bigger world out there. She understands that there are more opportunities out there waiting for her, and that all she has to do is reach out and grab them.

Jane Eyre is a story of a quest to be loved. Jane searches, not just for romantic love, but also for a sense of being valued and belonging. However, this search is constantly hindered by her need for independence. She starts of as an unloved orphan who is desperate to find love and a purpose. For example, Jane says to Helen, “to gain some real affection from you, or Miss Temple, or any other whom I truly love, I would willingly submit to have the bone of my arm broken, or to let a bull toss me, or to stand behind a kicking horse, and let it dash its hoof at my chest”. However, over the course of the novel, Jane learns to gain love without harming herself in the process. Although she is despised by her aunt, Mrs. Reed, she finds parental figures throughout the book. Miss Temple and Bessie care for Jane and give her love and guidance. However, Jane does not feel as though she has found

One could look through the enticing piece of literature that is Jane Eyre through a variety of lenses, two significant lenses being mythological and autobiographical. Charlotte Bronte creates an imaginative plot line that encaptures her readers and contributes to the essence of her work as a whole. Bronte combines the lenses of mythology and autobiography not only to appeal to her readers but to balance out the fairy-tale like events with realistic and real-life issues.

In Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, the character Bertha Mason is a manifestation of the feelings that Jane cannot express, and thus acts as an alter ego. Every time Bertha acts, it is predicated by a strong emotion or what should have been a strong emotion on Jane’s part. In the Victorian Era, women were expected to follow strict rules and isolate themselves from the outside world. In order to be the “angel in the house,” women were expected to obey and not question their fathers and husbands. Societal expectations dictate that Jane cannot show the full extent of her emotions, particularly when Mr. Rochester is involved. As a result, she does not do so, and they come out in the form of Bertha Mason. Throughout the novel, some sort of action by Bertha closely follows Jane’s musings on her frustrations, her discontent, or her anger. When Jane recognizes her emotions, Bertha’s expression is mild. However, Jane fails to recognize fully her emotions in multiple cases and Bertha responds violently. Because Bertha represents emotions that Jane possesses but represses in order to meet societal expectations, Bertha and these emotions must be removed before she can marry Mr. Rochester. Therefore, Bertha is a key character because she represents an important aspect of Jane and prevents Jane from fulfilling societal expectations.