This novel tells the story of Jane Eyre and her life from her narration, from living with a cruel aunt to falling in love and entering a socially forbidden relationship.
Jane's story begins in the household of her Aunt Reed at Gateshead where she is cruelly mistreated. She then suffers cruelty in her school life at Lowood Charity School, but finds comfort with her teacher Miss Temple and dear friend Helen Burns. Jane's spirit is constantly tested through her childhood.
The story moves forward to an 18 year old Jane taking a position as a governess in a mansion filled with secrets and falls in love with Mr Rochester who is determined to keep those secrets hidden.
Context
Jane Eyre was written by Charlotte Brontë in 1847, however it was published under the pseudonym Currer Bell. At a time where patriarchy dominated society, this was necessary to do for a female writer to have a chance of her work being taken seriously. Charlotte's sisters, Emily and Anne, did the same thing when publishing their work.
As a reader, I believe that today, Jane Eyre would not be a best seller. Not because it wasn't written well but issues such as a poor women marrying an older, richer man and wives trying to burn their husbands is nothing we haven't seen in today's time. However, in 1847 the issues raised in the novel such as, classism, sexuality and proto-feminism would have made this novel practically a scandal of its time.
Characters
Jane- Jane is our narrator and orphaned protagonist of the novel. In my opinion, Jane is a credible and realistic character who stays true to herself throughout the challenges she faces in her story.
When her narration begins she is an isolated and powerless child but driven by passion and anger. As the story progresses, she grows in strength and will. Unlike the social position of women at the time she takes pride in her independence and intelligence. These qualities help her achieve the position of a governess at Thornfield mansion. Here she explores pleasure and pain with the owner of Thornfield, Mr Rochester. She then further discovers strength within herself when she rejects him and St.John (her cousin who takes her in after she leaves Rochester). I admired her character greatly when she found it within her to allow herself to love Mr Rochester and maintain her integrity.
By the novels end her character develops into a powerful women who still maintains her strength and independence by being dominant in her marriage with Rochester as he depends on her love and care.
Edward Fairfax Rochester- As a reader I did have mixed emotions towards Mr Rochester's character. At some points in the story, such as when Jane saves Rochester from being burnt alive, I felt pity that he was trapped in an arranged marriage with his troubled wife Bertha. I also admire that he cared enough for Bertha so that he would not let her suffer the torment of a mental hospital. At other points in the story, such as him lying to Jane about this current marriage and trying to marry her, I saw him as a selfish lover as he knew full well that if his marriage with Bertha was discovered it would be Jane and her reputation that suffered not Rochester.
Throughout the novel, he is seen as a mysterious, passionate man who I believe really loved Jane and found long lost happiness with her. However his actions are selfish and he thinks of himself before Jane.
St John Rivers- Jane's cousin who I see as cold, highly jealous and tyrannical. Although he doesn't seem this way at first as he does take Jane in when she leaves Rochester, he later on tries to force Jane to marry him and move to India with him, doing missionary work. His religious views, in my opinion as a reader, would have led to Jane being in an oppressive and emotionless relationship. This is because he believed in the Old Testament (as many did at the time) where women had to serve their husbands.
Rochester and St.John- It could be argued that these two very different men represent the two different sides to Jane. Rochester represents the passion and desire that she tried to keep buried, where as St.John represents the rational and conservative side to Jane. This raises the issue that Jane is constantly torn between her true nature and social convention.
Bertha Antoinetta Mason Rochester- Rochester's 'crazy' wife in the attic of Thornfield. Bertha is portrayed as beautiful but is constantly descending into madness and has fits of rage and violence. Bertha occasionally escapes from the attic and sets fires, in which doing so eventually leads to the destruction of Thornfield and her death.
Bertha is portrayed as an alternate to the Victorian ideal of femininity. She can also be seen as Jane's alter ego, the contained side of Jane that is driven by emotion. Berthas final act means that Jane can resolve the opposition in herself between desire and self-control.
Themes
These are some of the key themes, I found in Jane Eyre:
Love VS Independence
Jane, (like many of us reading romantic novels) searches for love and a sense of being valued, which Jane did not experience in her childhood. However her fear of losing her independence and integrity motivates her refusal of Rochester. She will not sacrifice her reputation and judging by her actions later on she would rather have nothing than any kind of relationship with Rochester.
Nonetheless, the later events that led to Bertha dying and Rochester losing his hand and eyesight, meant he was as much dependent on Jane as she is on him. Therefore she remains with a sense of equality and autonomy with the man she loves.
Religious Faith
The novel constantly deals with religious faith. It addresses the importance of religion in society and how far it should be allowed to influence a persons behaviour. Jane sees religion very early on at her time at Gateshead when Mr Brocklehurst asks her "Do you read the Bible?". From then on she sees the practice of religion at Lowood, her time at Thornfield where she feels like God is testing her with her desire for Rochester and through figures such as St.John. Janes fear of God judging her, influences her actions. At the time the church exploited this fear in people so they would be submissive to their power and influence in society.
Brontë suggests that behaviour driven by what society thinks is proper can be easily confused with behaviours motivated by religious beliefs and what is the right thing to do.
The Unavoidability of Marriage
One major issue I found with this book is that even though Jane is well educated, independent and strong willed, it is still suggested that her life will not be fully fulfilled to secure unless she marries. This suggests to me personally as a reader that although Brontë was as close to a feminist as you could get in the 1840's, she still held the belief that respectability was not enough for a woman. However as the social position of women was so different I can understand this drawback.
Social Class
In my opinion this is probably one of the most important themes in this novel. Jane and Rochester are ambiguous figures of social class and how this becomes a source of extreme tension in their relationship. I imagine that if I was reading this in the 1840's I would have been shocked at the unity of a working class governess and an upper class landowner. Jane does need and has the manners of an aristocrat and she needs them to teach aristocrat children in her role as a governess and as she does with Adele. However in society's eyes she is still nothing more than an employee.
I believe Brontë's beliefs on social class are spoken through Jane when she confronts Rochester and says "Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain and little, I am soulless and heartless?" Furthermore the only reason Jane's marriage to Rochester was acceptable even after Bertha's death, is because of her large inheritance from her long lost uncle. This again suggests that society would have only accepted the relationship under these circumstances.
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