Brocklehurst, who touts a narrow bigoted interpretation of Christianity. Feminists also have reason to honor Jane Eyre , which is one long cri de coeur for freedom and equality for women. See The Madwoman in the Attic, Yale. That role is performed to perfection by Jane herself. Jane is a strong feminist symbol, arguing through the whole novel that women should be free to fulfill their desires, express their true natures, and chart their own destinies.
Alongside all of the social critique in the novel, we also see that Jane struggles continually throughout the story to decide which of many conflicting edicts or value systems to obey: social imperatives of class and culture fight with the proclamations of religion and its various sects.
Jane meets different characters in the novel who represent different positions on this essential three-way tension, between demands of society, moral imperatives, and individual desire. Her school friend Helen urges total devotion to a hopeful but stoic brand of religion, expecting no gratification in this world while relying on entire gratification in the next one. John, though colder and sterner than Helen, advocates a similar complete devotion to demands of religion even if love or class privilege must be totally obliterated.
Gentle teacher Miss Temple, simple-minded housekeeper Mrs. Fairfax, and dashing but cold-hearted upper-class rival Blanche Ingram, different as they are, all advocate the importance of social codes, of faithful adherence to whatever role society defines for a person of your sex and social class. Mabel Ballen as Jane Eyre in movie version.
At every turn, Jane struggles with competing claims. As a charity child, knuckle under to a rich relative or tell off Aunt Reed social codes v. In every conflict, Jane is tempted to allow the demands of one set of values to smother the others. She must decide which principles matter most. Thanks for the phrase, Star Trek. Is compromise possible?
Ultimately readers must interpret, but I think Bronte argues for compromise: Jane runs from an immoral and socially unacceptable liaison, yet refuses a loveless marriage, finally marrying Rochester only after he has fallen somewhat in social class and she has risen, making them closer to social equals. I do think Bronte speaks up for the primacy of central religious principles. Bronte depicts the essential human need for love through continual references to fire, heat, and ice.
The next time you read the book, look for these. Here are some examples:. In Jane Eyre, love, sex, and passionate self-expression are presented as good and necessary. But if fire, and also desire, gets out of control, it is devastatingly destructive. How can we in this post-Freudian age fail to see a connection between fire and unbridled desire in this event?
Clearly, Jane herself does that. Bertha, whom a younger Rochester agreed to marry only because she was physically attractive, represents sex and desire out of bounds, which ultimately destroys the whole household. Through this plot line, Bronte suggests that desire and passion, central to living a fulfilled life, nonetheless require compromise, judgment, and control. Do we do what society or family expect of people of our class, race, and ethnicity, or work primarily to fulfill our own personal desires, or adhere above all to some kind of higher moral code?
Or do we attempt to adjudicate among these? This book is complex, and contains many other themes than those I have touched on. But certainly we can learn something very valuable by watching intelligent, sensitive, questing Jane try to reason out what it means to be good, either in her society or in ours.
Mary Jane is a longtime literature lover who lived in the Cincinnati area for many years, then in central Louisiana for three years what a treat!
Now back in the Cincinnati area, she pampers her grandchildren, experiments with cooking, and visits art museums as often as possible. Thoughts on the Greats , Uncategorized. Authors Charlotte Bronte classic literature classic novels competing values fire and ice Jane Eyre Literature meaning of literature reading literature Teaching English values writers.
September 4, at pm. Bronte would like to see herself as out of society, and unique, and feels that she has been mistreated in her life. In a way, Jane Eyre is just an autobiography in book form. Bronte and Jane both grew up as orphans, and relate in many of the same ways. Bronte is just recreating her fantasy of an mysterious, broody, rich man, Edward Rochester falling in love with her, and the whole situation with Jane coming back to see Edward Rochester when she is rich and he is not is just to reassure herself that any rich, charming man would actually love her for who she is.
Even though Bronte grew up in a very wealthy and opulent England, she would like to think of herself as poor and self-pities herself throughout the whole book. In this way, I think this is the opposite of a feminist novel, with no story-line, no character development, and no substance. Thanks for commenting! I do agree with your point that there is a strong element of fantasy and wish-fulfillment in the Jane-Rochester love story.
I also agree that Bronte probably enjoyed painting Jane as an outsider, as she liked to define herself. But as my post argues, I think the novel offers much more than fantasy and wish fulfillment, including an articulate protest against the way poor children were treated, an assertion that women should have more choices in life than the culture offered them, an attempt to re-define some Christian tenets promoted by the Victorian culture, and a discussion of how to balance personal rights and desires with moral imperatives.
I also agree with you that Bronte did draw on her life experiences for some of the plot events. For instance, the school years were patterned on the experiences of her older sisters, who both died at their charity school Cowan Bridge from TB, probably exacerbated by the poor living conditions. Nature of the characters. Depiction of all the characters of the story, protagonist or not, is essential. It is not a book that sidelines other characters and maintains the spotlight on the main ones.
The features, history, and future of nearly all the characters gives a very good shape to the story. However , no one is a sidekick, everyone has an important role to play. Significance of Jane Eyre. To summarize, the remarkable story of Jane Eyre teaches you many things. In simpler words, the moral of the story is beautiful and deep. It teaches you to believe in yourself, no matter how many people try to pull you down.
One must have faith in what life gives. Good or bad, you must accept it and keep aiming for the sky. But, most importantly , it teaches you to never give up. No matter how hard life hits you, survive through it. The harder you fall, the brighter will be the future as you look up to it. It is weak and silly to say that you cannot bear what your fate requires you to bear.
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Enter pincode. Usually delivered in 3 days? TrueComRetail 4. Summary of the Book After the death of her parents, Jane Eyre went to live with her maternal uncle.
Frequently Bought Together. Longman Classics: Jane Eyre. A Tale of Two Cities.
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