Religion in Jane Eyre In Jane Eyre the author, Charlotte Bronte, uses three characters to portray types of Christians . Helen Burns depicts Christian value both in her conversations with Jane and in her reactions to punishment from cruel Miss Scatcherd. In this book Mr. Brocklehurst portrays a downright hypocrite who does not follow the high Puritan values that he preaches. On the other hand, St. John Rivers practices what he preaches as is shown in the way that he unceasingly cares for his congregation at great personal sacrifice and deprivation. Helen Burns is a perfect example of the quiet, reserved, and turn the other cheek Christian. Helen, a student at Lowood School for Girls, is constantly being scolded, beaten, and publicly humiliated by Miss Scatcherd for her, “slatternly habits.” Helen is also Jane’s only friend during her time at Lowood. In chapter six Jane repeatedly questions …show more content…
Brocklehurst displays hypocritical Christian behaviors. Mr. Brocklehurst is the treasurer and manager of Lowood. He also is the preacher at the nearby church. He runs Lowood with an iron fist, giving only the bare necessities and sometimes less than. He institutes strict policies such as no braids, no curly hair, only one needle at a time per student, and every week only one clean tucker, a piece of lace or linen worn in or around the top of a bodice. He preaches that through self-denial and sacrifice the girls will be “cured” from their evils. He says in chapter seven, “I have a Master to serve whose kingdom is not of this world: my mission is to mortify in these girls the lusts of the flesh; to teach them to clothe themselves with shame-facedness and sobriety, not with braided hair and costly apparel.” Yet his wife and daughters clothe themselves in expensive velvet, silk, and furs. He is a hypocrite of the highest degree and uses God’s teachings as justification for his cruelty to the girls and to
After Jane drops the slate, Mr. Brocklehurst positions Jane on top of the stool and publicly humiliates her in front of her peers and teachers. He orders everyone to shun her, avoid her, and exclude her from their converse. The public shaming is Jane’s adversity because she states, “There was I, then, mounted aloft: I, who had said I could not bear the shame of standing on my natural feet in the middle of the room, was now exposed to general view on a pedestal of infamy” (66). However, as the girls are passing by, a girl lifts her eyes at Jane and this act inspires Jane to have dignity. Through overcoming this misfortune, Jane grows and learns that people are by her
In Sedgwick’s A New-England Tale, Mrs. Wilson is the classic representation of a novel’s antagonist, especially in regards to how she treats protagonist, Jane Elton. However, it is the parenting, or lack thereof that has the greatest impact on the lives of Elvira and David Wilson, who despite being prohibited from engaging in sinful behavior, do just that. Sedgwick demonstrates that Mrs. Wilson’s salvation may have given her an authority over others, but when she failed to teach her children the ways of the Lord, her responsibility abandonment led to her children’s act of sin.
Janes nearest of kin were her grandmother and her aunt, both of them lived a humble life and hardly had a sufficient income. Her aunt Miss Bates was a very popular and always welcomed person, although she was “neither young, handsome, rich nor married” (cf. Emma p.22). She cares for her mother, Jane’s grandmother, the widow of a former vicar of Highbury and together they live in a small and simple home.
In Northanger Abbey, Henry is painted as the perfect person in Catherine’s perspective because while he understands the rules of society, he is able to manoeuvre them to act in his favour. Catherine sees him as a model of who she desires to be as she enters the upper class. By the end of the novel she is able to interpret to what extent to follow the societal expectations and understand when to keep her own values. In the end Catherine has a happy ending, as “Austen is often happy to follow the Cinderella plot, and to make a happy ending out of marrying her heroine to a man notably above her in income and social prestige.” (McMaster 117)
It is ironic that Jane is seen as the guilty party in the incident with John Reed because John started the fight when he slapped Jane. Then when John’s sisters, Eliza and Georgina, go to “tattle tale” on Jane, their mother blames Jane for the whole situation. Jane compares John to a “murderer,” “slave-driver,” and “Roman Emperors” (Bronte 9). During this comparison, she is implying that he is a very cruel and awful person. That he would beat her and boss her around.
When Jane meets Helen at Lowood school, Jane is amazed and confused at Helen’s ability to tolerate the abuse directed at her by the teachers. Both Helen and Jane struggle at the school however, Helen and Jane endure the mistreatment from the teachers individually. “I heard her with wonder: I could not comprehend this doctrine of endurance” (Brontë 6). Jane refuses to conform to the teachers complaints, her free
Oftentimes, minor characters help to reveal a theme or contribute to the characterization of the protagonist. In the novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, Helen Burns serves as a foil character to the protagonist, Jane Eyre. Throughout the novel, Helen’s docile and pious nature helps to emphasize Jane’s development from a passionate girl to a modest woman. Helen’s theological beliefs also allow her to serve as a foil character to Mr. Brocklehurst, the headmaster of Lowood Institution, and St John Rivers, a zealous missionary, in order to reveal how Christianity is used to control Jane. Compared to the male characters in the novel, Helen’s positive use of religion proves to be more effective in encouraging Jane to adopt Christian values.
Deception can prove to be a powerful tool—both in the real world and in literature. While it is typically viewed as malicious, some forms of deception can prove to be beneficial in the long run. This kind of deceit is very prevalent in Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. Mr. Rochester, specifically, spends a large portion of the story deceiving many characters, but most of his lies are directed towards Jane. At first, the façade he puts on seems questionable, but his motives behind his actions show that he had good intentions.
A byronic hero carries traits of an unethical protagonist in order to show that one is narcissistic with evil intentions. In the novel Jane Eyre (1847) Charlotte Brontë creates the character of Edward Rochester to play the role as the byronic hero. Brontë is able to illustrate the character with her choice of emotional appeal, characterization, and tone. Brontë’s purpose in creating Rochester’s character was to show the characteristics of a byronic hero in order to capture the different aspects of his inhumane behavior and dark persona. Brontë characterizes Rochester as moody and temperamental throughout the novel to show how his arrogance affected his tone as a whole.
Bronte 's Jane Eyre transcends the genres of literature to depict the emotional and character development of its protagonist. Although no overall genre dominates the novel exclusively, the vivid use of setting contributes towards the portrayal of Bronte’s bildungsroman (Realisms, 92) and defines the protagonist’s struggles as she grapples with her inner-self, and the social expectations of her gender. The novel incorporates Jane’s frequent conflicts, oppression, isolation and self-examination as she defends her identity and independence. Set amongst five separate locations, Bronte’s skilful use of literal and metaphorical landscapes, nature, and imagery, skilfully intertwines with the plot and denotes each phrase of her maturity.
Before Rochester, and his influence, Jane had been accustomed to men in power such as John Reed and Mr. Brocklehurst. Their influences on Jane were more negative as they tore Jane down instead of putting her up. These figures allowed the arrival of a seemingly encouraging, kind, and adoring man such as Rochester to be a shock to Jane when she was first employed at Thornfeild. This stems Janes biggest growth from Rochester, the bettering of her self-esteem. Due to Rochester’s exaggerative language he constantly teaches her the value of her self-worth and her beauty.
Jane Eyre: A Quest for True Happiness Charlotte Bronte’s classic heartfelt novel entitled “Jane Eyre” depicts how an unloved orphan constantly wishes for affection and acceptance throughout her life. Even at an early age in life, she never truly understood what it meant to be “loved” and what it means to “love” others. With this, maturing into a young lady definitely opened her eyes to the realities of life. Moreover, the novel also depicts a patriarchal society where women aren’t respected with dignity and equality. In this coming of age novel, discover how a young woman courageously faced her fears and triumphed with love in the end.
Over the course of Jane’s journey, she struggles with her own Christian faith in God and beliefs as well as with the approaches to religion the characters Mr Brocklehurst, Helen Burns and St. John Rivers have chosen. Mr Brocklehurst Jane’s first encounter with one of the strongly religious characters takes place in her aunt’s house. Jane meets Mr Brocklehurst, the master Lowood school, where she will be studying and eventually become a teacher later in the novel. During her first interaction with him Mr Brocklehurst promptly asks Jane “Do you read your Bible?”
Jane Eyre, published in 1847, by focusing on its protagonist’s, Jane’s personality, dependency and self governance. The aim of this study is to look into Jane’s development and analyze her identity with the help of a theoretical framework drawn from psychoanalysis and developmental psychology, and within the context of the Victorian era. The novel focuses on Jane’s experiences and psychological growth from youth to adulthood. Psychoanalytic criticism adopts the methods of "reading" employed by Freud and later theorists to interpret texts or writings.
Topic: Marriage in “Jane Eyre” In “Jane Eyre” Charlotte Brontë rejects the traditional role of women subdued by social conceptions and masculine authority by generating an identity to her female character. Thesis: Jane´s personality will bring into being a new kind of marriage based on equality, meanwhile her choice for romantic fulfilment will depend solely on her autonomy and self-government. Introduction Charlotte Brontë´s “Jane Eyre” stands as a model of genuine literature due to the fact that it breaks all conventions and stereotypes and goes beyond the boundaries of common romance in order to obtain love, identity and equality. 1.