Allusions In Jane Eyre

Certain ideas and concepts that are discussed in How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster are evident in the two pieces of literature Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte and The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. Foster opens with the popular quest story type and what are its elements. There must be a quester, a destination, a basic objective, obstacles, and a hidden significance. In Jane Eyre Jane’s experience at Lowood could be exemplified. Jane being the perfect quester at this point in the novel since she is young, unwise, and inexperienced in the real world. The destination would be Lowood Orphanage School where her basic purpose is to receive a basic education for basic and ordinary (and religious according to Mr. Brocklehurst).

Along with the myriad of biblical allusions in Jane Eyre there are references to mythology and works from Shakespeare such as “Othello”, “Hamlet”, “King Lear”, and “Much Ado About Nothing”, which is to be expected according to Foster. Foster claims writers feel attached to writers from the past and like to take use some of their work and embed it in their own with modifications. Some examples of Shakespearean references include “And was that the head and front of his demanding” (Ch13 Pg. 8) from Othello, “When I saw my charmer…and ate its way in two minutes to my heart’s core,” (Ch15 Pg. 8) from Hamlet, or “Reason having come forward and told in her own quit way, a plain unvarnished tale,” (Ch16 Pg. 190). Jane Eyre does not only use references from the Bible, Myth, and Shakespeare. She also uses references from philosophy and literature of her time and the past such as Gulliver’s Travels, The Arabian Nights, or Paradise

According to Foster authors might kill off characters to cause plot implications or end them. In Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte uses violence to complicate the plot to end a plot complication. Because Bertha Rochester left her room she was able to burn down Mr. Rochester’s home and in the scheme of things Bertha died and Edward became blind. Bronte ended the complication of Mr. Rochester’s crazy wife interfering with Jane and Mr. Rochester’s love, however created a complication through his blindness. With the suicide of John Reed and the approaching death of Mrs. Reed, Jane comes back to Gateshead. At Gateshead she finds two unwed sisters who share animosity with each other, a son who committed suicide (or presumed to have committed suicide) and tarnished the Reed Family name, and a dying old lady who still holds a decade long grudge and hate for her husband’s favorite niece. Because of John Reed’s resulting self-inflicted violence we can observe how the Reed family has fallen from the top of the wheel of fortune to the bottom. Also by creating the approaching death of Mrs. Reed we can see how mature Jane has become after a decade away from Gateshead. We can observe this through Jane’s patience with Mrs. Reed by trying to make peace with her and staying at Gateshead longer then she should have for Georgiana. Through Mrs. Reed death we can see the difference in