Jane Eyre Research Paper

Charlotte Bronte’s father was a part of the English clergy during the Victorian Era, where she often witnessed the ways of the economic and social society. During her life, Bronte saw how men generally dominated all of the aspects of English society, while women were silenced, and discouraged from speaking their minds. Charlotte desperately wanted a change within these common practices, and she shows her desire within her novel, Jane Eyre. Charlotte’s novel tells the story of a poor orphan, Jane, who is born into a loveless family, that isolates her due her social status. Jane moves to different laces throughout the development of her life, where unique encounters with a variety of characters help shape her view on societal and gender equality.

Bronte demonstrates the need for a change within English society through the use of a motif of birds. As Jane and her employer, Mr.Rochester get to know each other, Rochester notices the way Jane is conservative around him, as most women were with men during that era. He points this out to Jane, and describes how she is acting, as he explains, “I see at intervals the glance of a curious sort of bird through the close set bars of a cage: a vivid, restless, resolute captive is there; were it but free, it would soar cloud-high” (Barnes and Noble Classics, Ch 12, 166). It is clear that Jane is trapped under the control of her master, Mr. Rochester, as many low-class women were during that time period. The phrase, “Close-set bars,” is used to display the way Jane feels trapped within the standards of men, which were made for women to live up to. As Rochester says, “were it but free, it would soar cloud-high,” we as readers see what Bronte tries to convey to her target audience, which

Mr. Rochester brings up the subject life in the future for both him and Jane, where he informs Jane that she will soon have to leave to Ireland after he marries. However, Rochester is simply playing a game with jane, so that she will be forced to confess her love for him and because of this, jane realizes how he is playing with her emotions, causing her to yell, “Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong! - I have as much soul as you, - and full as much heart!” (Ch. 23, 295). Once again, we see the comparison between rich and poor, and how both are equal, which fortifies the message Bronte tries to convey throughout the novel. Through the use of the phrase, “poor, obscure, plain and little,” the reader can see how Bronte was trying to reach out and relate to any person who had ever felt “obscure,” or “plain.” Through this specific diction, she wants to connect with the people who have never felt a sense of power, or use within a society. Also, the word “as,” is used twice within the quote to show the equality between the two different social classes. While Rochester may be rich and Jane may be poor, she still feels the same as him, and Charlotte wants the readers from her time period to come to the realization that all humans feel the same no matter their rank in the world. While someone