English 348 Mid-Term Exam: Domesticity and the Gothic in Jane Eyre and Bleak House In Brontë’s novel, dreams and uncanny doubles reflect Jane’s frustration with her imprisonment as well as her subconscious feminist desires. Dickens, by applying traditional Gothic concepts to both modern and domestic settings, paints a scathing picture of the disorder, hypocrisy, and indifference of Victorian England. These works acknowledge that very real threats exist within seemingly secure settings, and use Gothic elements to both reinforce and challenge the validity of the moral attitudes and behaviors illustrated within them. It is ultimately suggested that a balance between emotion and logic is necessary to gain the most accurate version of the truth, …show more content…
These elements symbolize both the claustrophobia of patriarchal oppression, but also the unhinged woman Jane has the potential to become. Trapped in the prison-like red room, its eerie features begin to play with her imagination. Gothic features such as looming furniture and crimson curtains are used to convey feelings of entrapment and mental instability. Lowood and Thornfield also represent cold and eerie architectural structures in which Jane faces barriers both socially and emotionally. Furthermore, notions of imprisonment and insanity are evoked by Brontë’s gothic descriptions of women in the novel. For example, Bertha is described as a ferocious, bestial, and unkept animal confined within the isolated attic of Thornfield. Brontë makes the similarities between her protagonist and her alter-ego obvious. Jane is a “mad cat” (44) with a fiery temper lurking within her and Rochester often equates her with aspects of the sublime such as witchery and sorcery. This supernatural motif can be seen as an objectification of sorts, but it also indicates that despite her physical plainness, Jane holds power over Rochester because her mind has completely bewitched