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Self-Individualism In Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre

1395 Words6 Pages

The novel Jane Eyre provides a theme of finding self-individualism, by going beyond the boundaries of the female reach. Jane Eyre commences the novel arriving at Gateshead as an orphan child who was left with her Aunt Mrs. Reed who deeply dislikes and neglects her. As Jane Eyre arrives at Gateshead the weather is being depicted “the cold winter wind had brought with it clouds so somber, and rain so penetrating, that further out –door exercise was now out of question” (Bronte 8). By delineating the weather as being cold and raining, the setting is conveyed as melancholy and offers a dreary mood. The setting foreshadows the future occurrence that will take place at Gates Head. Jane Eyre has three cousins in Gateshead, who are Georgianna Reed, Eliza Reed and John Reed who treat her horrible especially John Reed as Jane Eyre proclaims, “ He bullied me and punished me not two or three times in the week, nor once or twice in the day but continually: every nerve I had feared him…” (Bronte 9). Jane Eyre being in the Gateshead was paranoid to be near John Reed. “Mrs. Reed was blind and deaf on the subject she never saw him strike or heard him abuse me…” (Bronte 9). Jane could not have turned to Mrs. Reed to tell her that her son bullied her because she would simply not believe her. Jane could not say anything to anyone in Gateshead Hall because it would not …show more content…

Mrs. Reed sends Jane to Lowood. The setting of Lowood Institute was gloomy full of grief, acceptance, and friendship. She meets her first close friend Helen Burns who is a foil to Jane because Helen is conveyed as a conformist, but on the other hand Jane she does not let herself be pushed around at Lowood. At Lowood Institute the students were dying, and sadly Helen was one of them. Jane experiences the loss of her friend but learns quickly to accept the death of her

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1375 Words | 6 Pages

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.

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783 Words | 4 Pages

Jane requests to return to the Reed house, after learning about her cousin’s suicide and her aunt, Mrs. Reed’s, illness; however Rochester questions, “And what good can you do her… you say she cast you off,” Jane replies, “Yes, sir, but that is long ago; and when her circumstances were very different: I could not be easy to neglect her wishes now” (Brontë 227). Jane looks beyond that Mrs. Reed “cast[ed] her off,” implying that she has grown to let go of grudges and developed a mature mentality. The irony of Jane’s inability to “neglect her wishes,” infers how the injustice treatment of Mrs. Reed unaffectedly brings Jane to look past the situation by visiting the Reeds in a time of sorrow. In addition, Rochester attempts to convince his wedded Jane to stay with him, after learning about his mad wife; Rochester claims that his father had “sent [him] out to Jamaica, to espouse a bride already courted for” him but only so his brother and father to get “thirty thousand pounds,” Rochester further admits to Jane that “you know now that I had but a hideous demon. I was wrong to attempt to deceive you…

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710 Words | 3 Pages

Arguably, Helen’s short presence in Jane’s life influences Jane’s many of Jane’s decisions throughout the test. First, Jane forgives Mrs. Reed for her cruel treatment during Jane’s childhood. Jane also forgives Mr. Rochester for his deception and decides to return to him, all before knowing about the fire and Bertha Mason’s death. Just as Jesus preached to his disciples to forgive and live a pure life. In Maria Lamonaca’s literary criticism, "Jane's Crown of Thorns: feminism and Christianity in Jane Eyre" she states, “[Helen’s] example and beliefs serve Jane in good stead later in the novel.

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277 Words | 2 Pages

Group Response: Mrs. Reed is showing that Jane is inferior to her and her family even though that is contradicting because Jane is family. This just shows that even though Jane is blood so family they just dislike her so much that they don’t see her as a family member. 2. “Humility is a christian grace, and one peculiarly

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1256 Words | 6 Pages

In Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë explores a love story between two characters, Mr. Rochester and Jane, which is formed from deception. Mr. Rochester lies to Jane on multiple occasions. He does not admit who he is to Jane right way, creates a facade as a gypsy, and finally falsifies his past marriage with Bertha. Deception serves as a problem in their relationship, but ultimately they are able to put it behind them and find happiness together. When the character of Bertha Mason is introduced, it is revealed that Mr. Rochester has a past he wishes to forget and his interest for Jane stems from his hatred of Bertha and their unsuccessful marriage.

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988 Words | 4 Pages

Mrs. Reed likewise separates Jane from the Reeds’ social circle by confining her to the nursery while her cousins spend their days in the drawing room (22) and calling Mr. Lloyd, the apothecary for “ailing servants,” instead of the family physician for Jane’s illness (15), thus placing her among the servants. However, the servants too reject Jane from their group—Miss Abbot told Jane that she is “less than a servant” because she does “nothing for [her] keep” (9). Jane thus

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959 Words | 4 Pages

Jane was raised by two significant women: Mrs. Reed and Miss Temple. It is evident from these relationships that it is imperative to have respect and affection for a connection to flourish. Although Mrs. Reed does not have Jane's best interest at heart, Miss Temple shows her the opposite remark. Mrs. Reed is abusive and harsh towards Jane, depriving her of the love and care that she deserves. She treats Jane as inferior, excludes her from family events, and makes her feel insignificant.

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1212 Words | 5 Pages

Furthermore, Jane was never accepted by neither Mrs. Reed nor her children, as a child, she was constantly blamed and punished for problems that were caused by Mrs. Reed’s son, John Reed. They never believed a word Jane said. While Georgiana was always favored by her mother and the servants because of her beauty, even though she “had a spoiled temper… [and] was universally indulged,” (Brontë 16). People based their opinions about others only on the looks on the outside, instead of their personalities or tempers.

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2249 Words | 9 Pages

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

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1537 Words | 7 Pages

As a child, Jane was a hardened and rebellious child, shaped by the mistreatment of her aunt Reed and cousins. Her character was reshaped by her experiences in Lockwood and her friendship with Helen Burns. Jane’s education in Lockwood strived to bring her up as a “child of grace” (Brontë 54), wherein she conforms to the norms, in contrast to being a “child of nature” (Brontë 54), one that is individual and unique. Throughout her life, Jane struggles between these contrasting categories. (Benvenuto) Jane’s admiration and friendship with Helen Burns allowed her to compare her ways with someone she looked up to.

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442 Words | 2 Pages

Jane Eyre is about a woman who was raised by her aunt, Mrs. Reed, who is unrelated. Her childhood was of abuse and mistreatment by Mrs. Reed and her children. She found no comfort in this home and was falsely accused of being a child miscreant. Therefore, Mrs. Reed decided to send her to the Lowood Institute, a boarding school for girls. Jane arrives at the Lowood Institute and meets her friend Helen Burns and a kind teacher Miss Temple.

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1015 Words | 5 Pages

If Thornfield treated Jane badly, she most likely would not have stayed as long as she did. Even though Jane has never had a place she feels safe in, she knows that to have a satisfactory home you must keep safety an important factor. Safety is a very important thing for anybodys definition of home. If there is no sense of safety it will not be good for

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1414 Words | 6 Pages

Charlotte Bronte takes us on a journey from the point which Jane Eyre, the protagonist lives with her aunt and cousins whom very much dislikes her in Gateshead to her going to a boarding school in Lowood, after which she becomes a governess in Thornfield where she falls in love with Mr. Rochester her employer whom she later finds out is married to a mad woman by the name of Bertha Mason, upon her discovery of this she picks up and leaves Thornfield, she then ends up at Marsh End where he meets her relatives. The novel carries us through ever important event in her life, which introduces us to new aspects of her personality, up until her eventual marriage to Mr. Rochester. The novel fits this theme as its protagonist chooses individualism as she refuses to take the role subservience as that of a traditional female of the Victorian era society, she stands up for her rights and want she believes in, she ventures in her own unique thoughts, and stands by her views even if it means disagreeing with those superior to her. Jane comments on the role of women in society and the greater constraint imposed on them. V.S Naipaul’s

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747 Words | 3 Pages

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?”

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1113 Words | 5 Pages

The coming-of-age novel, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, explores how those who are deprived of love during childhood are bound to seek love for the rest of their lives. The protagonist, Jane, develops her moral character as she searches for the love that she lacked. The process of this development is seen in her early days with her extended family, her schooling, her relationship with her Rochester and her newly found cousins, and her happy marriage with him. At the beginning of the book, we learn of Jane’s abusive relationship with her cousins and aunt.

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