Monday, September 13, 2010
Jane Eyre, just what is she?!?!
So, I believe that yes she did evolve as a character as a whole throughout the novel, but overall, she is that same woman that she was at the age of 10. She was and is a woman who did not have love as a child and so sought it out as an adult. Because of these two things, she has a strong sense of loyalty towards her friends and family. The Reeds definitely didn't love her and sadly enough, Mrs. Reed will never come to love Jane, even in death. So basically, she feels a strong sense of loyalty for her friends and family, so she buys that gravestone for her best friend who died over 10 years ago, and she splits her wealth with her family. Throughout her life she sought love and she wanted to show her love for others by giving and using her sense of justice in that regard. Even if it does seem that she did change, and her values seem to falter or perhaps jump around a little bit, the reason that this is happening is because she seeks out that love.
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Charlotte Bronte gave Jane very little room to evolve as a character. Jane had to struggle little, easily moving from her aunt's home, to her boarding school, to Thornfield, to the Rivers' home. In each transfer, for the most part, she is received well and not given a hard time. Thus, she is unable to grow out of her immaturites and truly become an adult. In each place she resides, Jane finds someone to model and latch on to. For example, first she latches on to Helen, then Rochester, and eventually the entire Rivers family. Bronte creates a character who is unable to think for herself and develop her own sense of self. Jane is characterized by those around her, never truly experiencing a "coming-of-age". If Jane Eyre is considered a coming-of-age story, where is Jane's self-discovery? Even when she ventures out of Thornfield, she finds her own cousins and latches on to their family. Jane never experiences a hard time that every character must undergo to grow, whether it is a mental or physical struggle. Jane is comforted mentally by the love and presence of others such as Helen, Rochester, and the Rivers and physically by the homes these characters provide, and ultimately the inheritance from her uncle. If Jane had truly evolved she would not have run back to Mrs. Reed during her death and Mr. Rochester after he "called to her". Jane is not a confident woman in the 19th century who empowers others, but is a young girl blinded by various luxuries, whether material or immaterial.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. Throughout the entire novel, her personality doesn't really change at all. She sticks by her principles, and is never swayed by anyone else. For example after she meets St. John Rivers, this extremely attractive guy who repeatedly asks her to marry him, she refuses every time, even though she knows it kind of makes him dislike her more, which she dreads. And also, after she finds out that Rochester is still married to Bertha, she refuses to stay at Thornfield and marry him. Thus, she is not the type of person to easily be pressured into doing things she doesn't want to do. Also, despite inheriting a large sum of money, she never becomes greedy, and insists on sharing her wealth which shows that she's also a selfless person.
ReplyDeleteJane Eyre is a character who has a very strong moral compass, she also has a very strong and independent spirit but she tends to conceal parts of it until she is aware that she won't regret sharing her opinions. When she was living with St. John, she was much more reserved than when she was with Mr. Rochester because she didn't know St. John as well as she did Rochester. Jane's morality is very prominent throughout all of her decisions. When she left Mr. Rochester it was because she knew, in her heart, that it was wrong to live with him without marriage. At the same time, she wouldn't marry St. John because she knew that it would be wrong to marry him without love. Jane is also very self sufficient and has proven in many instances that she can survive without the care of others.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that Jane changes much in the novel with the exception of learning how to restrain her spirit. She doesn't stifle it but she does not openly voice it as easily as she did when she was a child.
I definitely agree with some aspects of Olivia's post, but I don't necessarily believe Jane never experienced any self-discovery. To agree with Olivia, I think Bronte did cop out at several points in the novel. When Jane advertises for her first job, she is requested at Thornfield without much hesitation. Then, when she flees Thornfield, she conveniently is offered shelter at the home of her long-lost cousins. In these instances, I do agree with Olivia in that Jane did not have to work much along her coming-of-age "journey." However, I don't think Jane "latched" on to characters. On the contrary, it seems Jane had to work hard for the affection of most of the characters she encountered. She was definitely more attached to Helen Burns than the other way around; she worked for that friendship. And it's not like Rochester was madly in love with Jane at first sight; and even if he was, he certainly didn't show it. And in no way was Jane immediately accepted at Moor House. So I don't buy that Jane made instant connections at any of the settings throughout the novel. Instead, she underwent several struggles, and ultimately made long-lasting bonds with many characters. In this way, Jane's character really did grow throughout the novel.
ReplyDeleteI feel like Jane did evolve a lot, and her experiences helped her grow and develop her later strenght; such as standing up to her aunt verbally, and later at boarding school being able to take injustice silently. All events and characters helped her grow and made her a stronger character. At the beginning of the novel, I saw her as weak and easily pushed around, and by the end of the novel, able to fully stand up for herself and make her own choices without the influence of others. Also I believe her virtues did change with her growth. Throughout the novel Charlotte Bronte makes it seem like Jane's opinions don't falter and are solid, but i think that changed as the novel progressed. Although she repeatedly said she could not marry Rochester over and over again, and made it seem like she kept to her values, she did end up breaking them. By going to seek Rochester after mysteriously hearing his voice, she knew she would be willing to accept him whether still married or not. Bertha's death just conveniently happened to have occurred while she was away. Jane really grew throughout the novel, she became stronger, but also was able to enter outside the comfort zone of her "strong" values.
ReplyDeleteJane ages from a child to an adult and, similarly, evolves as a character. In the beginning, she is an orphan isolated from her condescending relatives and without a real identity. However, as time passes, she forms an identity as an independent, principled woman who understands much about herself. She transforms from a child, dependent on the Reeds, to an adult who takes initiative on numerous occasions. For example, restless at Lowood, she places an ad in the paper for a governess position. Later, she refuses proposals from both Rochester and St. John; she rejects Rochester because he is already married, and St. John because he does not love her. Such decisions indicate her many principles, like the desire for love that is both true and moral. Jane also comes to understand more about herself, specifically in relation to her family. She learns that she has an uncle John, who, in life, desired to adopt her and leave her a generous inheritance. Further, she has three cousins who care for her deeply. Thus, she is not the unloved "dependent" the Reeds classified her as but, rather, someone with considerable wealth and a loving family. Overall, she evolves from a young girl unsure of who she is, into a woman who knows exactly who she is and where she has come from.
ReplyDeleteI think that throughout the novel, Jane does evolve as a character. I think it is her evolution that makes the journey easier and easier. As a child, Jane faced a lot of hardship between living with her aunt and not being loved and living at the Lowell School with little food. Jane continually evolves into a more independent woman who can think for herself. Jane realizes her strength when she decides to leave Mr. Rochester. Jane later realizes that she truly loves Mr. Rochester which is not showing weakness in her character, it is showing strength to follow what she truly loves. Jane is presented with many easy opportunities to live with everything taken care of such as living with Mr. Rochester or marrying St. John, but she refuses. Bronte is showing her feminist point of view through Jane's development into a strong and independent from a weak and lonely child.
ReplyDeleteI feel like Jane never really changed, but her surrounding characters and situations did. Throughout the book, Jane was an observant girl who constantly complained about her surroundings; She complained about her living conditions at the Reeds and about the outer beauty or rather lack of outer beauty of Mr. Rochester. Then, she also complains about the boring condition of the schoolhouse (not the academy, but instead the school set up by St.John). Clearly,no matter the situation, she is always complaining about something. However, somewhere in the middle of the book, Bronte felt remorse for creating such a miserable character. As a result, Jane's luck began to change; she magically found her distant cousins in the middle of the woods and somehow heard Mr Rochester call her name across a whole forest, valley, stream, and probably other geological features (maybe a plateau?). And eventually, she lived happily ever after. How does a miserable complaining girl have a happy ending?
ReplyDeleteSorry for the sarcasm in this post but I had a serious disliking of Jane Eyre.
I did notice that Jane complains about her situation on occasion but it's not like her complaints aren't justified. She is isolated and mistreated as a child, she deals with uncooked meals and fatal diseases at Lowood, and then to top it all off she finds out that the love of her life is actually married.
ReplyDeleteI don't think Jane grows up during the novel but she does change. When I started reading I was surprised by how mature Jane sounded. Even as a child, she questions everything. Most kids do what they're told, but Jane doesn't. Her time at Lowood tones down her intensity. When she meets Rochester, he tries to break through the wall of propriety and etiquette that Lowood instilled in her. I think because Jane always faced hardship, it is not easy to pinpoint a loss of innocence where she comes of age.
I feel that Jane Eyre did evolve through out the novel, but it wasn't a drastic change. In the end, she was still a stubborn person, which can be seen from her refusal to accept both Rochester's and St. John's marriage proposal. Also, she keeps all her original principles as well. However, she does become more independent as a person and more confident in her decision making. She finds herself and understands what she really wants in life, which towards the end of the book, is Rochester.
ReplyDeleteComplaining or not, Jane Eyre definitely grows up throughout the novel. Without a set of loving parents or any moral force guiding her ways, Jane surrenders to many hardships before acquiring her own sense of pride and worthiness. She succumbs to ten years of neglect at Gateshead, which only ends because of her sudden outburst against the malice and injustice that Aunt Reed precipitates. At the Lowood Institute, Jane spends another eight years with mistreatment, as she is overworked and undernourished by the vindictive Mr. Brocklehurst. Through these years, Jane Eyre must rely on small beacons of hope, such as the love provided by characters such as Bessie or Helen Burns, to endure the adversity and learn, on her own, compassion and righteousness. Jane does not have easy transitions between her different households; under her own initiative, Jane circulates the governess advertisements to attain an affluent lifestyle at Thornfield. Starving and weak, Jane literally begs the Rivers to offer her shelter at the Moor House. Even in materially comfortable quarters, such as at Gateshead or Thornfield, she is not emotionally content because of her isolation from a genuine, legitimate family. Jane works hard to find each of her homes, and yet still must continue searching for a sincere sense of belonging. Because of all the misery she bears without a strong guiding force, Jane must teach herself the difference between right and wrong, and what qualities are most important in life. By initially leaving Rochester and later rejecting St. John, Jane shows her “coming-of-age” by establishing a personal conviction to end the years of subjugation and find a life with moral dignity and true happiness.
ReplyDeleteI think the reason why Jane doesn’t seem to evolve so much is because the entire story is told from her point of view from the present, reflecting on the past. Her experiences are told in her own words. If instead she was replaced by an omniscient narrator, we’d probably read a progression of events, during which we can more clearly separate her thoughts at the time and her retrospective thoughts from the present. I think Jane does change quite a bit. When she is young, she expresses her thoughts more freely, such as after Mr. Brocklehurst visits Gatehead and she lashes out at her aunt for her treatment. Immediately afterwards she feels remorse for having been so impulsive with her hatred. At Lowood, she is only open with Helen, who she considers a real friend and confidant. At Thornfield, her interest for Rochester is kept completely to herself. However, when she really believes in something, or feels her values are threatened, she is not afraid to speak out, and this speaks to her strength. She exerts a lot of self-control as a young adult, never objecting to Rochester’s demands throughout her employment there. Even when Rochester asked her to help care for Mr. Mason, she did not protest or express fear. This is a change from when she was young, complaining about conditions at Gateshead or Lowood. Julia makes a good point in that Jane grows into a woman who is sure of her principles and acts upon them, doing what she thinks is necessary or right. As a child, or even a while after Thornfield (though less so), she is unsure of what she really wants. At first she wants independence, but after Thornfield, where does independence leave her? She almost dies! Her quest for love has already been mentioned. After losing the love of those she cared about at Thornfield, she realizes that she needs that love, much of which came from Rochester. She returns to him knowing that what she really wants is to be with him.
ReplyDeleteThe reason why Jane does not seem to evolve much as a character in the opinions of a majority of us, is because Bronte does not give a significant message to the book and by extension a larger purpose for Jane. By message and purpose, I mean that the novel is simply a tale of a woman's hard life in the 1800s. If anything, the story is supposed to demonstrate "revolutionary" thoughts and actions of a woman of low social class in a world with rigid beliefs about gender roles and hierarchy. Jane transcends these rules by gaining an education, attaining a large wealth, and marrying above her original means. She is portrayed as independent, brave and moral heroine who should stand as a symbol to all feminists. However, the culmination of the novel is where Jane falls short as this role model and Bronte's story becomes largely meaningless. In the end, Jane runs back to Rochester and gives up the life she built for herself to be his doting wife and nurse. At point in the story, I concluded that there was no point to Bronte's novel other than a well-crafted and entertaining piece of writing. On whole, Jane Eyre was unsatisfying.
ReplyDeleteI think it's hard for the reader to see Jane's development because it's 1st person narration - like when we look at ourselves in the mirror each day; we can't tell the amounting differences but to some one who hasn't seen us for weeks/months/years we look incredibly changed. The best way, I think, to see Jane's development is through her actions with people from her past. For example, her encounters with Georgiana and Eliza Reed. The first time we see the three cousins together, Jane is off on her own - she can't relate to the Reed kids and doesn't make much of an attempt to. But in the middle of the novel, when Jane goes back to Gateshead Hall, the three girl's interactions change. Georgiana is still selfish and obsessed with looks, Eliza is still the less gregarious, more down to earth of the two, but Jane is no longer the self conscious girl. Jane comes into Gateshead like she owns it - she's confident and determined to see her Aunt, even though her cousins try to stop her. While it's difficult to see the development in Jane's character, I think she definitely changes from a young child into a mature adult. She never loses her sense of morality, right and wrong, but she gains confidence and a sense of identity she didn't have before.
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