jane Eyre in “Jane Eyre”’s Charlottle BronTE

Owing to the growth of scientific inventions,industry was mechanized,wealth was increased but only the few was enriched at the expense of the many

FACULTY OF ENGLISH AND MODERN

LANGUAGES

Assignment on English and

American Literature

Eyre”’s Charlottle BronTE

HA NOI,2008

* *

*

There are many changes in the world in the 19th century.It was characterized by sharp contradictions and was an age of progress:railways and steamships were built,great scientific discoveries were made,education became more widespread,but at the same time it was an age of profound social unrest,because there was too much poverty,too much injustice,too much ugliness,and above all,fierce exploitation of man by man.Owing to the growth of scientific inventions,industry was mechanized,wealth was increased but only the few was enriched at the expense of the many.For example,England became the richest country in the world towards the middles of the 19th century with the conditins of life for the workers in the growing industries such as:dirty factories,inhumanly long hours of work,child labor,exploitation of both men and women workers,low wages,slums and frequent unemployment

Moreover,by the thirties of the 19th century English capitalism had entered a new stage of development.England had became a classical capitaist country,a country of industrial capitalism.The Industrial Revolution on gathered force as the 19th century progressed,and worked profound changes in both the economic and the social of the country.In addition,there were many theories created

by bourgeois ideologists.The attempts of the bourgeois to solve social contracdictionts amt to turn aside the attention of the workers from political struggle ended in failure.But the workers fought for their rights.Their political demands were expressed in the People’s Charter in 1833.The Chartists introduced their own literature,which was the first attempt to create a literature of working class.The Chartist writers tried their hand at different genres.They wrote articles,short stories,songs,epigrams,poems.Their leading genre was poetry.They describes the struggle of the workersfor their rights,they showed the ruthless exploitatiion and the miserable fate of the poor

In fact,the ideas of Chartism attracted the attention of many

progressive-minded people of the time.many prominent writers became aware of the social injustices around them and tried to picture them in their works.Thus this priod of fierce class struggle was mirrored in literature by appearance of a new trend,that of Critical realism.The greatest novelists of the age are:Charles Dicken,William Makepeace Thackeray,charlottle Bronte,Elizabeth Gaskell.They use the novel as a mean to protest against the evils in contemporary social and economic life and to picture the world in a realistic way.They introduced a new characters inti literature:the working class.They expressed deep sympathy for the working people,described the unbearable conditions of their life and work,voiced a passionate protest against exploitation and described their persistent struggle forr their rights.The greatness of these novelists lies not only in their truthful description of contemporary life,but also in their profound humanism.Their sympathy lies with the ordinary labouring people.They belived in the good qualities of the human heart

* *

*

1816 to Maria Branwell and Patrick Bronte Because Charlotte's mother died when Charlotte was five years old, Charlotte's aunt, a devout Methodist, helped her

brother-in-law raise his children In 1824 Charlotte and three of her sisters—Maria, Elizabeth, and Emily—were sent to Cowan Bridge, a school for clergymen's daughters When an outbreak of tuberculosis killed Maria and Elizabeth, Charlotte and Emily were brought home Several years later, Charlotte returned to school, this time in Roe Head, England She became a teacher at the school in 1835 but decided after several years to become a private governess instead She was hired to live with and tutor the children of the wealthy Sidgewick family in 1839, but the job was a misery to her and she soon left it Once Charlotte recognized that her dream of starting her own school was not immediately realizable, however, she returned to working as a governess, this time for a different family Finding herself equally disappointed with governess work the second time around, Charlotte recruited her sisters to join her in more serious preparation for the establishment of a school

projects flourished At a young age, the children created a fictional world they named Angria, and their many stories, poems, and plays were early predictors of shared writing talent that eventually led Emily, Anne, and Charlotte to careers as novelists As adults, Charlotte suggested that she, Anne, and Emily collaborate on a book of poems The three sisters published under male pseudonyms: Charlotte's was Currer Bell, while Emily and Anne wrote as Ellis and Acton Bell, respectively When the poetry volume received little public notice, the sisters decided to work on separate novels but retained the same pseudonyms Anne and Emily produced their

masterpieces in 1847, but Charlotte's first book, The Professor, never found a willing publisher during her lifetime Charlotte wrote Jane Eyre later that year The

book, a critique of Victorian assumptions about gender and social class, became one

of the most successful novels of its era, both critically and commercially

Autobiographical elements are recognizable throughout Jane

Eyre Jane's experience at Lowood School, where her dearest friend dies of

tuberculosis, recalls the death of Charlotte's sisters at Cowan Bridge The hypocritical religious fervor of the headmaster, Mr Brocklehurst, is based in part on that of the Reverend Carus Wilson, the Evangelical minister who ran Cowan Bridge Charlotte took revenge upon the school that treated her so poorly by using it as the basis for the fictional Lowood Jane's friend Helen Burns's tragic death from tuberculosis recalls the deaths of two of Charlotte's sisters, Maria and Elizabeth, who succumbed to the same disease during their time at Cowan Bridge Additionally, John Reed's decline into alcoholism and dissolution is most likely modeled upon the life of Charlotte Bronte's brother Branwell, who slid into opium and alcohol addictions in the years preceding his death Finally, like Charlotte, Jane becomes a governess—a neutral vantage point from which to observe and describe the oppressive social ideas and practices of nineteenth-century Victorian society

Jane Eyre - The protagonist and narrator of the novel, Jane is

an intelligent, honest, plain-featured young girl forced to contend with oppression, inequality, and hardship Although she meets with a series of individuals who threaten her autonomy, Jane repeatedly succeeds at asserting herself and maintains her principles of justice, human dignity, and morality She also values intellectual and emotional fulfillment Her strong belief in gender and social equality challenges the Victorian prejudices against women and the poor The development of Jane Eyre's character is central to the novel From the beginning, Jane possesses a sense

of her self-worth and dignity, a commitment to justice and principle, a trust in God, and a passionate disposition Her integrity is continually tested over the course of the novel, and Jane must learn to balance the frequently conflicting aspects of herself so

as to find contentment

The novel begins in Gateshead Hall, where a ten-year-old orphan named Jane Eyre is living with her mother's brother's family The brother, surnamed

Reed, dies shortly after adopting Jane His wife, Mrs Sarah Reed, and their three children (John, Eliza and Georgiana) neglect and abuse Jane, for they resent Mr Reed's preference for the little orphan in their midst In addition, they dislike Jane's plain looks and quiet yet passionate character The novel begins with young John Reed bullying Jane, who retaliates with unwanted violence Jane is blamed for the ensuing fight, and Mrs Reed has two servants drag her off and lock her up in the

"red-room", the unused chamber in which Mr Reed died Still locked in that night, Jane sees a light and panics, thinking that her uncle's ghost has come Her scream rouses the house, but Mrs Reed just locks her up for a longer period of time Then Jane has a fit and passes out A doctor, Mr Lloyd, comes to Gateshead Hall and suggests that Jane goes to school.Mr Brocklehurst is a cold, cruel, self-righteous, and highly hypocritical clergyman who runs a charity school called Lowood Institution He accepts Jane as a pupil in his school, but she is infuriated when Mrs Reed tells him, falsely, that she is a liar After Brocklehurst departs, Jane bluntly tells Mrs Reed how she hates the Reed family Mrs Reed, so shocked that she is scarcely capable of responding, leaves the drawing room in haste

Jane finds life at Lowood grim Miss Maria Temple, the youthful superintendent, is just and kind, but another teacher, Miss Scatcherd, is sour and abusive Mr Brocklehurst, visiting the school for an inspection, has Jane placed

on a tall stool before the entire assemblage He then tells them that " this girl, this child, the native of a Christian land, worse than many a little heathen who says its prayers to Brahma and kneels before Juggernaut—this girl is—a liar!"Later that day, Miss Temple allows Jane to speak in her own defense After Jane does so, Miss Temple writes to Mr Lloyd His reply agrees with Jane's, and she is cleared of Mr Brocklehurst's accusation.Mr Brocklehurst embezzles the school's funds to support his family's luxurious lifestyle while hypocritically preaching to others a doctrine of

privation and poverty As a result, Lowood's eighty pupils must make do with cold rooms, poor meals and thin garments whilst his family lives in comfort The majority become sick from a typhus epidemic that strikes the school

Jane is impressed with one pupil, Helen Burns, who accepts Miss Scatcherd's cruelty and the school's deficiencies with passive dignity, practicing the Christian teaching of turning the other cheek Jane admires and loves the gentle Helen and they become best friends, but Jane cannot bring herself to emulate her friend's behaviour While the typhus epidemic is raging, Helen dies of consumption (tuberculosis) in Jane's arms.Many die in the typhus epidemic, and Mr Brocklehurst's neglect and dishonesty are laid bare Several rich and kindly people donate to put up a new school building in a more healthful location New rules are made, and improvements in diet and clothing are introduced Though Mr Brocklehurst cannot be overlooked, due to his wealth and family connections, new people are brought in to share his duties of treasurer and inspector, and conditions improve dramatically at the school

The narrative resumes eight years later Jane has been a teacher at Lowood for two years, but she thirsts for a better and brighter future She advertises as a governess and is hired by Mrs Alice Fairfax, housekeeper of the Gothic manor, Thornfield, to teach a rather spoiled but amiable little French girl named Adele Varens A few months after her arrival at Thornfield, Jane goes for a walk and aids a horseman who has taken a fall He is rude to her and calls her a witch, but she helps him back on the horse nonetheless On her return to Thornfield, Jane discovers that the horseman is her employer, Mr Edward Rochester, an ugly, moody yet wonderful, passionate, Byronic, and charismatic gentleman nearly twenty years older than she Adele is his ward

Rochester seems quite taken with Jane He repeatedly summons her to his presence and talks with her Jane is happy at Thornfield, but there are soon events to tarnish her new happiness: a strange laugh in the halls, a near fatal fire from which she has to save the master of the house, an attack upon a houseguest and a romantic rival: Miss Blanche Ingram.Jane receives word that Mrs Reed, upon hearing of her son John's apparent suicide after leading a life of dissipation and debt, has suffered a near-fatal stroke and is asking for her Jane returns to Gateshead.Although she rejects Jane's efforts at reconciliation, Mrs Reed gives Jane a letter that she had previously withheld out of spite The letter is from Jane's father's brother, John Eyre, notifying her of his intent to leave her his fortune upon his death

About a fortnight after Jane's return to Thornfield, Jane, after months of concealing her emotions, vehemently proclaims her love for Edward, who

in turn passionately proposes to her Following a month of courtship, Jane's forebodings arise when a strange, savage-looking woman sneaks into her room one night and rips her wedding veil in two Yet again, Rochester attributes the incident to Grace Poole.The wedding goes ahead nevertheless But during the ceremony in the church, the mysterious Mr Mason and a lawyer step forth and declare that Rochester cannot marry Jane because his own wife is still alive Rochester bitterly and sarcastically admits this fact, explaining that his wife is a violent madwoman whom

he keeps imprisoned in the attic, where Grace Poole looks after her But Grace Poole imbibes gin immoderately, occasionally giving the madwoman an opportunity to escape It is Rochester's mad wife who is responsible for the strange events at Thornfield Rochester nearly committed bigamy, and kept this fact from Jane The wedding is cancelled, and Jane is heartbroken.Rochester then asks Jane to accompany him to the south of France, where they will live as husband and wife,

even though they cannot be married But though she still loves him, Jane refuses to betray the God-given morals and principles she has always believed in

In the dead of night, she slips out of Thornfield and takes a coach far away to the north of England When her money gives out, she sleeps outdoors on the moor and reluctantly begs for food One night, freezing and starving, she comes to Moor House (or Marsh End) and begs for help St John Rivers, the young clergyman who lives in the house, admits her.Jane, who gives the false surname of Elliott, quickly recovers under the care of St John and his two kind sisters, Diana and Mary St John arranges for Jane to teach a charity school for girls

in the village of Morton.Suspecting Jane's true identity, St John Rivers relates Jane's experiences at Thornfield and says that her uncle, John Eyre, has died and left Jane his fortune of 20,000 pounds After confessing her true identity, Jane arranges to share her inheritance with the Riverses, who turn out to be her cousins

St John intends to travel to India and devote his life to missionary work He asks Jane to accompany him as his wife Jane consents to go to India but adamantly refuses to marry him because they are not in love St John continues to pressure Jane to marry him, and his forceful personality almost causes her to capitulate But at that moment she hears what she thinks is Rochester's voice calling her name, and this gives her the strength to reject St John completely.The next day, Jane takes a coach to Thornfield But only blackened ruins lie where the manorhouse once stood An innkeeper tells Jane that Rochester's mad wife set the fire and then committed suicide by jumping from the roof Rochester rescued the servants from the burning mansion but lost a hand and his eyesight in the process

He now lives in an isolated manor house called Ferndean Going to Ferndean, Jane reunites with Rochester At first, he fears that she will refuse to marry a blind

cripple, but Jane accepts him without hesitation Rochester eventually recovers sight

in one eye, and can see their first-born son when the baby is born

Indeed,Jane Eyre is the protagonist and title character, orphaned

as a baby She is a plain-featured, small and reserved but talented, empathetic, hard-working, honest (not to say blunt), and passionate girl Skilled at studying, drawing, and teaching, she works as a governess at Thornfield Manor and falls in love with her wealthy employer, Edward Rochester But her strong sense of conscience does not permit her to become his mistress, and she does not return to him until his insane wife is dead and she herself has come into an inheritance

* *

*