Jane
Eyre
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.
An orphan since early childhood, Jane feels exiled and
ostracized at the beginning of the novel, and the cruel treatment she receives
from her Aunt Reed and her cousins only exacerbates her feeling of alienation.
Afraid that she will never find a true sense of home or community, Jane feels
the need to belong somewhere, to find “kin,” or at least “kindred spirits.”
This desire tempers her equally intense need for autonomy and freedom.
In her search for freedom, Jane also struggles with the
question of what type of freedom she wants. While Rochester initially offers
Jane a chance to liberate her passions, Jane comes to realize that such freedom
could also mean enslavement—by living as Rochester’s mistress, she would be
sacrificing her dignity and integrity for the sake of her feelings. St. John
Rivers offers Jane another kind of freedom: the freedom to act unreservedly on
her principles. He opens to Jane the possibility of exercising her talents
fully by working and living with him in India. Jane eventually realizes,
though, that this freedom would also constitute a form of imprisonment, because
she would be forced to keep her true feelings and her true passions always in
check.
Charlotte Brontë may have created the character of Jane Eyre
as a means of coming to terms with elements of her own life. Much evidence
suggests that Brontë, too, struggled to find a balance between love and freedom
and to find others who understood her. At many points in the book, Jane voices
the author’s then-radical opinions on religion, social class, and gender.
Despite his stern manner and not particularly handsome
appearance, Edward Rochester wins Jane’s heart, because she feels they are
kindred spirits, and because he is the first person in the novel to offer Jane
lasting love and a real home. Although Rochester is Jane’s social and economic superior,
and although men were widely considered to be naturally superior to women in
the Victorian period, Jane is Rochester’s intellectual equal. Moreover, after
their marriage is interrupted by the disclosure that Rochester is already
married to Bertha Mason, Jane is proven to be Rochester’s moral superior.
Rochester regrets his former libertinism and lustfulness;
nevertheless, he has proven himself to be weaker in many ways than Jane. Jane
feels that living with Rochester as his mistress would mean the loss of her
dignity. Ultimately, she would become degraded and dependent upon Rochester for
love, while unprotected by any true marriage bond. Jane will only enter into
marriage with Rochester after she has gained a fortune and a family, and after
she has been on the verge of abandoning passion altogether. She waits until she
is not unduly influenced by her own poverty, loneliness, psychological
vulnerability, or passion. Additionally, because Rochester has been blinded by
the fire and has lost his manor house at the end of the novel, he has become
weaker while Jane has grown in strength—Jane claims that they are equals, but
the marriage dynamic has actually tipped in her favor.
St. John Rivers is a foil to Edward Rochester. Whereas
Rochester is passionate, St. John is austere and ambitious. Jane often
describes Rochester’s eyes as flashing and flaming, whereas she constantly
associates St. John with rock, ice, and snow. Marriage with Rochester
represents the abandonment of principle for the consummation of passion, but
marriage to St. John would mean sacrificing passion for principle. When he
invites her to come to India with him as a missionary, St. John offers Jane the
chance to make a more meaningful contribution to society than she would as a
housewife. At the same time, life with St. John would mean life without true
love, in which Jane’s need for spiritual solace would be filled only by retreat
into the recesses of her own soul. Independence would be accompanied by
loneliness, and joining St. John would require Jane to neglect her own
legitimate needs for love and emotional support. Her consideration of St.
John’s proposal leads Jane to understand that, paradoxically, a large part of
one’s personal freedom is found in a relationship of mutual emotional
dependence.
Helen Burns, Jane’s friend at Lowood School, serves as a
foil to Mr. Brocklehurst as well as to Jane. While Mr. Brocklehurst embodies an
evangelical form of religion that seeks to strip others of their excessive
pride or of their ability to take pleasure in worldly things, Helen represents
a mode of Christianity that stresses tolerance and acceptance. Brocklehurst
uses religion to gain power and to control others; Helen ascetically trusts her
own faith and turns the other cheek to Lowood’s harsh policies.
Although Helen manifests a certain strength and intellectual
maturity, her efforts involve self-negation rather than self-assertion, and
Helen’s submissive and ascetic nature highlights Jane’s more headstrong
character. Like Jane, Helen is an orphan who longs for a home, but Helen
believes that she will find this home in Heaven rather than Northern England.
And while Helen is not oblivious to the injustices the girls suffer at Lowood,
she believes that justice will be found in God’s ultimate judgment—God will
reward the good and punish the evil. Jane, on the other hand, is unable to have
such blind faith. Her quest is for love and happiness in this world.
Nevertheless, she counts on God for support and guidance in her search.
Source:www.sparknotes.com › SparkNotes
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Eyre-13.07.2013
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