From Servitude to Freedom in Charlotte Brontes Jane Eyre...

From Servitude to Freedom in Jane Eyre Charlotte Brontes novel, Jane Eyre, skillfully reveals that Jane, the protagonist, has the qualities of endurance, valor, and vitality, yet she is refused self-contentment by the confined society in which she lives. Not only is this work a love story, but it is the tale of a young orphaned girl and her struggle for love and independence. Through the various environments Bronte provides, Jane oscillates between education and containment and also between freedom and servitude. Beginning at Gateshead, Jane has her first experience of containment in dealing with the Reeds. John Reed blatantly smothers Janes space by treating her like a slave, and Mrs. Reed enslaves her in every way. Mrs.†¦show more content†¦Mr. Brocklehurst preaches to Jane about sin and the Bible but Jane refuses to say what he wants to hear. Her first taste of rebellion continues in her encounter with Mrs. Reed. Jane says, I am glad you are no relation of mine. I will never call you aunt again as long as I live. I will never come to see you when I am grown up; and if anyone asks me how I liked you, and how you treated me, I will say the very thought of you makes me sick, and that you treated me with miserable cruelty(Bronte 30). Jane has the courage to stand up once and for all to her aunt. She has an unexplainable feeling inside, the strangest sense of freedom, of triumph...it seemed as if an invisible bond had burst,(Bronte 30), and this feeling is the cause of Janes breaks fro m containment later on in the novel. Jane uses the last break away from her restraints at Gateshead and moves on to Lowood Academy. Lowood is an institution that greets her with indigent conditions although she has escaped the wrath of her aunt. The routine of her life at Lowood in itself is a containing device in Janes struggle with her lessons, hemming muslin for Mrs. Smith, and observing Miss Scatcherds humiliation of Janes friend Helen Burns. Helen tries to exert her influence on Jane but Jane, Helens foil character, still refuses to submit to authority. Mr. Brocklehurst forces Jane at one point to stand on a stool for a half hour for breaking her slate and heShow MoreRelatedEssay about Jane Eyre: The Freedom of Love1842 Words   |  8 Pagesmany of the great feministic novels throughout literary history, Jane Eyre is a story about the quest for authentic love. However, Jane Eyre is unique and separate from other romantic pieces, in that it is also about a woman searching for a sense of self-worth through achievin g a degree of independence. Orphaned and dismissed at an early age, Jane was born into a modest lifestyle that was characterized by a form of oppressive servitude of which she had no autonomy. She was busy spending much of herRead MoreEssay about Jane Eyre: The Effect of a Patriarchal Society 1721 Words   |  7 PagesCharlotte Brontà « composed her novel Jane Eyre during the Victorian era; a period of history where Patriarchy set the expectations of men and women. The effect of this social system resulted in women suffering discrimination simply because of their gender. Sigmund Freud, in his essay entitled, â€Å"The Relation of the Poet to Day-Dreaming,† articulated that women were only capable of having erotic wishes dominate their â€Å"phantasies,† and even their ambitious â€Å"phantasies† were rooted in erotic wishes (177)Read MoreTremendous Spirit and Feminism Displayed in Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre1949 Words   |  8 PagesTremendous spiri t. The enviable trait that Jane Eyre from Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre possesses is what stimulates her to achieve self-actualization despite the fact that she is a woman. True feminism isn’t as violent as a handful of vicious extremists claim it to be. The accurate definition of feminism is â€Å"the doctrine advocating women’s social, political, civil, educational and all other rights as equal to those of men.† Women of Charlotte Bronte’s era did not have basic rights such as the aforementionedRead More Bertha as Janes Alter Ego in Jane Eyre Essays1473 Words   |  6 PagesBertha as Janes Alter Ego in Jane Eyre    I resisted all the way, (chapter 2)   Jane says as she is borne away to be locked in the red-room of Gateshead, where she will experience a fit of rage that inevitably arises from her physical and emotional entrapment. Jane evinces her refusal to accept passively restrictive male standards as well as the female predilection towards anger early in the novel. That night in the red-room, Jane experiences a vehement anger that she describes as oppressedRead MoreA Dialogue of Self and Soul11424 Words   |  46 Pagesand Letters from the Front with the aim of using feminist criticism to understand the achievements of British and American women in modern times. More recently they have also co-authored a collection of poetry, Mother Songs (1995), for and about mothers. The Madwoman in the Attic was a landmark in feminist criticism. It focuses almost exclusively on the issue of gender in relation to women, though it refers brieï ¬â€šy to the ambiguous class position of governesses such as Jane Eyre. The authorsRead More Jane Eyre Essay examples3139 Words   |  13 PagesJane Eyre and the Lovemad Woman I was experiencing an ordeal: a hand of fiery iron grasped my vitals. Terrible moment: full of struggle blackness, burning! No human being that ever lived could wish to be loved better then I was loved; and him who thus loved me I absolutely worshipped: and I must renounce love and idol. (311; ch. 27) Jane Eyre’s inner struggle over leaving an already married Rochester is the epitome of the new lovemad woman in nineteenth-century literature. Jane EyreRead MoreBird Imagery in Jane Eyre2729 Words   |  11 PagesIn Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte uses many types of imagery to provide understanding of the characters and also to express reoccurring themes in the novel. Through bird imagery specifically, we are able to see Jane develop from a small, unhappy child into a mature and satisfied young woman. The familiarity and transcendence of birds have given them a wider range of meaning and symbol in literature than any other animal. The resemblance of their activities to common patterns of human behavior makesRead MoreRace and Caribbean Culture1709 Words   |  7 PagesCosway who will later become Bertha Rochester, the mad woman in the attic from Charlotte Brontes Jane Eyre. Antoinette grew up during the British colonization of the Caribbean and has been raised by her prosperous f ather. This changes when the British government bans slave ownership and the entire economic existence of Antoinettes family becomes threatened. From her perspective, the freedom of human beings from servitude means financial instability which is echoed in her own precarious mental state