Jane Eyre Flashcards
When was Jane Eyre published?
1847
Jane’s spirited nature when locked in the red room for fighting back against John Reed
‘Unjust! Unjust!’
• more realistic, bold, spirited heroine than an idealised ‘Angel in the House’ female domestic figure
How does Jane Eyre reflect the ‘emergence of realism’ in the 19th century
• through spirited narration of Jane Eyre reliving and reflecting on her experiences
• Made more tangible through development of emotional attachment to her narration through first nine chapters dedicated to her youth
• Brontë represents her unique and interesting rebelliousness which we sympathise with
Jane bored of her role as a governess in Chapter 12:
Reflects on how women ‘suffer from too absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffer’
How does Jane Eyre ‘mold a new idea of marriage during the emergence of realism’
• honesty within the relationship:
Jane expresses dislike of Mr Brocklehurst, Rochester shocked: ‘What! a novice not worship her priest!’
• Respective understanding:
Rochester: ‘there is something quite singular about you’
Effect of romantic aspects of Jane Eyre
• romantic elements - improbable for this relationship to occur due to class barrier
• but then ‘moulds a new idea of marriage through its exploration of a relationship based on mutual understanding and affection
How does the marriage of Rochester and Jane based on ‘mutual affection’ juxtapose that of Bertha and Rochester’s based on ‘materialism’
• Rochester and Bertha have an arranged marriage - he is sent to Jamaica to marry her and inherit £30,000
Gothic element of Jane eyre
• ‘Madwoman in the attic’ Bertha Mason
• sets Rochester’s bed on fire, sneaks into Jane’s room to tear her wedding veil, attacks brother with knife
• goes insane and commits suicide, finally making her own decision and escaping marriage
What does Bertha Mason’s demonisation reflect about her and Rochester’s marriage
• Described as a ‘hyena’ , ‘demoniac laugh’
• driven to primitive action due to confinement based on loveless marriage, reflects madness illustrated in Charlotte Perkin Gilman’s 1892 The Yellow Wallpaper
Mr Brocklehurst in Charlottes’s life
Hypocritical religious fervor of headmaster Mr Brocklehurst based on Reverend Carus Wilson who ran Cowan Bridge, school she attended with her siblings
How does Jane choose a marriage of ‘mutual affection’
Rejects St John rivers marriage proposal to become a missionary, returns to rochester
How was Jane Eyre realistic?
She was a ‘small and plain heroine’ - plain in her puritan language and dress
Jane standing up to Mrs Reed
‘Speak I must’
In what sense does Rochester and Jane’s marriage challenge convention
Jane becomes economically independent at the end of
One of end quotes of Jane eyre
‘Reader I married him’
•Personal pronoun I - she has control in this
• distortion of genre - realism through our acknowledged connection to Jane ‘reader’
• sense of romantic inevitability paints it as a fairytale
