Structure and setting Flashcards
Significance of location
Gateshead – the beginning
Lowood – low wood – a low point for Jane and one where vision and progress is hampered.
Thornfield – a place of difficulty and trial
Moor House – the wide open place suggestive of freedom/spaciousness
Ferndean – suggestive of green-ness and fertility, therefore fulfilment & creativity
Gateshead
She is constantly reminded of her dependent status and the inconvenience to which she puts the family
As a result she develops a strong sense of fairness and a powerful reaction to injustice
Lowood
She is branded a liar in front of the whole school
Brocklehurst does all he can to suppress the natural in the girls – whether it be their curly hair or their personalities.
Thornfield
• She obtains a post on the basis of her abilities and experience
Jane comes into contact with a different level of society
Moor House
Security and safety
An opportunity for rest and recovery after her experiences at Thornfield Hall
Narrative
It gives the action a sense of directness and immediacy, in that the reader shares the narrator’s experience
A first-person narrative may be a means of assuring readers that what they are reading is truthful and authentic
Bildungsroman
Her destination is seen in terms of self-fulfilment, a desire to discover a means of living her life to the full and making use of all her capacities
Her goal is not religious but secular: her ‘holy city’ is in her relationship with Rochester and living with him at Ferndean
Weather in Jane Eyre
The descriptions in Jane Eyre often describe drab, dreary weather reflecting Jane’s mood and mental condition.
Jane refers to the fact that she is scared, angry, and wants to leave Gateshead multiple times. When she expresses these emotions, which are harsh, cold, and burdening, Brontë follows the passage with a description of harsh, cold weather.