Jane Eyre

Setting Robin Canoy Lucia Zhan Diana Le

Rebecca Levy Rebekah Dollinger

Literal Meaning

0 The literal meaning of the prompt is to choose a scene in a particular setting and analyze how that setting affects and develops Jane’s character and the theme of the novel.

How it Relates

0 We have been analyzing imagery in class and the prompt builds off of that, as it asks how setting develops Jane’s characters and the themes of the novel . Also, there are similarities between “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” and “Jane Eyre” as both the protagonists struggle for redemption.

Example #1

“The afternoon came on a wet and somewhat misty; as it waned

into dusk, I began to feel that we were getting very far indeed

from Gateshead. We ceased to pass through towns; the country

changed; great gray hills heaved up round the horizon: as

twilight deepened, we descended a valley, dark with wood, and

long after night had overclouded the prospect, I heard a wild

wind rushing among trees”(Bronte 52).

As Jane journeyed to Lowood she still suffered from neglect and

loneliness. Through her travels she began passing almost

nothing illustrating the isolation of the schools and reflecting

the isolation she would soon face within the school. Jane had

always been alone at Gateshead, and now on a long journey she

was left on her own to find her way. This loneliness she

experience foreshadowed the hardness and crave for love later

in the novel.

Example #2 “Farther off were hills: not so lofty as those round Lowood, nor so craggy, nor so like barriers of separation from the living world; but yet quiet and lonely hills enough, and seeming to embrace Thornfield with a seclusion I had not expected to find existent so near the stirring locality of Millcote” (Brontë 103).

Jane physically is not as separated from the world as she was at Lowood, but she still does not feel as though she is as free as she desires to be. For the first time, Jane is stepping out into the world without having to depend on someone. Thornfield acts as her first experience of freedom and it is here where her independence somewhat develops.

Example #3

“My glazed eye wandered over the dim and misty landscape. I

saw that I had strayed far from the village: it was quite out of

sight. The very cultivation surrounding it had disappeared. I

had, by crossways and by-paths, once more drawn near the

tract of moorland; and now, only a few fields, almost as wild

and unproductive as the heath from which they were scarcely

reclaimed, lay between me and the dusky hill” (Brontë 338).

Jane is not only socially an outcast as a beggar for food, but in

the wilderness far away from any human interaction she is

also physically isolated. Alone, starving, and in the rain, she

attempts to grasp onto the belief of God in order to stay alive

and find direction in life. Her faith in religion is reinforced

through this event.

SIGNIFICANT MOMENT #1: GATESHEAD

“All John Reed’s violent tyrannies, all his sister’s

proud indifference, all his mother’s aversion, all the

servant’s partiality, turned up in my disturbed mind

like a dark deposit in a turbid well. Why was I always

suffering, always, browbeaten, always accused,

forever condemned?” (Brontë 9).

When Jane was put into the red room she

experiences feelings of fear, terror, and anxiety.

These feelings soon manifest into bitterness and

hatred towards the Reeds. We see this

manifestation take place when Jane becomes more

bitter and her anger towards Mrs. Reed becomes

more apparent. The red room also highlights the

supernatural theme of the novel when Jane believes

that she has encountered the spirit of Mr. Reed.

SIGNIFICANT MOMENT #2: LOWOOD “My world had for some years been in Lowood: my experience had

been of its rules and systems; now I remembered that the real world was wide, and that a varied field of hopes and fears, of sensations and excitements, awaited those who had courage to go forth into its expanse, to seek real knowledge of life amidst its perils” (Brontë 82).

When Miss Temple got married and left the institution, every feeling of belonging and home also seeped out of Jane. In Jane’s time at Lowood, she transformed and borrowed from Miss Temple, her first role model, especially when she became a teacher. Now that Miss Temple was gone, Jane’s mind strayed past the rigid daily schedule to think about more freedom and the unseen world. This moment impels Jane to see beyond the realm of her current situation in seek of better prospects. Thus, she advertises on the newspaper for a governess position.

“I sat down quite disembarrassed. A reception of finished politeness would probably have confused me. I could not have returned or repaid it by answering grace and elegance on my part. But harsh caprice laid me under no obligation; on the contrary, a decent quiscence, under the freak of manner, gave me the advantage. Besides, the eccentricity of the proceedings was piquant; I fell interested to see how he would go on” (Bronte 134). The first time that Jane interacts with Rochester she finally found she has found someone who can compete with her both academically and socially. Being raised in boarding school she had little interaction with the outside world, but by finding Rochester she finally has a connection to the world that has so long been a mystery to her. This relationship they form becomes Jane’s social foundation and brightens her overall experience at Thornfield.

Significant Moment #3: Thornfield

Significant Moment #4: Moorshead “My uncle I had heard was dead – my only relative; ever

since being made aware of his existence, I had cherished the hope of one day seeing him; now I never should. And this money came only to me: not to me and a rejoicing family, but to my isolated self. It was a grand boon doubtless; and independence would be glorious – yes, I felt that – that thought swelled my heart” (Brontë 393).

Jane is now a wealthy, independent young lady who can fully support herself. However, she is not rejoicing just for her newfound prosperity – when she discovers the Rivers are her cousins, she generously bestows each of them one fourth of her inheritance, and does not lose her sense of kindness. With the money from her uncle, she is able to truly feel like an equal to Rochester, (now there is passion and independence) and eventually marry him.

Entertainment Time!

Citations

0 Gerver, Jane E., and Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre. New York: Random House, 1997. Print.

0 http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/JaneEyre.jpg

0 http://janeausteninvermont.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/book-cover-better-book-titles-jane-eyre.jpg

0 https://www.google.com/search?q=jane+eyre&newwindow=1&rlz=1C1LDJZ_enUS501US501&espv=210&es_sm=93&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=wvmOUsOBJMHK2gX1xICYDA&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1267&bih=670#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=OY_mIVO_DYmAmM%3A%3BGtj1DrneBXZSfM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.impawards.com%252Fintl%252Fuk%252F2011%252Fposters%252Fjane_eyre_ver6_xlg.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.impawards.com%252Fintl%252Fuk%252F2011%252Fjane_eyre_ver6.html%3B1104%3B1500