Rasselas in Jane Eyre
Ashley Brechlin
Professor Denslow
Women in Literature
15 February 2016
Charlotte Bronte references many books within her novel Jane Eyre. For example, one book that she referenced was called Rasselas.
The History of Rasselas: Prince of Abyssinia, written by Samuel Johnson, was published in 1759. It is a tale about a wealthy prince who is growing tired of living in his palace. He escapes with his sister and two of their friends to see the world and to find happiness. But after seeing what the world has to offer, they return home realizing that true happiness isn’t achievable. Samuel Johnson wrote this book in order to cover the costs for his mother’s funeral but he never expected it to be as successful as it turned out. Rasselas ties in to the world of the novel, Jane Eyre, because it was published during the time period in which Jane Eyre was set in.
When Rasselas is referenced in Jane Eyre, Jane is at the Lowood Institution. Helen Burns is the one who is reading the book and Jane walks up to her to ask if the book she is reading is any good. When Jane looks at the book, she is less than impressed since it contains no stories of fairies or genii (spirits).
Rasselas does have a significance in Jane Eyre. I think Charlotte Bronte references this book because it mirrors the life at the Lowood Institution. The girls are kept in the school and cannot leave which mirrors how the prince felt when he couldn’t leave the palace. The only difference is that the prince escapes his palace in Rasselas but the girls cannot escape Lowood. I also think that Rasselas shares similarities with Helen Burn’s life. She cannot leave Lowood and eventually dies there. She never found what true happiness really was just like the prince. In the end, there is a reason the Charlotte Bronte decided to put this book in Jane Eyre.
Osborne-Bartucca, Kristen. “The History of Rasselas: Prince of Abissinia Study Guide”. GradeSaver, 15 October 2014 Web. 15 February 2016.
I think that another way that this can be taken is that it mirrors Jane’s life. In a way, Jane always seems to feel trapped into something, whether it be at her aunt’s, Lowood, or even with the River’s where she intentionally put herself to be away from Mr. Rochester. And each time she is about to leave these places she has a sense that “the grass will be greener on the other side”, which in the last case is true. But she’s always had that same hope that the Prince had about finding happiness. Very good read, very interesting.
I believe that it is also very much explaining Jane’s life because she is always looking for happiness and if she doesn’t find it where she is currently then she goes out looking for it. When she leaves Rochester she believes she is going to find something/someone better than him but realizes that there is not happiness outside of Rochester. I do agree with that the girls cannot escape Lowood because of the disease but also in the case of Jane she will always have those teachings ingrained into her personality.
I agree with all of those statements. Jane is trying to find happiness in the world because she didn’t have much happiness as a young child (with living with her aunt at Gateshead and at Lowood.) She eventually finds happiness with Rochester, but once she finds out the truth about him and Martha, she leaves, similar to the way the prince in the story does. Things weren’t the way either of them thought they would be, so they return to a life they knew before they went exploring the world.
I’m so sorry! I meant Bertha and not Martha! I mixed up some names!!!
A reason that I think Charlotte placed this book in her’s is that she parallels with the author Samuel Johnson. Both of them lost parents and in a way they both threw themselves into their writing to help for Charlotte with grief and Johnson to pay the funeral costs.