Karley Kilsdonk Kristin Denslow Women in Literature 11 February, 2016 Concord in Jane Eyre As I was reading Jane Eyre, I came across this passage: I have now been married ten years. I know what it is to live entirely for and with what I love best on earth. I hold myself supremely blest—blest beyond […]
Jane Eyre (Novel) Brontë, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1941. Print. Since Jane Eyre was published, it has been seen as the epitome of the Gothic novel and has since been transformed into countless modernizations, films, graphic novels, and even a video blog. Jane Eyre is a quiet, orphaned-turned governess who works for […]
Edgecombe, Rodney S. “Supplementary Annotations To Jane Eyre.” Bronte Studies 39.3 (2014): 187-190. Academic Search Complete. Web. 25 Nov. 2015. Although this is not an article I decided to include it as it is a very valuable source and can be used by anyone in this class that decided to use Jane Eyre for their […]
In part because of my Women in Literature class last Fall (coincidentally, also with Dr. Rebecca Nesvet), I was very much interested in looking at mental illness, disability, and, especially, the part(s) that Bertha Mason Antoinette [Cosway] plays in not only Jane Eyre, but also in the (sort of) prequel by Jean Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea (Which I […]
Earnshaw, Steven. “‘Give Me My Name’: Naming and Identity In and Around Jane Eyre.” Bronte Studies 37.3 (2012): 174-89. JSTOR [JSTOR]. Web. 21 Nov. 2015. In Steven Earnshaw’s article “‘Give Me My Name’…”, he analyzes the symbolism and the important role that names play in the novel of Jane Eyre. Earnshaw starts by hinting at […]
Rachel Clift Annotated Bibliography Source 1. Graphic Classics Jane Eyre Macdonald, Fiona, and Charlotte Brontë. Jane Eyre. Hauppauge, NY: Barrons Educational Series, 2009. Print. My first source is a graphic novel adaption of Jane Eyre done Published in 2009 by Graphic Classics. This is a good source because it shows one version of what […]
Yildirim, Askun Haluk. “The Woman Question and The Victorian Literature on Gender.” (2012): 45-53. Web. 17 Nov. 2015. http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3-505c-4b75-a8fd-1d9ed18daf0d%40sessionmgr4004&hid=4106 This source talks about the gender roles of women during the Victorian Era. It talks about the common beliefs surrounding gender in that time people and how the roles for women were starkly different from the […]
Jane Eyre Sources for Fellow Researchers: Pickrel, Paul. “Jane Eyre: The Apocalypse of the Body”. ELH 53.1 (1986): 165–182. Web. Paul Pickrel (1986) discusses the destruction, as well as construction of identity found within Jane Eyre. Pickrel argues that during Jane’s employment at Thornfield, Mr. Rochester implores Jane to bring him back to life; furthermore, Mr. Rochester […]
Alexander, Christine. “’That kingdom of gloom:’ Charlotte Bronte, the Annuals, and the Gothic”. Nineteenth Century Literature. Cengage Learning. Inc. March 1993. Author Christine Alexander examines the Gothic experiences that Jane has that can relate to Charlotte Bronte’s own life. Giving evidence showing how Jane is a double for Bronte starts the discussion of the Gothic […]
Bertha Mason, the enigma of a character that perplexes many different critics across the globe. She is presented as an insane woman locked up in the attic of Edward Rochester’s house, but there is more to her character than what we see. I believe that Bertha Mason is not insane, I believe that she simply […]
The tale of “Bluebeard” is a French folktale written by Charles Perrault. Bluebeard was a wealthy man but was given a curse of a blue beard. This flaw of his turned away any and all women. This did not put a damper on his quest to find a wife. He continued to search and was […]
“I [Jane Eyre] lingered in the long passage to which this led, separating the front and back rooms of the third storey: narrow, low, and dim, with only one little window at the far end, and looking, with its two rows of small black doors all shut, like a corridor in some Bluebeard’s castle.” (Bronte […]
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte is a reinvention of the story Bluebeard by Charles Perrault, for it show’s what could of been if the characters in Bluebeard had more definition to their personality. The story of Jane Eyre is about a more or less attractive woman trying to find her place in the world of […]
In Charlotte Bronte’s novel, Jane Eyre, the “red room” in which Jane is placed after a violent encounter with her cousin, John, can be compared to the blood-splattered (therefore red) room which the wife discovers in Charles Perrault’s short story Bluebeard. Although Jane’s “red room” is a room resembling death and punishment, much like the […]
Throughout the novel Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte, there are direct and indirect references to the Bluebeard legend written by Charles Perrault. The main characters have the same personalities and are living in ways that parallel each other. The reinvention of this story can be seen in the way that the relationships react when secrets […]
(Author Note: I chose to do something a little different and write diary entry in the voice of Adele. It is set during her time at the school where Rochester sends her after Jane leaves Thornfield. It is based on the ending of the novel where Jane explains to us what she learned about Adele […]
Dear Edward, It has recently come to my attention that you are to be married to your governess, Miss Eyre. I have yet to receive a formal invitation, but I can understand how awkward it would be if I were to be present. Still, I am stunned and shocked, since I had the inclination that […]
“I don’t want your permission for that-I shall marry him.”-Wuthering Heights Understanding the different marriages that occur throughout Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre conclude with the two very interesting choices. While the idea of marrying for love was not relevant at that time, we do see both character, Jane and Cathy acknowledge (and accept) […]
This past Monday, I had the opportunity to lead a discussion in our British Novel course about the Gothic elements found in Charlotte Brontë’s novel, Jane Eyre. With endless ways to approach this topic, I found it best to focus on one element: the Bluebeard reference. It occurs when Jane is ending her tour of Thornfield Hall: “Mrs […]
To say that Mr. Rochester is a hero would be a bit of a stretch, but to knock him for his actions is also extreme. He may lie to Jane and keep the fact that he has another wife a secret, but he does so for good reasons, and we must look at the motives […]
Jane Eyre on all levels is a coming of age story. However, if we dig a little below the surface it quickly becomes also a story about finding love. On page 66 Jane has a conversation with Helen, when she says, “No; I know I should think well of myself; but that is not enough: […]
Although we have not discussed much of Charlotte Bronte’s novel, Jane Eyre, I would like to delve deeper into the novel. I have read it twice and have seen two different adaptations of the novel: one for television and the other as a major motion picture. So there may be spoilers in this post. In an […]
Charlotte Brontë’s novel Jane Eyre, presents Jane, the main character, as an uncommonly plain heroine. A journal article by Jen Cadwallader compares the main character Jane to fairytale heroines. The article examines the similarities between Jane Eyre and classic fairytales like Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast. One major difference between these stories, and Jane […]
Looking back at the past few novels we have read that star female antagonist, it is interesting to note the overall lack of education those girls had and what their other option was. Elizabeth, from Pride and Prejudice, seems to be the only one who has interest in things other than marriage. And while Charlotte, […]
My thoughts on Jane Eyre: SPOILER ALERT!! The ending of Jane Eyre was very unsatisfying for me because I think that Jane is on a power trip at the end when she come to take care of Rochester. I say this because from the moment she started living with Mr. Rochester he has been the […]
By far one of the roundest characters to come out of nineteenth century literature, Jane Eyre, the protagonist from Charlotte Bronte’s famous novel, is truly remarkable, consistently showcasing an incomparable depth regarding her struggles, her desires, and her ability to balance them all. What makes her character most impressive, though, is the fact that she […]
Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre not only tells the story of a young woman facing the social pressures of Victorian society, but also one of human nature. As the reader makes his/her way through the novel, he/she gets a firsthand glimpse of the, often, horrific situations Jane Eyre is forced to be in. While some may […]
Silent, submissive and starving: in order to survive at Lowood Institution during the reign of Mr. Brocklehurst, a girl was required to surrender her voice, independence and health. In Charlotte Brontë’s novel, Jane Eyre, a disturbing depiction of female education in Victorian England is portrayed as both oppressive and neglectful. The school for “charity-children” demonstrates […]
In the two (possibly) parallel novels, Jane Eyre and The Wide Sargasso Sea, the two leading female characters have many things in common. They are both involved romantically and legally with (we think) the same man; they both lived through less-than-ideal childhoods; and they both encounter the same or similar characters throughout the action of […]
Jean Rhys, in my opinion, tells the story in fragments to reveal the points of view of the two characters. We see who these people really are and are given definite explanations as to why the story progresses as it does. We also are given the meaning behind Antionette’s and the young Englishman’s actions throughout the […]
While getting to know a character in a novel, sometimes it is difficult to picture a character with more complexity than the limited image the worlds of the novel paint of them. In Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys, we are able to imagine the life Bertha Mason of the novel Jane Eyre (or Antoinette […]
As I read the opening chapters of Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, I started noticing some interesting differences between Jane’s views of women and those of Victor Frankenstein in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Both novels have some interesting things to say about how women view other women and the freedom and success of other women. Anne Mellor […]
Once I began to read this autobiography, I was sucked in right away. The compelling story of Jane Eyre’s early childhood life had brought me close to tears and also brought me great frustration. We learned that Jane’s parents have died from a sickness at young ages with her mother catching it from her father. […]
How does Bronte describe the women of the Reed household? What does her characterization of JOHN REED tell you about the Reed women? Charlotte Bronte describes the women of the Reed household very clearly in the first few chapters of Jane Eyre. She describes Mrs Reed as a harsh and cruel woman who is Jane […]