THEMES
LOVE VS AUTONOMY As an orphan at Gateshead, Jane is oppressed and
dependent. In order to discover herself, she must break out of these
restrictive conditions and find love and independence. Jane must have the
freedom to think and feel, and she seeks out other independent-minded people as
the loving family she craves.
RELIGION Religion plays an important role in the life of a
person and in society. It is an important part of the society in which Jane
Eyre grows up. First, she comes across evangelicalism of Mr. Brocklehurst, but
she finds him hypocritical and abusive. On the other side, Helen Burns, also a
Christian, stands apart from that of Mr. Brocklehurst. She is a firm believer
and patient, who believes in turning the other cheek. St. Johns is also a
strong Christian who wants to go on a mission to the third world. Jane
agrees to go with him as a sister instead of a wife. However, St. John
disagrees. Eventually, Jane looks toward God for help. She marries Mr.
Rochester and restores his health. Finally, she finds her own version of Christianity to follow, one that is a
balance between Helen’s and St. John’s, one that aligns with her ideas of
morality and integrity.
SOCIAL CLASS Life in
19th-century Britain was governed by social class, and people typically stayed
in the class into which they were born.
Social class determined marriage, as people tended to marry partners within
their own social class. Women were in a particularly vulnerable position, as
men and their families tended to choose a suitable wife on the basis of the
woman's dowry, a sum of money that the male received from the bride's family
through marriage. Both
as an orphan at Gateshead and as a governess at Thornfield, Jane holds a position that is between classes, and interacts with people of every
level, from working-class servants to aristocrats.
Social and historical context In the Victorian era, women's wealth and dowry
determined who they should marry. Through marriage, the husband would
receive the dowry, making the woman dependent on the husband.
GENDER RELATIONS Jane struggles continually to achieve equality and to
overcome oppression. In addition to class hierarchy, she must fight against
patriarchal domination—against those who believe women to be inferior to
men and try to treat them as such. Three central male figures threaten her
desire for equality and dignity: Mr. Brocklehurst, Edward Rochester, and St.
John Rivers. All three are misogynistic on some level. Each tries to keep Jane
in a submissive position, where she is unable to express her own thoughts and
feelings
Women are supposed to be very calm
generally: but women feel just as men feel; they need exercise for their
faculties, and a field for their efforts as much as their brothers do; they
suffer from too rigid a restraint, too absolute a stagnation, precisely as men
would suffer; and it is narrow-minded in their more privileged fellow-creatures
to say that they ought to confine themselves to making puddings and knitting
stockings, to playing on the piano and embroidering bags. It is thoughtless to
condemn them, or laugh at them, if they seek to do more or learn more than
custom has pronounced necessary for their sex.
PASSION-she tries to control her
passions, St John Rivers is passionless,
Jane and Rochester’s love is full of passion, Bertha Mason is the extreme of
uncontrolled passion
SELF-DISCOVERY Self-discovery
or bildungsroman means that the main protagonist goes
through various experiences to grow as an adult. The novel revolves around this
change or transformation of Jane, who has to go through various experiences.
During the journey self-discovery, Jane forms strong views about marriage
without love. She tells it to St. John, a pragmatist, that if she marries him
without love, he would perhaps kill her. Secondly, Jane discovers that she must
love a person whom she understands. Finally, through her ordeals, she learns
that she must be independent and happy.
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