Jane Eyre is a novel by Charlotte Bronte. Jane is an orphan who is sent to live with her aunt, Mrs. Reed. Jane is unhappy there and is eventually sent away to Lowood School. Jane grows up at Lowood and eventually becomes a teacher there. After a few years, Jane leaves Lowood and takes a job as a governess at Thornfield Hall.
Jane falls in love with her employer, Mr. Rochester, but discovers that he is already married to a insane woman named Bertha Mason. Eventually, Mr. Rochester’s house burns down, Bertha dies, and Mr. Rochester loses his sight. Jane inherits money from her uncle John and goes back to Thornfield to marry Mr. Rochester. They live happily ever after.
Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre would have discovered only bad, but she has now discovered good. In addition, du Charlotte Bronte’sJane Eyre is a thought-provoking book that depicts Jane, the protagonist, as attempting to break away from the social norms of the nineteenth century in order to liberate herself from the restrictions of the “class” system at the time and to free her heart from within. To illustrate this concept, Bronte creates five locations that represent her emotions: Gateshead, Lowood, Thornfield Hall, Moor End Estate, and Ferndean Farm.
Gateshead is Jane’s first home, which is where she is born. It is also the place of her childhood abuse. The house is cold and damp, with little light or warmth. Jane is locked away in the “red-room” where she is forced to wear a red dress that belonged to her dead aunt. This room represents Jane’s anger and resentment towards her aunt, who died before Jane was born. Lowood is Jane’s second home, and it is here that she learns about true friendship and love.
The school is a cold and harsh place, but it is also where Jane meets Helen Burns, who becomes her best friend. Thornfield is Jane’s third home, and it is here that she falls in love with Mr. Rochester. However, Thornfield is also the place of Jane’s greatest heartache, when she discovers that Mr. Rochester is already married. Moor End is Jane’s fourth home, and it is here that she finally finds peace and happiness. Ferndean is Jane’s fifth and final home, and it is here that she finds true love with Mr. Rochester.
The novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte is a story of love and friendship, and it is these five places that represent the emotions of Jane’s heart.
With these five preferences, Bronte takes us on a Journey with Jane narrating away from the specific situation into a realm of allusion. This journey is made use of by Bronte to demonstrate the correct connection between personal sentiments and moral order. Her struggle in this area is a seeking process that starts at depth and goes all the way down to even greater depths within her own heart in order to find out what makes her ultimate self (Weekes, 77). She must break through social constraints in order for her buried heart to blossom.
First, Jane must conquer the demons of her childhood at Gateshead. Then Jane must confront the terrible truth that Rochester is not free to marry her because he already has a living wife. Finally, Jane must overcome Rochester’s attempt to win her back by trying to make her feel sorry for him. In each of these three conflictual relationships, we see Jane growing in strength and wisdom as she slowly but surely comes to understand more about herself and what she wants out of life.
By the end of the novel, Jane has come to a point where she can finally say, “I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will” (Bronte, 438). This statement is the culmination of her journey towards self-awareness and independence, and it is only through her trials and tribulations that she has been able to reach this point. Jane’s struggles have allowed her to grow as a person and to discover who she really is, and in the end, this is what truly matters.
The reader comes to know Jane’s heart in the following order: Gateshead is the initial setting of her heart that he or she learns about. This is Jane’s Aunt Reed’s house, where she blames Jane for having to look after her. Her three very pampered cousins also live with her at the estate, who pick on her and cause physical fighting: “She lay reclined on a sofa by the fireside, and with her darlings about her (for the time neither quarrelling nor crying) appeared completely blissful. She had excluded me from the group” (Bronte 1).
Jane is an outsider in her own home, and feels great misery there. The next setting Jane’s heartbreak occurs is at Lowood. This is a boarding school for orphans that Jane is sent to by her aunt. At first, Jane is excited to be going to school and making new friends. However, she soon realizes the true conditions of the place: “I had slept none that night; I had watched all day; I was tired to drowsiness” (Bronte, 36).
The girls at Lowood are constantly hungry and cold, and are subject to beatings from the teachers. Despite the hardships, Jane makes two good friends at Lowood, Helen Burns and Miss Temple. Jane’s time at Lowood shapes her into a strong and independent woman. After eight years at Lowood, Jane gets a job as a governess at Thornfield. She meets the owner of the estate, Mr. Rochester, and falls in love with him.
Jane is finally content with her life, until she finds out that Mr. Rochester is already married to a crazy woman who lives in the attic. This revelation breaks Jane’s heart, and she flees Thornfield. The final setting Jane’s heartbreak occurs is at Moor House. This is the home of Jane’s cousins, St. John and Diana Rivers. Jane goes to live with them after she leaves Thornfield, and St. John asks her to marry him and be a missionary with him in India.
Jane realizes that she does not love St. John, and declines his offer. She decides to stay in England and live a life of her own. Jane Eyre is a novel about a young woman’s journey through life, and the many heartbreaks she experiences along the way. Despite all the pain Jane goes through, she remains strong and independent, and ultimately finds happiness.
I will not be for anyone’s convenience. I am not designed to be looked at, or found out” (Bronte, 97). This newfound Jane is the one that will continue on into adulthood.
The color red also appears in Jane’s next home, Lowood School. Here, the red represents Jane’s anger and frustration towards the school and its rules. “Red” Jane is passionate and disruptive, speaking her mind even when she knows she shouldn’t. This version of Jane is the one that gets her in trouble with Mr. Brocklehurst, the hypocritical leader of Lowood.
He exiled her to the third story because he thought she was a bad influence on the other girls. However, this only made Jane more determined to succeed. “I will work without ceasing” (Bronte, 130). And that’s exactly what she did. Jane studied hard and eventually became a teacher at Lowood.
The next time we see the color red is when Jane meets Rochester. He first appears as a dark, brooding figure, riding a black horse. Jane is immediately drawn to him, despite his rough exterior. “I know not how it was- but, with the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit” (Bronte, 172). This immediate connection Jane feels to Rochester reflects her own darkness and tragedy.
As their relationship grows, so does Jane’s love for him. She falls passionately in love with Rochester, and they eventually get married. However, on their wedding day, Jane discovers that Rochester is already married to a woman named Bertha Mason. Bertha is locked away in the attic of Thornfield, because she is insane. When Jane finds out about Bertha, she leaves Rochester and goes back to Gateshead to take care of her dying aunt.
The final time we see the color red is when Jane returns to Thornfield after her aunt’s death. She comes back to find that the house has been burned down by Bertha, and that Rochester has been blinded and maimed in the fire. Jane feels guilty for leaving Rochester, but she knows that she made the right decision. “I have for some months past, fretting and hoping, feared and shrunk from thinking” (Bronte, 431). Jane decides to stay with Rochester and take care of him, even though he is not the man she married. She knows that their love is strong enough to overcome anything.
The color red is often seen as a symbol of anger, passion, and danger. In Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte uses the color red to symbolize Jane’s journey from child to woman. Jane starts out as a meek and obedient girl, but she grows into a strong and independent woman. She goes through many trials and tribulations, but in the end she comes out stronger than ever. Jane Eyre is a story of love, loss, and redemption. It is a timeless classic that will continue to be read and loved for many years to come.