Jane Eyre written by Charlotte Bronte is a 19th century classic
originally written under the pseudonym Currer Bell. The book employs first
person narrative and is a bildungsroman of the protagonist, Jane Eyre. Personally,
I enjoy novels as such; I like to be able to be inside the head of the
protagonist, and furthermore get insight on how the author thinks. Jane’s life
does, in fact, mimic some aspects of Charlotte Bronte’s life. For example, Charlotte,
like Jane, went to an all girl’s school. Charlotte’s sister died at this school
just as Jane’s closest friend Helen Burns did and Jane eventually became a governess
like Charlotte. I find the similarities to be interesting. It’s like reading
someone’s history, but through the front of a fictional character.
Throughout the novel there is
strong religious theme. Jane faces several hypocritical and cruel Christian figures,
however, despite this negative connotation on religion, Jane still finds it important
to uphold morals—“I will keep the law given by God; sanctioned by man. I will
hold to the principles received by me when I was sane and not mad—as I am now.”
Also, although the school’s headmaster Mr. Broklehurst and St. John (Sinjin)
display religion poorly, there are characters such as Ms. Temple and Helen
Burns that act as a foil to them because of their religious benevolence.
The novel was largely about Jane
finding herself and learning to respect herself. Though Mr. Rochester was the
love of Jane’s life, she would not marry him because she thought it to be
immoral due to the fact that he already had a wife. Furthermore, Jane also
wanted to be able to be on equal footing with him before she married him. She
did not like the fact that she had no fortune for herself; she did not want to
be fully reliant on Rochester. In chapter 27 of Jane Eyre when she first
escaped from Thornfield after finding out that Mr. Rochester had a wife she
said this, “I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more
unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself.” Jane’s goal was to be
independent, which makes sense because her whole entire life she was dependent
on someone to feed and clothe her. I liked this about Jane; I liked that she
strived for independence, was free-willed, and she was not afraid to say what
was on her mind.
In conclusion, I was surprised by
how much I liked Jane Eyre. I enjoy
Charlotte Bronte’s writing style just as I enjoyed her sister Emily’s in Wuthering Heights. I was fearful that Jane Eyre was going to merely be a cliché
love story, but it turned out to be much more than that. In a way, the novel
ended up being a sort of quest for happiness. This makes sense for a novel
about life—isn’t nearly everyone’s life a never-ending hunt for happiness?
