Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre written by Charlotte Bronte is a 19^th 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?