Context: Charlotte Bronte

Political difficulties women faced as they tried to enter the literary

arena in Victorian England
Charlotte was raised primarily by their unpleasant, maiden aunt,
Elizabeth Branwell.
2 sisters died of tuberculosis in school
After her father had a dangerous lung disorder, he decided once
again that his daughters should receive an education so they would
be assured of an income if he died
Governessing was the only real employment opportunity middle-
class women had in Victorian England.
Plan to open her own school was a failure
She became a respected member of the literary community only
when her sisters, her most enthusiastic supporters, were no longer
able to share her victory.
Reverend Arthus B. Nucholls proposed marrieage in Charlotte. She
was hoping to discover true, but loneliness following the death of
her last three siblings may have led her to accept Nicholls proposal.
After the marriage, Charlotte had little time for writing, as she was
forced to perform the duties expected of a ministers wife and take
care of her aging father

Introduction

anti-Christian
Novel main themes:
o What is womens position in society?
o What is relation between Britain and its colonies?
o How important is artistic endeavor in human life?
o What is the relationship of dreams and fantasy to reality?
o What is the basis of an effective marriage?
The novel poses all of these questions, it doesnt didactically offer a
single answer to any of them
Literary genre:
o Story of the romance between Rochester and Jane
o Employs the conventions of the bildungsroman (a novel that
shows the psychological or moral development of its main
character)
The first-person narration plots Janes growth from an
isolated and unloved orphan into a happily married,
independent woman
o The gothic
Emphasizes the supernatural, the visionary, and the
horrific
Mr. Reeds ghostly presence in the red-room
Berthas strange laugher at Thornfield
 Rochesters dark and brooding persona
It adds to the novels suspense, entangling the reader in
Janes attempt to solve the mystery at Thronfield
o The spiritual quest
Jane tries to position herself in relationship to religion at
each stop on her journey
Although she paints a negative picture of the
established religious community through her
characterizations of Mr. Brocklehurst, St. John Rivers,
and Eliza Reed, Jane finds an effective, personal
perspective on religion following her night on the moors
For her, when one is closest to nature, one is also
closest to God: We read clearest His infinitude, His
omnipotence, His omnipresence.
God and nature are both sources of bounty, compassion
and forgiveness

Characters:

Eliza Reed: jealous of the beauty of her sister, Geogiana

Mr. Brocklehurst: Minister of Brocklebridge Chuch. He represents a
negative brand of Christianity, one that lacks all compassion or
kindness
Helen Burns: From Helen, Jane learns tolerance and peace, but Jane
cant accept Helens rejection of the material world
Alice Fairfax: Housekeeper at Thornfield. She doesnt approve of
Jane and Rochesters marriage because of the differences in their
ages and social classes.
Blanche Ingram: Her comments about the insipidness of
governesses show the lack of respect that most governesses faced
in the wealthy Victorian families where they worked.
Bertha Antoinetta Mason Rochester: Bertha is another example of
unsavory foreignness in the novel
Richard Mason: When he learns of Janes upcoming wedding to
Rochester, he arrives to thwart Rochesters bigamous intentions
Grace Poole: Her alcohol-induced lapses allow Bertha to escape.
Grace is initially accused of perpetrating all of Berhas sins in the
household
St. John Rivers: Cold, despotic, excessively zealous. He spends the
rest of his life furthering British colonialism by forcing Christian
values on the natives
Diana and Mary Rivers: Examplars of accomplished, benevolent, and
intellectual women.

Chapter 1:

John claims the rights of the gentleman, implying that Janes family
was from a lower class
 Theme: class conflict and gender difference
Her position as female leaves her vulnerable to the rules of a
patriarchal tyrant

Red curtains that enclose Jane in her isolated window connect with
the imagery of the red-room to which Jane is banished at the end of
the chapter
Red is symbolic. Connoting fire and passion, red offers vitality, but
also the potential to burn everything that comes in its way to ash.

Books provide Jane with an escape from her unhappy domestic

situation. Books feed her imagination, offering her a vast world
beyond the claustrophobia of Gateshead.

Chapter 2&3:

Looking into a mirrors, being in a death-chamber

Feels superstitious about her surroundings. Shes also contemplative
(by asking questions)

Jane shares the Reeds belief that poor people are morally inferior to
the wealthy

Education offers Jane the possibility of improving her position in

society

Red: Hellish nighmare. Jailed behind impenetrable black bars

Colors are not static. They change to reflect Janes emotional and
social situation.
Skin color: John reviles his mother for her dark skin, a supposedly
negative quality that he has inherited from her.

Jane with a fairy will be repeated throughout the novel, and her
notion of appearing, sprite-like, in the eyes of travelers foreshadows
her first meeting with Rochester. As fairy, Jane indentifies herself as
a special, magical creature, and reminds the reader of the
importance imagination plays her in her life.

Chapter 4:

The carved mask of Mr. Brocklehursts face suggests his

inhumanity, as does Janes later reference to him as the stony
stranger.
Unlike Jane who is associated with fire and energy, this man is cold
and aloof as stone, someone with no passion and even less
compassion.
 Lack of power as a child when her aunt tells Brocklehurst that Janes
worst trait is her deceitful nature,

Notice what happens to Janes attackers: all seem to meet with

misfortune and unhappiness

Chapter 5:

Imaginative nature when worrying that kidnappers will snatch her

away at the inn
Chapter filled with Janes observations of the school

Lowood.
Helen Burns: Burning with a passion for heaven, and her fate is to
die of a fever
Jane learns from Helen in that she emphasize on spiritual rather
than material matters

Chapter 6 and 7

Jane is always ready to fight against her enemies,

o Being good to people who are good to her
o Firmly believes in retaliation and vengeance when
Helen practices a doctrine of patient endurance
o Life is guided by fate rather than choice
Brocklehurst hypocrisies:
o Need to cut off the girls long hair as it is a sign of vanity but
his daughters hair is elaborately curled
Miss Temple turns to stone rather than confront her boss
Main point when Jane turns a bit into Helen

Chapter 8:
Helen: Not afraid of solitude
The promise of love and glory in a distant heaven does not appease
Jane; she also requires human warmth and affections during her
time on earth.
From Helen and Miss Temple, Jane learned that hysteria and raw
emotion dont reveal the truth as effectively as a subdued, but
honest tale.]
Future Jane: Miss Temples refinement and Helens spirituality with a
spark of Janes passion

Chapter 9:
Contrast between spiritual and material worlds through Helen and
Jane