Fiona Sinclair's Dissertation

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Hi,

If you have any questions please ask them here.

Hope this helps. ;D

[mcf]

WUTHERING HEIGHTS AS SOCIO-ECONOMIC NOVEL
The novel opens in 1801, a date Q.D. Leavis believes Brontë chose in order "to fix its happenings at a time when the old rough farming culture, based on a naturally patriarchal family life, was to be challenged, tamed and routed by social and cultural changes; these changes produced Victorian class consciousness and ‘unnatural' ideal of gentility." In 1801 the Industrial Revolution was under way in England; when Emily Brontë was writing in 1847, it was a dominant force in English economy and society, and the traditional relationship of social classes was being disrupted by mushroom-new fortunes and an upwardly-aspiring middle class. The criterion for defining a gentleman was shifting to money, from character, breeding, or family. This social-economic reality provides the context for socio-economic readings of the novel.

Is Brontë supporting the status quo and upholding conventional values? Initially the answer would seem to be "no." The reader sympathizes with Heathcliff, the gypsy oppressed by a rigid class system and denigrated as "imp" or "fiend." But as Heathcliff pursues his revenge and tyrannical persecution of the innocent, the danger posed by the uncontrolled individual to the community becomes apparent. Like other novels of the 1830s and 40s which reveal the abuses of industrialism and overbearing individualism, Wuthering Heights may really suggest the necessity of preserving traditional ways.

This is not the way Marxist critics see the novel. For Arnold Kettle, the basic conflict and motive force of the novel are social in origin. He locates the source of Catherine and Heatcliff's affinity in the (class) rebellion forced on them by the injustice of Hindley and his wife Frances.

He, the outcast slummy, turns to the lively, spirited, fearless girl who alone offers him human understanding and comradeship. And she, born into the world of Wuthering Heights, senses that to achieve a full humanity, to be true to herself as a human being, she must associate herself totally with him in his rebellion against the tyranny of the Earnshaws and all that tyranny involves.
Catherine's death inverts the common standards of bourgeois morality and so has "revolutionary force." Heathcliff is morally ruthless with his brutal analysis of the significance of Catherine's choosing Edgar and her rejecting the finer humanity he represents. Despite Heathcliff's implacable revenge, we continue to sympathize with him because he is using the weapons and values (arranged marriages, accumulating money, and expropriating property) of Victorian society against those with power; his ruthlessness strips them of any romantic veneer. As a result, he, too, betrays his humanity. Through the aspirations expressed in the love of Cathy and Hareton, Heathcliff recognizes some of the quality of his love for Catherine and the unimportance of revenge and property; he thereby is enabled to regain his humanity and to achieve union with Catherine. "Wutherng Heights then," Kettle concludes, "is an expression in the imaginative terms of art of the stresses and tensions and conflicts, personal and spiritual, of nineteenth-century capitalist society."
Writing nearly twenty-five years later, Marxist Terry Eagleton posits a complex and contradictory relationship between the landed gentry and aristocracy, the traditional power-holders, and the capitalist, industrial middle classes, who were pushing for social acceptance and political power. Simultaneously with the struggle among these groups, an accommodation was developing based on economic interests. Though the landed gentry and aristocracy resisted marrying into first-generation capitalist wealth, they were willing to mix socially and to form economic alliances with the manufacturers and industrialists. The area that the Brontës lived in, the town of Haworth in West Riding, was particularly affected by these social and economic conditions because of the concentration of large estates and industrial centers in West Riding.

Proceeding from this view of mid-nineteenth century society, Eagleton sees both class struggle and class accommodation in Wutheirng Heights. Heathcliff, the outsider, has no social or biological place in the existing social structure; he offers Catherine a non-social or pre-social relationship, an escape from the conventional restrictions and material comforts of the upper classes, represented by the genteel Lintons. This relationship outside society is "the only authentic form of living in a world of exploitation and inequality." It is Heathcliff's expression of a natural non-social mode of being which gives the relationship its impersonal quality and makes the conflict one of nature versus society. Heathcliff's connection with nature is manifested in his running wild as a child and in Hindley's reducing him to a farm laborer. But Catherine's marriage and Hindley's abuse transform Heathcliff and his meaning in the social system, a transformation which reflects a reality about nature–nature is not really "outside" society because its conflicts are expressed in society.

However, Heathcliff the adult becomes a capitalist, an expropriator, and a predator, turning the ruling class's weapons of property accumulation and acquisitive marriage against them. Society's need to tame/civilize the unbridled capitalist is handled in the civilizing of Hareton. Hareton represents the yeoman class, which was being degraded. In adopting the behavior of the exploiting middle classes, Heathcliff works in common with the capitalist landowner Edgar Linton to suppress the yeoman class; having been raised in the yeoman class and having acquired his fortune outside it, he joins "spiritual forces" against the squirearchy. Thus, he represents both rapacious capitalism and the rejection of capitalist society. However, because the capitalist class is no longer revolutionary, it cannot provide expression for Heathcliff's rejection of society for a pre-social freedom from society's restraints. From this impossibility comes what Eagleton calls Heathcliff's personal tragedy: his conflictive unity consisting of spiritual rejection and social integration. Heathcliff relentlessly pursues his goal of possessing Catherine, an obsession that is unaffected by social realities. In other words, the novel does not fully succeed in reconciling or finding a way to express all Heathcliff's meanings.

Eagleton acknowledges that ultimately the values of Thrushcross Grange prevail, but that Brontë's sympathies lie with the more democratic, cozy Wuthering Heights. The capitalist victory over the yeomanry is symbolized by the displacement of Joseph's beloved currant bushes for Catherine's flowers, which are in Marxist terms "surplus value." With Heathcliff's death a richer life than that of Thrushcross Grange also dies; it may be a regrettable death–but it is a necessary death because the future requires a fusion of gentry and capitalist middle class, not continued conflict.

Hope this helps. ;D

[mcf]

Possible Secondary Sources

BIBLIOGRAPHY


Goodridge, J.F. Emily Brontë: Wuthering Heights. London, Edward Arnold, 1964.

Hewish, John. Emily Brontë. A critical and biographical study. New York, St. Martin's Press, 1969.

Vogle, Thomas A. Twentieth century interpretations of Wuthering Heights: A collection of critical essays. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, Prentire-Hall, 1968.

Willis, Irene Cooper. The authorship of Wuthering Heights. London, Dawson of Pall Mall, 1967.

Hope this helps. ;D

[mcf]

.Jane Eyre first experiences the negative effects of class structure when she is at Gateshead Hall and is horribly mistreated by John Reed. He informs Jane Eyre that she is a dependent; an orphan with no money - and
because of this, drills into her mind that she is worthless and he is superior to her. "Now, I'll teach you to rummage my book-shelves: for they are mine; all the house belongs to me, or will do in a few years" (10). The way John uses the word teach is sarcastic. "Teach" normally has a connotation of kindly explaining and educating, but the way it is presented in this sentence is to convey the exact opposite; to evoke fear in Jane Eyre. The sentence also contains many first person words, such as "I'll", "my", "mine" and "me." This repetition helps to show the power and authority John expresses over Jane Eyre. At the start of his lecture, John clearly tells Jane Eyre that she is low in social class - he uses her low social class as justification that his cruel authority over her is acceptable.

When Jane Eyre leaves Gateshead Hall, she hopes for a fresh start at Lowood School, but is faced with quite the opposite when she meets Mr.Brocklehurst, a cruel, deceitful man who is hypocritical and corrupt. Oppression is a big theme in Jane Eyre and is tied to class structure in a sense that characters would try to bring Jane Eyre down, due to her class structure, so they could feel superior and more powerful to her. Both John Reed and Mr.Brocklehurst use Jane Eyre's low social class as a starting point to overpower her.

[ "This I learned from her benefactress; from the pious and charitable lady who adopted her in her orphan state, reared her as her own daughter, and whose kindness, whose generosity the unhappy girl repaid by an ingratitude so bad, so dreadful, that at last her excellent patroness was obligefd to separate her from her own young ones..."] (67).

When referring to Mrs. Reed, Mr. Brocklehurst uses words like "benefactress", "pious", "charitable", "kindness" and "generosity", all of which have very positive
connotations and make Mrs. Reed look like the "good guy", simply due to her higher social class. However, when Mr. Brocklehurst talks about Jane Eyre, he uses negative words such as "ingraditute", "unhappy", "bad" and "dreadful". He is assuming that because Jane Eyre is of a lower social class, she can be stereotyped as "the bad guy".

Prior to Jane Eyre's arrival at Thornfield Hall, she has only had others put her down due to her low social class. During the dinner party with Mr. Rochester's high-class friends, Jane Eyre gets a dose of reality and she realizes that class structure is holding her back by preventing her from getting the things she wants in life. "That a greater fool than Jane Eyre had never breathes the breath of life: that a more fantastic idiot had never surfeited herself on sweet lies, and swallowed poison as if it were nectar" (162). Jane Eyre makes this remark after she discusses Blanche Ingram with Mrs. Fairfax and realizes that Miss Ingram is everything that she is not: wealthy and beautiful. By referring to herself in third person, Jane Eyre is expressing self pity. She uses words such as "fool", "idiot" and "lies" to convey that she was just kidding herself when she thought she loved Mr. Rochester. " 'You,' I said, 'a favourite with Mr. Rochester? You gifted with the power of pleasing him? You of importance to him in any way?" (163). Here, the word "you" is used repeatedly and italicize each time. By putting emphasis on this word, Jane Eyre is mocking herself for thinking that she was ever worthy of Mr. Rochester. Also, by acting like an outsider peering into her situation, Jane Eyre is very harsh and critical on herself.

After Jane Eyre flees Thornfield Hall penniless and hungry, she knocks on a door and is faced with Hannah the housekeeper. When Jane Eyre fled, she took nothing with her in an attempt to strip herself of evil and was
hoping for a new beginning. To her dismay, Hannah regarded Jane Eyre in the same way she had been regarded her entire life - as a worthless, lowly, orphan. "Distrust, the very feeling I dreaded, appeared in Hannah's face. "I'll give you a piece of bread," she said, after a pause; "but we can't take in a vagrant to lodge. It isn't likely""(340). Hannah literally views Jane Eyre as a piece of filth on her doorstep. The phrase "the very feeling I dreaded" suggests that Jane Eyre has felt this emotion before and does not enjoy being viewed as dishonest. "Here the honest but inflexible servant clapped the door and bolted it within. This was the climax" (341). At this point in the novel, Jane Eyre is sick and tired of being judged and oppressed due to her social standing. Referring to this moment as "the climax" informs the reader that Jane Eyre will overcome this problem shortly.

Hope this helps. ;D

[mcf]

Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre predates her final novel, Villette, by six years, yet the two works are quite closely related and grapple with some of the same narrative issues. Numerous similarities persist between Jane Eyre and Villette’s Lucy Snowe: both lack homes and families, both become teachers, both fall in love with men who challenge and frustrate them, and both appeal frequently to the reader, to name only a few. Despite parallels in the plots of their lives and the forms of their narratives, the two narrators appear to differ immensely: Jane seems astoundingly strong, rational, reliable, and honest next to the fragile, neurotic, distrustful and reticent Lucy. Yet an early passage from Jane Eyre, in which the character Jane only half-recognizes her own mirrored image and the narrator Jane privileges a description of furniture over a description of herself, presages strikingly similar moments in Villette, indicating, perhaps, an underlying emotional chaos and an impulse to withhold or manipulate lurking within our seemingly reliable narrator.

This room was chill, because it seldom had a fire; it was silent, because remote from the nursery and kitchens; solemn, because it was known to be so seldom entered. The housemaid alone came here on Saturdays, to wipe from the mirrors and the furniture a week’s quiet dust; and Mrs. Reed herself, at far intervals, visited it to review the contents of a certain secret drawer in the wardrobe, where were stored divers parchments, her jewel-casket, and a miniature of her deceased husband; and in those last words lies the secret of the red-room: — the spell which kept it so lonely in spite of its grandeur . . .
My seat, to which Bessie and the bitter Miss Abbot had left me riveted, was a low ottoman near the marble chimney-piece; the bed rose before me; to my right hand there was the high, dark wardrobe, with subdued, broken reflections varying the gloss of its pannels (sic); to my left were the muffled windows; a great looking-glass between them repeated the vacant majesty of the bed and room. I was not quite sure whether they had locked the door; and, when I dared move, I got up, and went to see. Alas! yes: no jail was ever more secure. Returning, I had to cross before the looking-glass; my fascinated glance involuntarily explored the depth it revealed. All looked colder and darker in that visionary hollow than in reality; and the strange little figure there gazing at me, with a white face and arms specking the gloom, and glittering eyes of fear moving where all else was still, had the effect of a real spirit: I thought it like one of the tiny phantoms, half fairy, half imp, Bessie’s evening stories represented as coming up out of lone, ferny dells in moors, and appearing before the eyes of belated travelers. I returned to my stool. [Chapter II, 72-73'
Jane’s account of her childhood “jail” mirrors Rochester’s account of her adult self: “You are cold; because you are alone: no contact strikes the fire from you that is in you. You are sick; because the best of feelings, the highest and the sweetest given to man, keeps far away from you. You are silly; because, suffer as you may, you will not beckon it to approach; nor will you stir one step to meet it where it waits you” (XIX, 277). Both Jane and the room are untouched by fire, isolated from social contact, and cursed with a “spell” that keeps friends and feeling at bay. Why does Jane’s prison appear so like herself? Does Jane feel her own demeanor to be a lonely prison, comparable to the forced dwelling of her youth? In which case, why take such pride in her own manner of speech? Do Rochester’s words linger in Jane-the-narrator’s mind and affect her description of the past, or does her past experience shape the way she presents her master’s words?

Whatever the answers to the previous questions, it seems we must acknowledge the adult narrator’s influence over and effect upon the child-character’s story. Indeed, the narrator knows things in the passage that the child couldn’t possibly — for example, the contents of the secret drawer. And yet, in this section, the narrator does not qualify her statements as she does later in her description of Bessie:

Bessie Lee must, I think, have been a girl of good natural capacity; for she was smart in all she did, and had a remarkable knack of narrative: so, at least, I judge from the impression made on me by her nursery tales. She was pretty, too, if my recollections of her face and person are correct. I remember her as a slim young woman. [I.IV, 87]
Why the narrative inconsistency? Why present her own subjective, impassioned experiences with such certainty and then insistently qualify a very simple description of a minor character?

When Jane recounts the sight of herself as a “strange little figure . . . like one of the tiny phantoms, half fair, half imp,” her own vague features — glittering eyes, white face and arms — fade away among an effusive description of “the effect of a real spirit.” This is the closest we come to a physical description of our narrator, and it stands in stark contrast to Jane self-proclaimed plainness.

Hope this helps. ;D

[mcf]

n Jane Eyre Charlotte Brontë, who expresses strong sympathy for the working class and the poor, forcefully condemns both upper-class exploitation and arrogance. Jane's own struggle makes clear the integral relationship between wealth and survival, though her experience is actually less precarious than other characters in the novel. However, the book also abounds with subtly condescending attitudes regarding the "constitutional" limitations of society's neediest members. Ironically, then, in Jane Eyre Brontë simultaneously fosters democratic attitudes while perpetuating a rigidly class-based system of social relations. The tone of her work — inspiring in its compassion, disturbing in its traces of elitism — reflects a striking contradiction in the intellectual and moral sensibility of British society at mid-century.

An 1842 article entitled "Industry and its Reward in Great Britain and Ireland," published in the Westminster Review, demonstrates this contradiction. The authors argue on the behalf of the working classes, specifically agricultural laborers. They explore the relationship between subsistence wages and impoverishment in order to depict the arduous struggle for survival faced by the rural poor. Much like the majority of Jane Eyre, the tone of the prose is fervent and highly attuned to the suffering of the underprivileged. The unidentified authors emphasize the cruel indifference of those in power,

There is a mighty evil connected with the condition of the working classes in this country which has to be met, exposed, and overcome. That evil is the following: — The upper and even the middling classes have been so long habituated to the knowledge of the existence of misery, want and privation, that they ask, with indolent or vapid indifference, when pressed upon to consider the whole question, "What is there new then, that we have not heard of?
This article identifies and disparages self-congratulatory elitist rationalizations of the status quo. Apparently, many people in the ruling classes justified their apathy towards the poor by dwelling upon the absence of legal barriers (i.e., slavery) against improving one's situation. According to this line of reasoning, it is the fault of the poor themselves if they remain destitute; for, they have failed to lift themselves up. The article analyzes the economic well-being of agricultural laborers in France, Switzerland, and Belgium to emphasize the magnitude of the problem in Britain. This study claims that, although these other nations also had very modest living standards in the middle of the nineteenth-century, their workers fared far better than their British counterparts in fulfillment of such basic needs as food, clothing and shelter.

Such statistical analysis sheds light on Jane Eyre because it emphasizes the magnitude of the suffering in rural England endured during Brontë's day. With the exception of Jane's early days at Lowood, Brontë primarily limits herself to alluding to such stark social realities without depicting them, until briefly focusing on rural village life when Jane begins teaching at Morton. Here, the harsh realities of country living in northern England creep into the novel, even if very briefly. Jane's ambivalence about her career as a schoolteacher is clear; it undermines the social ethic of equality which she invokes throughout the novel. Her antipathy primarily stems from her own unfulfilled passions. Yet, in light of the hardship and deprivation she experiences, her mixed emotions towards these girls conveys a great deal about her own sense of obligation to those "below" her. She reflects upon her new position, "I felt-yes, idiot that I am-I felt degraded. I doubted I had taken a step which sank instead of raising me in the scale of social existence. I was weakly dismayed at the ignorance, the poverty, the coarseness of all I heard and saw round me." The limits of her compassion alter Brontë's portrait of Jane's lifelong rally against injustice. Here Jane identifies the nature of her quest not as a struggle against injustice. She strives for the elevation of her own social standing.

Throughout Jane Eyre Brontë shows that two moral creeds exist: one for the lucky few and another for everyone else. What becomes apparent towards the end of the novel is that Jane herself endorses the social caste system. The tone of her words reveals this contradiction. This Westminster Review article speaks with an extraordinarily similar voice. "It would neither harmonize with our tastes or opinions to make any long profession of our attachment to the working classes." Unsurprisingly, the paradigm established at the outset of the article suggests a paternalistic, bourgeois sensibility rather than a genuinely democratic spirit. The authors continue by reassuring their readership that revolution is not their intention, "The distinctions of society we acknowledge and respect. The rich man must have his mansion, the poor man, his cottage."(217) Emphatically, it is not my intention to castigate the analysis provided in "Industry and its Reward in Great Britain and Ireland". Sincere concern for the suffering of the poor is evident in this work. Such is also the case in Jane Eyre. I admire these portraits of social and individual injustice. However, these same intellectuals constructed their arguments in such a way as to perpetuate the class-based system which they claimed to vilify. From reading the Westminster Review, it becomes immediately apparent that Jane Eyre is not the revolutionary text which many revisionist scholars — particularly feminist scholars — have recently claimed it to be. Jane Eyre is not a saint. She struggles and rebels and fails just like the rest of us.

Hope this helps. ;D

[mcf]

Hi Fiona,

Here is some info to read.


Jane and Mr. Brocklehurst (Fritz Eichenberg)
One major concern of Victorian literature is the question of gender identity, the nature and the role of men and women. Charlotte Brontë’s novel Jane Eyre was controversial at the time of its publication in the mid-nineteenth century for its portrayal of a woman struggling against forces that would limit her autonomy. The novel’s portrayal of a woman seeking her independence challenged Victorian society’s conception of femininity and women’s role in society.

Certain preconceived notions existed in Victorian England that governed how women (and even young girls) should behave: that they be pleasant in their words and appearance, be mindful of their social position, and obey their betters without signs of defiance. Even as a child at Gateshead Hall and Lowood School, Jane Eyre deviates from and rebels against these rules, facing the grim consequences: alienation, punishment, and even threats of God’s wrath. These stifling forces that Jane faces as a child shape her identity as a woman later in the novel.

One really cannot care for such a little toad as that
Young Jane learns that she as a girl is expected to look agreeable and speak pleasantly. In fact, one of the reasons she is shunned by her aunt and cousins at Gateshead is because of her unhappy countenance and manner. Mrs. Reed keeps Jane from the rest of the family, saying:

“She regretted to be under the necessity of keeping me at a distance; but that until she…could discover by her own observation that I was endeavouring in good earnest to acquire a more sociable and child-like disposition, a more attractive and sprightly manner—something lighter, franker, more natural, as it were—she really must exclude me from privileges intended only for contented, happy little children.” (Brontë 1)

Thus, Jane is alienated and rejected partly because of the way she looks. Even the fact that she is plain-featured works against her at Gateshead. Abbot, one of the servants, says that “if she were a nice, pretty child, one might compassionate her forlornness; but one really cannot care for such a little toad as that” (Brontë 20). While Jane has no control over her features, she often speaks defiantly, and Mrs. Reed finds “something truly forbidding in a child taking up her elders in that manner” (Brontë 1).

Besides being a girl, Jane has the double burden of being an orphan dependent. Another challenge for young women is for them to know their place, both as a woman and in the social hierarchy. Jane has a dubious position in the household—she is not accepted as part of the family, nor is she a servant. As Abbot puts it, Jane is less than a servant, because she does nothing for her keep. John Reed, Jane’s bullying cousin, asserts that “‘you are a dependent, mamma says; you have no money; your father left you none; you ought to beg, and not to live here with gentlemen’s children like us’” (Brontë 4).

Jane refuses to stand his abuse, the physical exertion of his illegitimate power over her as her “master.” Instinctively, she flies at him physically and verbally, comparing him to a slave-driver and Roman emperors. However, her resistance is not merely instinctual—“Roman emperor and rebel slave are intellectual terms, and Jane is perfectly able to grasp the injustice of her punishment for defending herself” (Pell 401). Mrs. Reed and the servants are horrified not just because Jane acted violently, but also because she attacked one of her betters.


Young Jane (Georgie Henley)
Lowood School (Eichenberg) Perfect submission
Therefore, she faces punishment (another consequence of deviating from the accepted notions of femininity). As a child, Jane is unjustly punished both at Gateshead and at Lowood—locked in the oppressive red room, then forced to stand on a stool and be disdained by her peers. Both punishments are unjust; in one case she acts in self-defense, in the other she is falsely branded a liar. As Mrs. Reed shuts Jane in the red room she says: “This violence is all most repulsive….It is only on condition of perfect submission and stillness that I shall liberate you” (Brontë 12). Here Mrs. Reed makes very clear just what she expects of Jane: to obey her unquestioningly and act perfectly submissive. Nancy Pell argues that:

The conditions on which the adults in Jane’s world would have approved of her are drawn in terms of such extravagant prejudices or demands for subjection that the author leads us to give our sympathy and encouragement to the child who resists and defies them. (402)

Jane is also expected to be completely submissive at Lowood, where a girl can be “trained in conformity to her position and prospects” (Brontë 29). At this charity school Jane faces an institution’s systematic stripping away of girls’ individuality and willfulness. She describes how “eighty girls sat motionless and erect; a quaint assemblage they appeared, all with plain locks combed from their faces, not a curl visible…. [The uniform] suited them ill, and gave an air of oddity even to the prettiest” (Brontë 41). The young women are ranged in rows, “marshalled and marched” like cattle. Any resistance is dealt with swiftly and strictly. Lowood “exposes and corrects the woman’s irregular traits: the marks of the child, the criminal, the ill, and insane” (London 200).

Different religious perspectives
Religious characters appear in the novel, some of them offering Jane an unforgiving idea of divine retribution for wicked girls. As Jane is taken to the red room, Abbot says: “‘God will punish her: He might strike her dead in the midst of her tantrums, and then where would she go?’”(Brontë 7). Mr. Brocklehurst tells Jane exactly where she will go if she dies, threatening her with a lake burning with fire and brimstone. According to the menacing reverend, there is “no sight so sad as that of a naughty child…especially a naughty little girl” (Brontë 26). He equates naughty children with the wicked sinners who burn in hell. Mr. Brocklehurst “personifies the religious aspect of self-suppression and constraint that Jane will meet again in Helen Burns and St. John Rivers” (Pell 402). His extreme evangelism is echoed later in St. John Rivers, who also threatens Jane with God’s wrath for not bending to his will.

Bette London points out that Jane Eyre “stands as a primer for rebellion and ‘ungodly discontent’—rebellion figured in the spectacle of feminine misconduct” (198). Because Jane does not behave the way society expects young girls in her position to behave, it must follow that God does not approve of her actions either.

However, Jane ultimately rejects this harsh view of God, instead taking to heart Helen Burns’ message of God’s mercy and forgiveness. With her creed, Helen can

“so clearly distinguish between the criminal and his crime; I can so sincerely forgive the first while I abhor the last: with this creed, revenge never worries my heart, degradation never too deeply disgusts me, injustice never crushes me too low: I live in calm, looking to the end.” (Brontë 53)

But while Helen passively accepts the privations and injustices brought at Lowood, to the point that she almost welcomes her death of consumption, Jane lives by her own advice: to keep in good health and not die. Her simple and childlike reply to Mr. Brocklehurst “may be taken as a rubric for the rest of the novel. Jane is candidly committed to her own survival” (Pell 403).

Jane does not follow the rules set for girls in Victorian England, rules that called for self-suppression and passive compliance. Instead, Jane strives to take care of herself as she becomes an adult, rejecting a marriage that would deprive her of self-respect and another proposal that would deny her love (and in fact kill her). Thus, she reasserts her passionate dedication to her own welfare when she tells Rochester, “I care for myself” (Brontë 314).


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The stifling and restricting forces Jane finds in characters like Mrs. Reed and Mr. Brocklehurst are meant to “produce the docile body approved for Victorian womanhood, a body organized for social use: to serve, to suffer, to sacrifice, to (silently) obey” (London 199). During her childhood at Gateshead and Lowood, Jane learns these preconceived notions of femininity and what consequences she faces for rebelling against them. Ultimately, Jane Eyre must become her own advocate as she matures into an independent woman, sure of her self-worth and her place in society.

Hope this helps. ;D

[mcf]

Hi,

Here is some more information.

A History of Hunger
Calamitous shifts in food production and distribution, as well as a food scarcity that occurred during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, established a preoccupation with hunger and food in much of Victorian literature. Even before these events befell England, however, the typical commoner's diet already proved meager. In The English Rural Laborer, G. E. Fussell cites Sir Frederick Eden's contemporary accounts of the rural poor, who were "habituated to the unvarying meal of dry bread and cheese from week's end to week's end" (Fussell 82). Likewise, in Great Expectations, Pip's and Joe's pastoral meals consist of only bread and butter — the only two food items Dickens mentions again and again at the start of the novel.
The latter half of the eighteenth century heralded the rise of the Industrial Revolution, during which rural laborers migrated en masse to the cities for employment. No longer able live off the land, and "alienated from their food source," this new working class became sensitive to fluctuations in food availability (Houston 8). Between 1815 and 1846, Parliament established the Corn Laws as a protectionist measure against cheaper foreign imports of wheat and other grains, collectively called "corn" in England (Bloy). Although the land-owning aristocracy benefited from increased profits brought about by the Corn Laws, the working class suffered mightily from high food prices. Compounded with the potato famine of the 1840s, this bottleneck on food availability caused great misery for much of England (Drake). During the decade that would come to be known as the Hungry Forties, the procurement of food escalated from daily nuisance to national obsession.
Victorian literature, in turn, captures this obsession with food. Hunger serves as the driving force behind plots in many Victorian novels. For example, Great Expectations begins with Pip being throttled and threatened by the convict Magwitch, whose monstrous hunger is satiated by the food Pip steals from his own home. Later in the novel, Dickens reveals that Magwitch had devoted his entire life to the betterment of Pip, simply because Pip had helped him as a starving man. In Jane Eyre, the obsession with hunger presents itself in a lengthy description of the chronic undernourishment at Lowood School, where
the scanty supply of food was distressing: with the keen appetites of growing children, we had scarcely sufficient to keep alive a delicate invalid. From this deficiency of nourishment resulted an abuse, which pressed hardly on the younger pupils: whenever the famished great girls had an opportunity, they would coax or menace the little ones out of their portion. Many a time I [Jane] have shared between two claimants the precious morsel of brown bread distributed at tea-time; and after relinquishing to a third half the contents of my mug of coffee, I have swallowed the remainder with an accompaniment of secret tears, forced from me by the exigency of hunger.
Sufffering from unrelenting hunger, Jane meticulously accounts for her portions of food. Extreme hunger also compels the older girls to take advantage of the younger ones, paralleling the rampant food adulteration and the cheating of buyers by giving short weight during the early 1800s (Horn 50-51). Another instance of hunger driving the plot appears when Jane finds herself at the brink of starvation after running away from Rochester's estate. The "pang of famine" eventually takes her to the steps of a cottage where she meets St. John Rivers, who later informs the impoverished Jane that her late uncle John Eyre left her a fortune of 20,000 pounds.
That hunger plays a pivotal role in Victorian storytelling demonstrates the pervasive threat of hunger throughout all levels of Victorian society. Even to the upper classes, hunger posed an indirect threat — for extreme hunger often leads to riots of the lower classes. The Victorians' preoccupation with food is shared not only by writers of fiction, but also by the day-to-day journalists and readers of newspapers. In The Child, the State, and the Victorian Novel, Laura C. Berry notes that "endless stories of starvation and spoilage reprinted in the London Times. . .betrayed a nervous interest in what, and how much, paupers ate" (Berry 48). Thus, writing about hunger serves as a vehicle for conveying the underlying social malaise that occurred as a result of the Industrial Revolution.
The Dichotomy of Hungers: Making Disturbing Issues Palatable
Two forms of hunger exist in Victorian literature: pitiable hunger and threatening hunger. Women and children — such as the pupils of Lowood school and Pip — display a pitiable hunger, for which readers can easily express sorrow and sympathy. When the hunger belongs to an adult male, however, it becomes dangerous. Orlick and Magwitch, of Great Expectations, both examplify voracious adult male hunger. To the most extreme end, in Lord Dunsany's "The Hoard of the Gibbellins," hunger belongs to the truly monstrous. Victorian authors show a preference for the pitiable, however, as demonstrated by protagonists who are usually women or children. According to Berry, "Novels and social documents" prefer to transform "the dangerous hungers of powerful adults into the blameless and pitiable needs of infant victims" (10). When the adult male hunger suggests the threat of an encroaching mob, authors make issues concerning social unrest and widespread hunger more palatable by embedding hunger in a pitiable child's or woman's body.
Lewis Carroll's Alice provides a notable exception to this dichotomy. Although she rarely expresses her hunger in a direct manner, the inhabitants of Wonderland frequently perceive her as a hungry, threatening being. For example, when Alice eats the left and right sides of mushroom, her neck grows high into the trees, where she frightens a bird who mistakes her for a serpent. When Alice does ask for food directly — at the Mad Hatter's tea party, for instance — she is blatantly ignored. One could interpret Alice's treatment by Wonderland characters as feminist commentary. Victorian society traditionally viewed women as caretakers of house and husband, with few rights of their own. Meek women were praised while assertive "hungry" women were considered a threat. At the same time, women who sought privileges and employment, with the exception of governesses, often went ignored.
Another interpretation of Alice's hunger explores the concept of feminine maturity. "The problem with appetite," argues Anna Silver in Victorian Literature and the Anorexic Body "is that it is always associated with physical change and, symbolically, with a girl's maturation and her concurrent loss of childhood identity" (Silver 71). The disastrous banquet at the end of Through the Looking Glass, which occurs after Alice becomes a queen, supports Silver's observation. Once Alice is crowned a queen, symbolizing her maturation, her adult hunger for food proves more of a threat than ever. The fantastic world inside the looking glass effectively banishes Alice upon her transformation from a child to a young adult. However, Alice still remains a pre-pubescent girl at the end of the novel. The final banquet scene's hostility, then, is perhaps a prelude to the actual world Alice might encounter upon entering womanhood, when she will face discouragement to eat as she pleases, as well as host of other expectations and prejudices. Once again, appetite serves as a vehicle for a more potentially disturbing issue — in this case, sexual maturation from girl to woman.
Hunger as an Instrument of Self-Control and Self-Denial
While the working class toiled away for scanty portions of food, the aristocracy enjoyed the luxury of eating fifteen-dish meals garnished with an additional eleven-dish dessert (Soyer 415). Conspicuous consumption in the highest levels of society eventually spurred a backlash from writers and critics. For instance, Benjamin Disraeli criticized England for being "two nations" that were "fed by a different food." While half of the Victorian population subsisted on almost nothing, the other half, as V. S. Pritchett writes, was "disgustedly overfed" (Houston 8-9). In response to having an overabundance of food, the upper classes viewed eating as an exercise in self-control, particularly for girls and women.
"The negative representation of eating in much nineteenth-century children's literature," as well as novels targeted to adults, "was matched by real restrictions on eating in many girls' lives," notes Silver. "Most often, girls were urged to eat a bland, unstimulating diet" (58), as evinced by the insubstantial meals of watery porridge forced upon the students of Lowood school. Wanton indulgence in food, no matter how little, symbolized moral looseness and a general lack of discipline. Whether or not Victorian writers genuinely shared this view, they successfully captured this attitude in many of their writings. In Jane Eyre, when Mr. Brocklehurst discovers that Miss Temple had offered meals of bread and cheese to her students, he reprimands her liberality by saying,
You are aware that my plan in bringing up these girls is, not to accustom them to habits of luxury and indulgence, but to render them hardy, patient, self-denying. . . Oh, madam, when you put bread and cheese, instead of burnt porridge, into these children's mouths, you may indeed feed their vile bodies, but you little think how you starve their immortal souls!
Here, Mr. Brocklehurst draws a connection between eating and spiritual purity — a connection explored by several writers of this period. He implies that fasting paves a road to redemption and a higher spiritual state. As a result of the Oxford Movement in the Church of England, as well as a few dissenting churches, religious fasting enjoyed a small revival in the nineteenth century (Silver 136). Tennyson touches upon the idea of religious fasting in "The Holy Grail," from Idylls of the King. By describing the actions of the fasting nun, he "highlights the slippery distinctions between secular and sacred fasting. . .The nun's fasting renders her incorporeal, merely a walking spirit whose fasting brings her a glimpse of the Grail" (Silver 156).
Christina Rossetti, an important High Church poet, wrote "Goblin Market" as a discourse in consumption and redemption. In the poem, the goblin men entice two sisters, Laura and Lizzie, with plates of luscious fruit, which symbolize original sin (Scholl). Laura soon gives into temptation and eats the goblin fruits, but when she learns that she will never see the goblin men again, she falls into a listless daze. In a desperate measure to revive her sister, Lizzie confronts the goblin men, asking for their fruits but refusing to eat them herself. In this example, Rossetti portrays self-denial of food as a spiritual act that purifies one's soul, as well as the souls of others who have fallen.
Self-denial of food is not limited to a religious context, however; it can also take the form of thwarted desires. In Great Expectations, Miss Havisham keeps her rotting bride-cake upon a long table that had been laid for a feast, so that she can obsessively remind herself and others of a thwarted romance. At the same time, Miss Havisham also appears to have starved herself, for when Pip first sees Miss Havisham, he describes her as "shrunk to skin and bone." By depriving herself of nourishment, Miss Havisham symbolically deprives herself of romantic desire.
The Decadent poets have also characterized unrequited love as a form of self-starvation. Swinburne's "Dolores" — replete with images of fruit and wine — evokes the pains of unfulfilled passions where "fruits fail and love dies." Similarly, in "Laus Veneris," the speaker describes his empty, purely physical relationship as "a feverish famine in my veins." Again and again, the speaker refers to his love in terms of hunger:
There lover-like with lips and limbs that meet
They lie, they pluck sweet fruit of life and eat;
But me the hot and hungry days devour,
And in my mouth no fruit of theirs is sweet.
The "fruit" of fleshly pleasures fails to satisfy the speaker's hunger for a higher, more spiritual form of love. The lack of spiritual love devours him instead of satiating him. Still, he pines away at Venus, effectively choosing self-starvation in the end.
The theme of hunger pervades throughout much of Victorian literature. Rooted in the eating habits of both the rich and poor, literary depictions of hunger serve as an anchor for realism and social commentary, as well as a point of departure for other subjects such as sin and love. Because the act of eating takes such an important place in the daily lives of humans, as well as in the universal struggle for survival, it becomes a powerful force that drives the action and plot in Victorian writings.

Hope this helps. ;D

[Fiona Sinclair]

A comparative literary study of Victorian Society and the economic and social class factors that divide society in Wuthering Heights, Great Expectations and Jane Eyre.

“What good is social class and status? Truthfulness is measures within. Pride in one’s status is like poison holding it in your hand and eating it, you shall die” Sri Guru Granth Sahib

The Victorian era is illustrated as a time of power and wealth in Britain. Yet how could a country that treated women as second class citizens and suppressed the thoughts and opportunities of the lower classes be conveyed as this? “Wuthering Heights” by Emily Bronte, “Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Bronte and “Great Expectations” by Charles Dickens question the hierarchy system through the theme of social class. Although depicted in many different mannerisms this theme is central to the understanding of the protagonists in the novels and their struggles against the class system.

Through the analysis of the novels it is clear that the Victorian period was a labyrinth of lies and contradictions. The outward image of prosperity and riches in the upper classes was tarnished by their inner selfishness and superciliousness. “Great Expectations” see’s the protagonists, Pip, venture on a journey through the social classes, as his position in society increases a sudden decline in his morals becomes apparent. Pip, once a peasent boy abandons his family to learn how to become a “gentleman”, although this is initially seen as a positive opertunity it soon becomes apparent that Pip has made a serious error in his choice of life. Similarly, when Heathcliff becomes in possession of “The Grange” in “Wuthering Heights” he is overcome by his wealth and new found power. The once orphan indulges in his new life and seeks to upper his social class further.

[mcf]

Hi Fiona,

I am very impressed by this.

A comparative literary study of Victorian Society and the economic and social class factors that divide society in Wuthering Heights, Great Expectations and Jane Eyre.mention each author. Also in dissertaion, when referring to a female author you must use her full name.

“What good is social class and status? Truthfulness is measures within. Pride in one’s status is like poison holding it in your hand and eating it, you shall die” Sri Guru Granth Sahib

The Victorian era is illustrated as a time of power and wealth in Britain. What was it the citizens desire and how did this impact on society?Yet how could a country that treated women as second class citizens and suppressed the thoughts and opportunities of the lower classes be conveyed as this? “Wuthering Heights” by Emily Bronte, “Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Bronte and “Great Expectations” by Charles Dickens question thesocial? economic? hierarchy system through the theme of social classsentence ends to abruptly and you need to make more reference to the meaning of the quotation.. Although depicted in many different mannerismswrong context. this theme is central to the understanding of the protagonists in the novels and their struggles against the class system.

Through the analysis of the novelssounds too mechanical - you need to make a clearer link to the previous nparagraph. it is clear that the Victorian period was a labyrinth of lies and contradictions. The outward image of prosperity and riches in the upper classes was tarnished by their inner selfishness and superciliousnessthis is excellent.. “Great Expectations” see’sspelling? the protagonists, Pip, venture on a journey through the social classes, as his position in society increases a sudden decline in his morals becomes apparent. Pip, once a peasent boy abandons his family to learn how to become a “gentleman”, although this is initially seen as a positive opertunity it soon becomes apparent that Pip has made a serious error in his choice of lifeexcellent until choice of life.. Similarly ;D, when Heathcliff becomes in possession[bexpression error.][/b] of “The Grange” in “Wuthering Heights” he is overcome by his wealth and new found power. The once orphan indulges in his new life and seeks to upper his social class further. ;D

Hope this helps. ;D

[Fiona Sinclair]

A comparative literary study of Victorian Society and the economic and social class factors that divide society in Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, Great Expectations by Charles Dickens and Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.

“What good is social class and status? Truthfulness is measures within. Pride in one’s status is like poison holding it in your hand and eating it, you shall die” Sri Guru Granth Sahib

The Victorian era is illustrated as a time of power and wealth in Britain. People yearned for cultivation and a deep feeling of prosperity causing a demand for the image of What was it the citizens desire and how did this impact on society? Yet how could a country that treated women as second-class citizens and suppressed the thoughts and opportunities of the lower classes be conveyed as this? “Wuthering Heights” by Emily Bronte, “Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Bronte and “Great Expectations” by Charles Dickens question the social and economic hierarchy system through the theme of social class and individual journeys of central characters. Although depicted in many different styles this theme is central to the understanding of the protagonists in the novels and their struggles against the class system.
Based on description of setting it is clear that the Victorian period was a labyrinth of lies and contradictions. The outward image of prosperity and riches in the upper classes was tarnished by their inner selfishness and superciliousness. “Great Expectations” sees the protagonists, Pip, venture on a journey through the social classes, as his position in society increases a sudden decline in his morals becomes apparent. Pip, once a peasant boy abandons his family to learn how to become a “gentleman”, although this is initially seen as a positive opportunity it soon becomes evident that Pip has made a serious error of judgment. Similarly, when Heathcliff becomes to possess “The Grange” in “Wuthering Heights” he is overcome by his wealth and newfound power. The once orphan indulges in his new life and seeks to upper his social class further. Jane Eyre, comparable to the orphan Heathcliff, aims to heighten her social status through the means of education. However, although on a par with socialites on intellect she is unable to reach her goal until she gains a small fortune. Through the development of these Victorian characters, Emily Bronte, Charlotte Bronte and Dickens explore the attributes and dis/advantages that come with being of upper class. Each come to the conclusion that status and wealth do not lead to happiness and in fact can conduct serious flaws and lead to a major downfall of character.


I still need to edit some other parts but just put this on so it doesn't go missing:)

[mcf]

Hi Fiona,

Good progress. Let me know when you are happy with your editing and I will mark it.

Hope this helps. ;D

[mcf]

Hi,

Here is an article I found on Jane Eyre as Cinderella.

Jane Eyre is the story of an orphan who overcomes that barrier and makes a name for herself later in her life. Jane did not have much, if any support from her relatives or anyone she met, and therefore Jane often spent
much of her childhood and adulthood within her own imagination, her only refuge from the cruel world outside her mind. This "second self," which Germans call a "dopplegänger, is what helps Jane become a successful woman. By putting herself within her own imagination, Jane finds a way to cope with her unfortunate circumstances, and that avenue allows her to grow as a person in ways that she might not otherwise discover if she took circumstances in her life for what they are, rather than what they could be.

Jane's entire double-life within the real world and the worlds she reads about in such novels as Gulliver's Travels and Arabian Tales creates an interesting parallel between it and the fictitious lives of other heroines in fairy tales like Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel, Sleeping Beauty, and others. In these stories, those heroines were thrust into just as unfortunate a situation as Jane was in the novel's beginning. Charlotte Brontë plays with this parallels through her choices of language throughout the novel, the setting (and those choices stemming from its description, and even how Brontë describes some of the characters, like Rochester.

Jane Eyre: A Cinderella Story
Zak Grimm, Yahoo! Contributor Network
Feb 18, 2008 "Contribute content like this. Start Here."
.More: Jane Eyre Jane Charlotte Bronte Bronte Cinderella .In the opening pages of the novel, I felt that the scenes at the Reed house seemed to mirror the same feelings and attitudes that the fable of Cinderella told. First of all, there are 3 children, Eliza, John, and
Georgiana, opposite the orphan Jane, as there are three "wicked stepchildren" within the house that Cinderella was expected to care for. A few scenes into Jane Eyre, Jane narrates that she was "humbled by the consciousness of my physical inferiority" (6) to those three children, whom, like the three wicked stepsisters of Cinderella's, constantly chided Jane and were quite nasty to her altogether. The fact that Jane believes that she is humbled by their presence is perhaps of no surprise, seeing as Jane is well aware that she is an orphan and not technically part of the Reed family. But, I felt that this realization is two-fold, the first fold being that she is humbled by them.

But it does not end there. Jane is humbled, yes, but it is the realization that she is not quite of the same level that the three children are that interests me. I think that because she realizes that she is of lower class than the Reed family, this allows her more of the ability to be able to consider her actions and thoughts toward them, rather than being part of that higher class that only cares for themselves and perhaps does not take into account the value of foresight. This idea that the Reeds are knowingly of higher class than Jane, and therefore exploit that knowledge consistently can be seen in the scene on page six of the novel, where the children are able to participate in a gathering around their mother, Mrs. Reed. Jane is an orphan and nothing else in the eyes of Mrs. Reed, and therefore at this moment, she decides to exclude Jane until she endeavoured "in good earnest to acquire a more sociable and childlike disposition" so she could then be more like the "contented, happy little children" by the side of Mrs. Reed (6).

Jane Eyre: A Cinderella Story
Zak Grimm, Yahoo! Contributor Network
Feb 18, 2008 "Contribute content like this. Start Here."
.More: Jane Eyre Jane Charlotte Bronte Bronte Cinderella .At this point, I felt that Brontë's story mirrored the story of Cinderella simply because of the introduction of a character, Mrs. Reed, and her close resemblance, in terms of attitude and behavior, to the
infamous "wicked stepmother" in Cinderella's tale. That particular character in Cinderella never gave her a chance at anything, no opportunity to explain her thoughts and feelings, just as Jane is ripped of these opportunities to become a grown child, even a human being on the same level as the Reeds. Furthermore, not long after Jane is excluded from the evening with Mrs. Reed and her children, Jane is sentenced to what Mrs. Reed called the "red room," whereby she was locked up without explanation or second chance to gain the trust of the Reed children and Mrs. Reed. Here again, the story of Jane Eyre closely mimics that of Cinderella, as she too was deprived of opportunity and locked up in her own dungeon. But like Cinderella, Jane Eyre maintains that aura of someone who, while she may not be physically sound or socially acceptable to the standards of the time, she maintains that mental composure that undoubtedly makes her a very effective heroine in the story, a composure that also serves to remind readers that it is her mind that is going to get Jane toward her goal of actually being seen rather than being heard, which is what we readers hope for with Jane.

When Jane first comes to Lowood, I felt that perhaps Brontë used the sad place to serve as a real-world extension of the designed "red room," because Jane's feelings seem much the same; feelings of disorientation, fear, and utter sadness at this place which, like the red room, seems only like a place where people put all the orphans they can find who seem no better off there than where they lived before, as is the case with Jane and her original establishment at the Reed's home. The fact that the "red room" even has a name seems to me to imply that it has a purpose, that purpose being to house children who seem unruly to their caretakers, but perhaps are not truly "bad" children. Lowood seems to feel much like the same kind of place, at least at first.

But then Jane meets and befriends Helen Burns, a fellow orphan. It is that point at which I believe Lowood ceases being an extension of the dreaded "red room" at the Reed home, and becomes an avenue for which Jane can perhaps further her life, if only within her own mind. However, since Jane relies so heavily upon her thoughts and imagination to allow her some freedom within the tight walls of England's social class, this realization with the help of Helen Burns and her treatment of Jane seems all the more plausible. Jane's quest for a more meaningful life continues and grows in strength and potential when she tells Helen that she lives by a different creed than Helen, one that "extends hope to all: it makes Eternity a rest-a mighty home, not a terror and an abyss" (59).

Jane Eyre: A Cinderella Story
Zak Grimm, Yahoo! Contributor Network
Feb 18, 2008 "Contribute content like this. Start Here."
.More: Jane Eyre Jane Charlotte Bronte Bronte Cinderella .This connection between hope and imagination seems to me to be part of that creed by which Jane lives. Later, Jane's growth away from being mentally-burdened by her orphan life continues when, in one moment, she
takes some time to consider what she truly wants out of life: "a new place, in a new house, amongst new faces, under new circumstances", and she realizes that she "wants this because it is of no use wanting anything better" (87). Jane knows that she doesn't need to have the same life as the Reeds, but instead can live more happily than now with just those things she mentioned. Moments later she figures out that the one way to step toward getting those things is to try and make herself available to people who have already acquired those things, like, as she discovers later, Mrs. Fairfax and Mr. Rochester at Thornfield Hall.

For what the fairy tale tells us a place where opportunities live in tandem with perceived barriers and challenges is, Thornfield Hall is that place. Just looking at the kinds of language that emerge from the simple name, Brontë allows readers to delve even further into their own imaginations right alongside Jane, with her descriptions of Thornfield Hall, and the images we ourselves conjure up in relation to her choice names. When we as readers picture these certain images in our minds with the help of Brontë, we then bring ourselves more into the story, and, as may happen with fairy tales, we may be able to better understand the emotions of the characters, because as we feel certain things in conjunction with the ways Brontë purposely names places like Thornfield Hall, the characters themselves may feel much of what we readers feel.

Jane Eyre: A Cinderella Story
Zak Grimm, Yahoo! Contributor Network
Feb 18, 2008 "Contribute content like this. Start Here."
.More: Jane Eyre Jane Charlotte Bronte Bronte Cinderella .For example, if we examine Thornfield Hall, we may think of the differences between "thorn" and "field," and what each name does to further the story Brontë is telling us, and how each name
plays into the idea of a fairy tale-like narrative. "Thorn" should make readers think of ideas like brambles, which for me then makes me think of barriers and perhaps a challenge. While Brontë doesn't specifically mention brambles in the story, the idea of barriers and challenges certainly comes into play. Jane, for example, must overcome certain barriers and challenges when she arrives at Thornfield Hall. As she spends days there and upon her initial arrival, she must win the superficial approval of her employer, Mr. Rochester. Given Rochester's countenance, this begins as quite a challenge for Jane. In the moment when Jane first arrives, she is out walking the grounds, and Rochester comes upon her riding his horse. He sees Jane, and momentarily loses focus and falls with his horse, hurting himself slightly. He asks Jane for help, and while she tries, each exchange glances, and I felt that an initial connection was made. But, upon overcoming this challenge and gaining his initial approval, her quest is not yet over. She must then continue to work hard to gain his respect and trust. I think that the moment when she gains his trust happened when Bertha set part of his bedroom on fire, and Jane senses something and goes into save Rochester from death. After that moment, I noticed Rochester treating Jane differently. Just afterward, Rochester realizes that Jane only has good intentions, and for that one moment, his hard demeanor softens as he says "I feel your benefits no burden, Jane" (154). Furthermore, in this moment Jane's opinion of Rochester begins to change, and her strong mind is able to sense something in Rochester at this moment she had not before. She notices that "words almost visible trembled on his lips" (154) but that he resisted saying them, no doubt words of fancy toward Jane. Jane internalizes these unsaid feelings that night as she tosses and turns with a heart full of trouble and joy.

While Thornfield Hall presents many challenges to Jane's character, all is not as bleak as it may seem. The name Thornfield could also play off the idea of a field, and what that could mean to readers. Ideas and people may be somewhat more abrupt and sharp at Thornfield, but there seems to also be plenty of opportunity at Thornfield Hall.

When I thought about this idea of possibility and opportunity, then, I began to think about the fairy tale of Sleeping Beauty. Not only does Thornfield Hall, in its medieval and ancient sense make me think of a giant castle, but in the tale of Sleeping Beauty, the prince's quest lay inside the castle, just as Jane's opportunities and possibilities that could lead to a better life lay mostly within the walls at Thornfield. Readers of the tale of Sleeping Beauty already know that when the prince came to the large foreboding tower where she lay, they already knew what he must do in order to break the spell Sleeping Beauty was under. Like the prince, Jane too has already gained some insight and character into her own quest, and knowing that, she works toward completing her quest with those ideas in mind.

Sleeping Beauty isn't the only fairy tale that comes to mind when I think about Jane Eyre and her time at Thornfield Hall. It seemed to me that Jane's journey to Thornfield may have similarities to the story of Hansel and Gretel. While Jane is a single person, I think that the idea of Jane's "second self" could parallel the story in an interesting way. I felt that the two selves of Jane, the physical self of Jane and the self which spends so much time within imagination, left clues along her entire journey, from Lowood all the way to Thornfield, for readers to discover that would help guide us into better understanding Jane and why she makes the decisions she makes.

The next part of Jane's quest to discover her new self finds Jane at Marsh End, St. John's world. When one thinks of a marsh, we may think of being sucked into it, whether by its mystery, or quite literally by
the muck and mud which waits for us. I felt that Jane was strongly attracted to Marsh End, and Brontë describes it in such a way that I felt the same as Jane did. While there, St. John slowly seems to drain Jane of her character which she had been so careful to uphold, much like the mud and overgrown plant life of a real marsh drains an area of its resources which it needs to survive. St. John, because he is so confident and aware of the strength of his own faith, threatens Jane's faith and forces her to question it, as she realizes when she says "...but I began to feel he had spoken truth of himself, that he was hard and cold" (399) thereby allowing for the possibility that Jane may make the poorer decision in haste, and lose track of her quest to discover herself. At this point, I felt that there were a couple ideas that Brontë seemed to play with in terms of the idea of a marsh. In a marsh there are many pathways, just like at this point in Jane's life she too has many decisions to make, all of which could lead her exactly where she wants to go, but because of the mystery and fogginess of her life in these moments at Marsh end, she cannot be sure of the true destinations of those pathways. She may end up where she wants, or she could just as easily fail and end up wallowing in the mud of her own downfall because she made hasty decisions. However, Jane, because of her unfailing strong will, smartly rejects St. John's proposal to stay at Marsh End, thinking to herself that he "would hardly make a good husband" (399) because of his unfailing interest in himself, and thus can continue her true quest.

The last place Jane finds is Ferndean, which to me played with many different ideas. When I think of a fern, I think of life that is renewed and stronger than it was before, and also life that has had much experience and can hold fast and survive no matter what. At this point in the story, I felt that Brontë is eluding to exactly those ideas in Jane's life, contrary to what she writes that Jane thinks: "Can there be life here?" (438). Jane is drawn to Ferndean, and there she finds Rochester, the old love that has indeed held true to her, even though her love is indeed torn and tattered and beaten down. But like the fern, Rochester stands fast to his true feelings and true self, and never gave up on Jane. It is here at Ferndean that Jane discovers her true self, a self that cannot live without its other piece, Rochester. In Ferndean Jane discovers renewed love, but she also has reached the pinnacle of her quest, renewed life. So it would seem that Jane's question is answered. There CAN be life here.

Works Cited

Bronte, Charlotte. "Jane Eyre." Penguin Group, 1997.

Hope this helps. ;D

[Fiona Sinclair]

A comparative literary study of Victorian Society and the economic and social class factors that divide society in Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, Great Expectations by Charles Dickens and Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.

“What good is social class and status? Truthfulness is measures within. Pride in one’s status is like poison holding it in your hand and eating it, you shall die” Sri Guru Granth Sahib

The Victorian era is illustrated as a time of power and wealth in Britain. People yearned for cultivation and a deep feeling of prosperity resulting in a distinct gap between those who could afford this new way of living and those who couldn't. Yet how could a country that treated women as second-class citizens and suppressed the thoughts and opportunities of the lower classes be conveyed as "the world's superpower"? “Wuthering Heights” by Emily Bronte, “Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Bronte and “Great Expectations” by Charles Dickens question the social and economic hierarchy system through the theme of social class and individual journeys of central characters. Although depicted in many different styles this theme is central to the understanding of the protagonists in the novels and their struggles against the class system.
Based on description of setting it is clear that the Victorian period was a labyrinth of lies and contradictions. The outward image of prosperity and riches in the upper classes was tarnished by their inner selfishness and superciliousness. “Great Expectations” sees the protagonists, Pip, venture on a journey through the social classes, as his position in society increases a sudden decline in his morals becomes apparent. Pip, once a peasant boy abandons his family to learn how to become a “gentleman”, although this is initially seen as a positive opportunity it soon becomes evident that Pip has made a serious error of judgment. Similarly, when Heathcliff becomes to possess “The Grange” in “Wuthering Heights” he is overcome by his wealth and newfound power. The once orphan indulges in his new life and seeks to upper his social class further. Jane Eyre, comparable to the orphan Heathcliff, aims to heighten her social status through the means of education. However, although on a par with socialites on intellect she is unable to reach her goal until she gains a small fortune. Through the development of these Victorian characters, Emily Bronte, Charlotte Bronte and Dickens explore the attributes and dis/advantages that come with being of upper class. Each come to the conclusion that status and wealth do not lead to happiness and in fact can conduct serious flaws and lead to a major downfall of character.

I think that's me done now, the word count is at 485ish!

[mcf]

A comparative literary study of Victorian Society and the economic and social class factors that divide society in Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, Great Expectations by Charles Dickens and Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. ;D

“What good is social class and status? Truthfulness is measures within. Pride in one’s status is like poison holding it in your hand and eating it, you shall die” Sri Guru Granth Sahib ;D

The Victorian era is illustrated as a time of power and wealth in Britain.[bwho said this?][/b] People yearned for cultivation and a deep feeling of prosperity resulting in a distinct gap between those who could afford this new way of living and those who couldn't. Yet how could a country that treated women as second-class citizens and suppressed the thoughts and opportunities of the lower classes be conveyed as "the world's superpower"? ;D“Wuthering Heights” by Emily Bronte, “Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Bronte and “Great Expectations” by Charles Dickens question the social and economic hierarchy systemunsure about the use of the word 'system' through the theme of social class and individual journeys of central characters. Although depicted in manycan you really say 'many'? different styles this theme is central to the understanding of the protagonists in the novels and their struggles against the class system.[bI feel the end of this sentence lacks fluency.][/b]
Based on description of settingrather simplistic expression it is clear that the Victorian period was a labyrinth of lies and contradictions. The outward image of prosperity and riches in the upper classes was tarnished by their inner selfishness and superciliousness ;D. “Great Expectations” sees the protagonists, Pip, venture on a journey through the social classes, as his position in society increasesexpression error a sudden decline in his morals becomes apparent. Pip, once a peasant boy abandons his family to learn how to become a “gentleman”, although this is initially seen as a positive opportunity it soon becomes evident that Pip has made a serious error of judgment. ;DSimilarly, when Heathcliff becomes to possessbecomes to possess makes little sense. “The Grange” in “Wuthering Heights” he is overcome by his wealth and newfound power. The once orphan indulges in his new life and seeks to upperwhat do nyou mean by upper? doesn't sound right. his social class further. Jane Eyre, comparable to the orphan Heathcliff, aims to heightenwrong word in this context. her social status through the means of education. However, although on a par with socialites on intellect she is unable to reach her goal until she gains a small fortune. Through the development of these Victorian characters, Emily Bronte, Charlotte Bronte and Dickens explore the attributes and dis/advantages that come with being of upper class. Each come to the conclusion that status and wealth do not lead to happiness and in fact can conductconduct is the wrong word in this context. serious flaws and lead to athe sophistication of this final few words is not in keeping with the rest of the introduction major downfall of character.

Word count is fine.

Hope this helps. ;D