Jane Eyre A Masterpiece Of Charlotte Bronte English Literature Essay

Hundred years have passed since Jane Eyre, a masterpiece of Charlotte Bronte, was first published, but it still stands the test of time with many invaluably meaningful lessons of true love through an elegant fairy tale spot and numerous sophisticating literature devices. Naturally, one might wonder what makes a piece of literature so remarkable that scores of people for decades continue to read and talk about it. The answer lies in its strong message and cultural significance it possesses, which is considered the elite documents of literature, the most profound and meaningful words written. It is hence not impossible or unreasonable to conclude that Jane Eyre is timeless. This assignment will discuss mainly about the use of pathetic fallacy, the reversed position of two protagonists and also Jane’s sense and sensibility in “reviving” Rochester on chapter thirty seven.

The chapter opens gently and gradually with the gloominess and isolation on a raw night of Ferndean, the last setting in Jane Eyre. Like other settings in the novel, Ferndean’s description plays an important role in not only hooking the readers but also providing them with a vague forecast of the characters’ emotions or giving them a subtle hint about what is going to happen soon. It can show happiness or despair depending on how the character feels at the moment. Perhaps examining previous four main settings, namely Gateshead, Lowood, Thornfield, Morton, will provide greater clarity concerning this viewpoint. The descriptions of Gateshead and Lowood are often filled with negative words due to Jane’s underprivileged childhood in those two places. On the contrary, Thornfield’s descriptions at the early stage are usually positive because it is where she found her love and taste the sweetness of it for the very first time in her life. All positive weather described in the novel foreshadowed either a positive mood or event, sometimes both. On the other hand, poor weather in the novel was used to foreshadow negative events or moods. An example of this is at the end of Thornfield setting, when Rochester proposed to her, the stormy night seemed to strongly forewarn an uncertain future, a rough patch awaiting them. The incident that the chestnut tree struck by lightning unquestionably foreshadowed the separation of the “lovebirds”. Following this description, the truth of Mrs. Rochester was later revealed, and Jane forced herself to leave Mr. Rochester. This once again assures the accuracy of weather prediction.  To put it in a nutshell, the pace of description is tremendously important as it reveals the feelings or the future of the characters.

In this chapter, according to Jane’s narration, the weather is featured by the “sad sky, cold gale and continued small penetrating rain”. Although it is certainly not such an inky black sky, a freezing cold or a heavy downpour, the combination of those three characteristics is already enough to predict something miserable and despondent lying ahead. Moreover, the “thick and dark” wood even deeply emphasises the isolation of Ferndean, which in turn considerably reinforce that prediction. The pervasiveness of the “sylvan dusk” seems to gather over Jane in the gloomy wood. The surroundings is so deserted that nothing could be seen or heard but the murky hoar and the foliage’s rustle interwoven in the rain, let alone the sign of habitation. It can be easily recognized that the description tone here is merely gloomy and dismal without any positive sign. Unsurprisingly, this place perfectly matches Rochester’s new situation – a blind lamenter. Such circumstances appear to be a big obstacle for anyone coming, but Jane is an exception. She still proceeded as her love for Rochester is so strong, and that love inflamed the dense of the night, stir her to move forward.

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As she comes near the house, she sees Rochester standing on the front steps, obviously blind and helpless. She hopes to rush forward and kiss him on the lips. This scene seems like a famous fairy tale, “the sleeping beauty”. In this version, however, it is the woman who has arrived to rescue her “sleeping prince”. The situation has reversed since Jane returned to Rochester; Mr. Rochester now is not the person as he was before. Rochester used to be depicted as the ideal hero of the Victorian times with not only wealth but also prominent position in society. Rochester used to be at the top being a rich landowner from a good family, his masculinity is dominantly shown through ordering Jane around. However, after the fire at Thornfield, he loses everything, and in losing everything he also loses his masculinity and power. He no longer has his house, which is “blackened ruins” and is a part of his previous power. A change in his countenance makes him look like anything but a charismatic, powerful man; he looks “desperate and brooding”. One of the most interesting aspects here is Charlotte Bronte’s ability to use metaphors in order to express a new situation of Rochester: “a caged eagle”. Charlotte Bronte skillfully used this literature device in portraying him as “wronged and fettered wild beast or bird, caged eagle whose gold-ringed eyes cruelty has extinguished”. Indeed, it is appropriate to conceive of Rochester as a “caged eagle” because of his blindness and weakness. Through the use of “caged-eagle” image specifically, Bronte enables the audience to gain insight into the real situation of Rochester: blind, broken and desperate. The familiarity and transcendence of eagle have given them a wider range of meaning and symbol in literature than any other animal. His past glorious days have now been replaced by physical dependence. Through portraying a change in gender roles and masculinity in this chapter, Bronte reveals that masculine power can also become weak and there can be a situation when a masculine power needs a help. This is not the only situation when Rochester has to confess that he is in need of a woman’s love: “My very soul demands you: it will be satisfied, or it will take deadly vengeance on its frame.” Here he comes closest to admitting his vulnerability and weakness.

As for Jane, like Rochester, she is not the same person she used to be. The inheritance Jane has received does not provide her with the chance for materialistic possessions but the right and acceptance in society to live as an independent woman. Jane’s decision to return to Mr Rochester with economic prosperity and by her own will, which results in her settlement at Ferndean, comes from a maturity that she has developed from broadening her knowledge of society. Her financial independence has made it more possible for Jane to go back to Rochester. More importantly, she feels that she has more to offer him as she is independent and she has the freedom to make her own decisions, “I am my own mistress”. Rochester is not her “sir” anymore. This is clearly shown when Jane asks him to marry her, not the opposite as it was in the beginning. This is because Jane has switched places with him and now she has discovered what she needs in order to keep her body and soul together. The role of the dominant one is now reversed. This is a significant moment in the novel as the gender roles have been reversed, and Jane is now the stronger sex. Here, Bronte has contrasted the gender relations in the Victorian era as a critique against the repression that women suffered at the hands of men. She has almost ‘castrated’ Mr Rochester of his masculinity as a symbol of female independence and liberation. It is only now when Mr Rochester has lost a vital part of himself and Jane has now found freedom, that they can truly be equal in a relationship and their characters be balanced.

From the above mentioned reversed position, Charlotte Bronte brings up a question of rebellion against strict gender roles in Victorian era, a period when man is believed they had a right to determine what was best for the women in their families and under their hire. Women were taught that their duty was to submit. Jane Eyre is a story of a woman who is unwilling to submit to anything she perceives as wrong or unfair. She believes that she should have the right to make her own choices, should be considered the equal of any man as a human being. While the respectable woman of this time is calm, passive, and reliant, Jane is rebellious in a world demanding obedient women; she has become dependent and well-off by her own strength. Jane’s personality contains many qualities that would be considered desirable in an English woman: she is frank, sincere, and determined. She rebels with a cause, and it targets at “inequalities of society.” Jane reacts strongly when she is disgraced due to her class and gender. Meanwhile, Rochester, who represents the dominant Victorian man, has lost his power and masculinity. The present Rochester has lost everything: his house, his sight and his hand, he is now a helpless man. To put it briefly, the female role has become the dominant character, and the male has become both dependent and powerless.

Character in literature is a reasonable facsimile of a human being. In real life, we perceive a person’s qualities from our contact with him. But in a literary work we can understand the qualities of a personage only by interpreting what the author has written about him. All the actions performed by this personage, together with what he says and what is said about him, provide us with all the material from which we can make inferences about his qualities. In chapter thirty seven, Jane not only is one of the strongest characters in the novel, but Jane is also depicted as a sensible woman. After her returning to Rochester, witnessing his grief and loss, Jane’s feelings for him have never subsided, not even “feared him in his blind ferocity”. Obviously, Jane would not exclaim or hastily rush towards because of her love for him; inwardly she longs to kiss him on his brow and his lips, so she “would not accost him yet”. Jane would ease him from his misery step by step because his heart now is so fragile and vulnerable. As an old proverb goes “actions speak louder than words”, however, this proverb cannot hold true in this case. For a deeply melancholy person like Rochester, consoling him is certainly to be a hard task to Jane, partly because she has never been in a similar situation before. Moreover, each individual person is different, they way they deal and cope with depression in their lives will be different too. Therefore, Jane has to be very cautious with her use of words if she does not want to make Rochester “relapse again into gloom”. Her sense of wit will help her go through this hard task. As Jane tells Rochester that she is now an independent woman and she wants to be his neighbor, his nurse, his housekeeper, Rochester was in a loss for words at first. He seemed “serious, abstracted, half- opened lips as if to speak but closed them again.” Obviously, Rochester has thought that Jane feels pity for him because she says that she finds him lonely and melancholy, she wants to be his companion. Suddenly, he feels so inferior and helpless because now he has to be reliant on Jane. As a result, Jane feels a little embarrassed since she had too “rashly over-leaped conventionalities”. Jane assumes that Rochester would propose to her. In contrast, not only does he not claim her, but he also becomes more overcast. Subsequently, when remembering that she might have been wrong, Jane began to withdraw from Rochester’s arms. There is no way Rochester would let go of her because he was away from her for a long time. This time, Jane is more careful; she uses strong words to assure Rochester: “Certainly”, “I will stay with you”, “I am content to be only your nurse”. By constantly using a wide range of strong confirmation words, Jane produces some positive effects in Rochester. Inarguably, in spite of the fact that a word is simply a sound, or the written sign of a sound, it has tremendous power which gives out energy and creates a reaction in others, either positive or negative. Had Jane been reckless with her words, Rochester would have been driven deeply to his melancholy. A very sensible woman as she is, Jane, after realizing that she had somehow revived Rochester from his melancholy, comes up with an idea that she promised to tell Rochester the following day.

In the next morning, Jane leads Rochester out of the wood and into some cheerful fields; Jane sits on Rochester’s knee and their conversation become more intimate. When Jane teasing him about a very handsome St. John, Rochester is jealous all over his face:” Damn him!” and ask her to leave: “Perhaps you would rather not sit any longer on my knee, Miss Eyre?” Evidently, there is no way Jane is going to leave him because she is born to serve and to give, she can now give ungrudgingly to the man she loves. She just intentionally provokes his jealousy to lighten his sorrow. As we explore the implication underlying such provocative words of Jane, it should be considered that Jane is a wise girl and she does that just to let Rochester know he is the man she chose. In many ways she is now happier than she ever was during the summer of their first, guilt-haunted courtship.

In the opening of the chapter, Bronte successfully creates a “full of gloom” atmosphere by using pathetic fallacy to make an allusion to Rochester’s new situation. It seems obvious that Bronte was highly consistent with the use of this literature device throughout her novel. And this device once again was utilized effectively by her as a method to indirectly portray the feelings of Jane and Rochester. Many of the words used in this “emotionally transitional period” have a bright and cheerful tone to, such as “sunny morning with tender shining”. Jane now has become the new eyes and hands of Rochester, led him “out of the wet wild wood”, described to him “how brilliantly green they were; how the flowers and hedges looked refreshed; how sparklingly blue was the sky.”

To normal people, a sky is just a sky; but to Jane and Rochester this sparkling blue and bright sunny sky is the perfect embodiment of body, mind and spirit unification of two human beings because the blue colour resembles hopeful future and everlasting peace. The perfection of the day reflects Jane’s contentment of huge “glory” in pulling Rochester out of his melancholy without hurting him last night. In other words, Charlotte Bronte was clever with her use of pathetic fallacy to foreshadow upcoming moods and events although this strategy followed a strict rule. Therefore, besides giving the reader an image of scene and a feeling of the atmosphere around them, pathetic fallacy also keeps the audience wondering what will happen next to Jane and Rochester, leaving it on a cliffhanger.

In Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, supernatural and mystical forces play an important role throughout the novel. The supernatural element is re-utilized in this very last chapter to convey her notion of true love. Too many people falling in love tend to share everything, even the most intimacy secrets, because they think it need not necessary hide anything in true love, and this sharing will demonstrate the bond between them. Keeping secrets has been almost universally regarded as a bad thing in a romantic relationship. Undeniably, revealing one’s most innermost thought is good, but it must depends on the partner’s situation. When Rochester tells Jane about having had his prayer answered by “the beneficent God of this earth”, she chose to keep silent though, in fact, she also hears Rochester’s voice call her name. Such a powerful voice that makes Jane cry and run out the door into the garden, but she discovers no sign of Rochester. But Jane’s decision hides a reason. She knows that Rochester’s mind, “yet from its sufferings too prone to gloom, needed not the deeper shade of the supernatural.” From the beginning of the story, Jane has proven to be a strong, thoughtful and wise girl, and through the explanation for her behavior, it once again emphasizes her sense and sensibility. Sharing is only acceptable provided that it will not hurt others. This may seem like the most obvious principle in love, but it is one that’s frequently forgotten. Through the use of incidents such as this, Bronte makes it very apparent to us that Rochester and Jane are not just ordinary lovers, but are ideal lovers that seem to only exist in fairy tale stories.

The novel is written in the first-person narrative meaning Jane is telling her own story, its makes the novel appear more believable and encourage the readers to think further about the story. It also helps involve the reader by giving them an insight into Jane’s personality. Jane Eyre is unusual due to her independence and her strength of mind, not only her personality but also her status. From humble beginnings, Jane becomes a wealthy woman. In contrast, Rochester has turned into a less powerful man and needed Jane’s support. At first, it is assumed that any union between these two themes (Victorian realism and Romanticism) is impossible. However, Bronte’s writing was able to make these two fighting foes combine into the single personalities of Jane and Mr. Rochester. The two people from different worlds can find their happily ever after together.

Humanity has produced many writers, artists and musicians, but only selected individuals become masters of their art; Charlotte Bronte proved in Jane Eyre that she is a master of literature. She was able to use contrasting characters and their vivid personalities to create a masterpiece of her own. In her novel Jane Eyre, Bronte used narration and her characters to portray the struggle between a society’s Victorian realism and the people’s repressed urges of Romanticism. Chapter thirty-seven of the novel provides a conclusion to many dilemmas that have been left unresolved. It provides clarity to the themes of love, status and identity and restores the amity in Jane’s life, which then provides her with freedom from the conventions and restraints of society.