Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. Literature & Language Essay

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Jane Eyre is one of the most famous works by the Brontë sisters, for good reason. It tells the story of a young woman in the Victorian era, who has to make her own way in the world due to being (at first) a poor and friendless child. The book shows her journey through early life, as she seeks to carve out a life for herself amidst the mores and social conventions of the time. The book carries her through Jane’s early childhood, and on into her early adulthood at Lowood School, and through her first job as a governess. It covers her journey to keep her own sense of self as she gains life experience, and knowledge of the world. The main character of the novel is undeniably Jane herself, but all of the characters around her are well-written, and important to the storyline in one way or another. This essay will look at the book in three different ways: it will look at how Jane spends the book striving to keep her own identity in the face of everything that happens to her, and every time people try and change her; it will also look at how Jane tries to find a place where she belongs throughout the book, a quest which plays on her own identity several times throughout the narrative. Finally, this essay will touch on the descriptions used in Jane Eyre – Brontë uses a lot of supernatural ideas when she discusses her characters, most particularly Mr Rochester, and Jane herself.
Jane Eyre is poor and plain in a world which values good looks (particularly in a woman) and material possessions. She is therefore under almost constant threat to mould herself into something that she is not, in order to conform to standards of the time to a greater extent. There are three specific times in the novel when her identity and sense of self is put under threat: when she is a child living with the Reeds, when she has just discovered that Mr Rochester has a living wife in Bertha, and when St John tries to convince her to go to India with him as his wife.
Who in the world cares for you? Or who will be injured by what you do? Still indomitable was the reply: ‘I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself. I will keep the law given by God; sanctioned by man.
(Brontë 365)
The moments when Jane finds herself in danger of succumbing to a stronger personality than hers in St John are perhaps more gripping, but the above quote shows the time when Jane’s identity really hangs in the balance. Jane knows she would physically die if she gives in to St John and goes to India, but if she gives to Mr Rochester, she would die emotionally. To Jane, clearly a mental\emotional ‘death’ is worse than a physical one, which is a theme we can also see in her reactions towards her abusive cousins and aunt.
Jnge mentions that Victorian society was in a state of great change at the time the book was written (14). We see that Jane is reacting to the Victorian era in many ways through her own story. She notes herself that she is restless and wants new experiences several times through the book (Brontë 101-104), which is something that is not in the Victorian script for a young woman. Jane seems ...