In Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, the absence of a mother is a significant theme in the novel. As an orphan, Jane lacks both parents and is forced to live with Mrs. Reed, a wealthy widow and mother of three. The novel is considered a feminist novel, as Jane challenges societal norms and chooses her own path.
Jane’s life is marked by her struggle with accepting children, pregnancy, and motherhood, which paradoxically extends and precludes selfhood. Her motherly figures in the novel are heavily focused on her child and young adult life, when a real mother would be of most importance. Jane represents working-class women and rejects the stereotypical gender role of women as wives and mothers.
The paper aims to analyze the parent-child relationships in Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, with special emphasis on the relationship between Jane and her mother. In the role of mother, Jane is helpless and alone, associates her dreams with scenes of violence and death. Jane Eyre has often been considered a feminist book, as it empowers women through the story of overcoming adversity.
The novel also addresses anxieties about women’s independence during wartime and the attempts of men who do not respect them as equals. The portrayal of roles of women, the different periods of the characters, and Jane Eyre contribute to her being a woman. Overall, Jane Eyre is a powerful representation of an empowered woman who challenges societal norms and challenges societal norms.
📹 Jane Eyre Video Summary
Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë, was published in 1847 during the Victorian era. Set in Northern England, the Bildungsroman, …
What is the role of family in the novel Jane Eyre?
The novel places significant emphasis on the role of family in the pursuit of happiness. It illustrates that a family can be constituted in unexpected ways, beginning with a warm family scene that deliberately excludes Jane.
Is Jane Eyre LGBTQ?
Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, a celebrated work of romantic fiction, has been the subject of extensive analysis for over a century. However, historians frequently neglect to consider the novel’s significant “Victorian” aspects, including the portrayal of Jane’s bisexual orientation.
What is the depiction of Jane’s childhood in Jane Eyre?
The novel Jane Eyre, a Bildungsroman, commences with the protagonist’s childhood, during which she is orphaned and subjected to abuse at the hands of her Aunt Reed. This serves to illustrate the instability and fear that pervade the childhood experience. The novel delves into the complex themes of psychological and physical abuse.
How is Jane Eyre portrayed?
“Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Bronte is a novel that critiques the patriarchal society of the Victorian era, where women were considered inferior and their lives were solely dedicated to their families and husbands. The novel serves as an unconventional manifesto against the misogynistic culture of the time. Jane is subjected to torture by John Reed, who maintains his supremacy by reminding her of her orphan status. She is then cast away to boarding school, where she suffers public humiliation and dominance from the hypocritical supervisor, Mr.
Brocklehurst. Despite the oppression, Jane emerges as a brave warrior who stands up against it without conforming to traditional norms. She eventually marries Mr. Rochester on her own terms without sacrificing her independence. This research paper focuses on the patriarchal society Jane is exposed to and the gender inequalities faced by her throughout the novel.
Does Jane Eyre have autism?
Julia Miele Rodas’ third essay in the collection suggests that Jane Eyre can be usefully read as autistic. Rodas argues that Jane’s character and behavior are initially critical responses to the reader, with some criticizing her as a creature with sharp eyes and dogmatic speeches. However, Rodas counters this assumption, arguing that Jane’s constrained behaviour towards other characters is not due to social conformity. Rodas posits that Jane’s autistic traits, such as social awkwardness and reduced affect, have not often been analysed outside of feminist readings.
This interpretation of Jane’s behavior could represent a significant development in the study of autistic representation. The idea that a lack of affective empathy equates to a lack of emotion and care is one of the most pervasive and damaging stereotypes surrounding autism. By being an emotionally complex character capable of both interior reflection and connection with others, Jane Eyre would offer new representational patterns and contribute to contemporary discussions of twenty-first century autistic narrators.
One appealing aspect of Rodas’ thesis is that her positioning of Jane as autistic does not devalue the significance of other interpretative factors; disability is one part of a whole. Margaret Rose Torrell suggests that the treatment of male bodies in Jane Eyre directly interacts with both gender and disability studies. Torrell posits that Rochester represents a cautiously progressive depiction of disability and masculinity, as a character that Jane sees as full of “athletic strength” and in his “vigorous prime” after the fire.
D. Christopher Gabbard grounds his article in the changing approaches towards the care of mentally ill individuals in the UK from 1820 to 1847. Gabbard suggests that there was a development of attitudes towards caregiving, which encouraged more constructive engagement with disability. By the 1840s, asylums were seen as a new, progressive, and “therapeutic” method of accommodating and caring for mentally ill individuals, in contrast to previous patterns of private confinement.
By detailing the contrast between Jane’s treatment of Rochester after the fire, Gabbard argues that Brontë’s novel holds up the “caring labor” of Miss Temple and the Riverses as the ideals that guide Jane’s treatment to Rochester, while covertly criticising the “custodial care” of the Reeds, Mr Brocklehurst, and Rochester.
What mental illness did Jane Eyre have?
George Huntington’s 1872 essay “On chorea” described adult-onset hereditary chorea, a condition characterized by involuntary movements, speech disturbances, and progressive dementia. This disease was later recognized and published in Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, which featured the enigmatic “woman in the attic”, Bertha Antoinetta Mason. Mason suffered from a progressive and familial psychiatric illness with violent movements. The character of Mason, who fulfilled Huntington’s tenets, was an essential component of the plot and character development in Jane Eyre.
Mason, Edward Rochester’s clandestine first wife, was introduced to Rochester after a thwarted attempt to marry her. Initially described as behaving appropriately, Mason’s family history of “idiots and maniacs through three generations” was only discovered after the wedding. During her first four years of marriage, Mason’s character grew rapidly, illustrating the progression of neuropsychiatric illnesses in Victorian England.
Huntington’s essay reviewed clinical features of chorea, suspected causes, and current medical treatments. The final section of the essay devoted to describing “hereditary chorea” from cases observed in his grandfather’s, father’s, and own medical practice on Long Island, New York. Huntington described three peculiarities in the disease: its hereditary nature, a tendency to insanity and suicide, and manifesting itself as a grave disease only in adult life.
What is the main point of Jane Eyre?
Jane Eyre, written by Charlotte Brontë in 1847, is a novel about a simple girl named Jane who faces numerous challenges in life, including her abusive Aunt Reed, poor conditions at Lowood school, and Rochester’s marriage to Bertha. Despite these obstacles, Jane overcomes them with determination, wit, and courage. The novel ends with Jane married to Rochester and having children. Some elements of Jane Eyre resemble Brontë’s own life, as she and her sisters attended a school run by a severe headmaster, Mr. Brocklehurst, and was a governess before turning to writing.
How is feminism portrayed in Jane Eyre?
Charlotte Brontë challenged traditional gender roles by remaining unmarried and pursuing a career as a writer. She also incorporated her defiance into her novel Jane Eyre, which is regarded as a feminist heroine due to her independence, capacity for love and intimacy, and moral rectitude.
What is the overall message of Jane Eyre?
Jane Eyre is a novel that explores the struggle between feeling and judgment. As an orphan at Gateshead, Jane is oppressed and dependent, but she must break free from these restrictive conditions to find love and independence. She seeks out independent-minded people like Helen Burns and Ms. Temple, who form emotional bonds that mirror the family she finds in Mary.
In 19th-century Britain, Jane’s social mobility allows her to interact with people of all classes, from working-class servants to aristocrats. Brontë’s novel examines the sources and consequences of gender roles, which influenced people’s behavior and identities. Jane faces off against men who do not respect women as equals, such as Mr. Brocklehurst, Rochester, and St. John. Brontë uses marriage in the novel to help her overcome these challenges and become independent and recognized for her personal qualities. The novel explores the complex relationships and challenges faced by women in 19th-century England.
How is gender roles a theme in Jane Eyre?
In 19th-century England, gender roles significantly influenced people’s behavior and identities, with women facing condescending attitudes about their place, intelligence, and voice. Jane Eyre, a woman struggling to become independent and recognized for her personal qualities, faces off against men who do not respect women as equals. Brontë uses marriage in the novel to portray the struggle for power between the sexes, with Bertha Mason as a provocative symbol of how married women can be repressed and controlled.
Jane fends off marriage proposals that would undermine her identity and strives for equality in her relationships. Jane Eyre was considered a radical book in its day due to its depiction of Jane’s struggle for gender equality. The theme of Gender Roles is present in each chapter of the novel.
How is the portrayal of feminism in the main characters of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre?
The main character, Jane Eyre, is a round character who develops in various phases. She is a Liberal Feminist who challenges the patriarchal system, where males dominate society and women become subordinate. Jane also challenges the class structure of British society through her education, challenging the old tradition and the subordination of women. Her character’s development and education contribute to the Women’s Movement.
📹 Reader, it’s Jane Eyre – Crash Course Literature 207
In which John Green teaches you about Charlotte Brontë’s classic coming of age novel, Jane Eyre. Look, we don’t like to make …
So many key details are wrong…. Jane wasn’t out riding when she first meets Mr. Rochester, she was walking. HE was riding. The Rivers’ home wasn’t near Thornfield at all, it was a journey of 36h and open moorland. Her uncle’s role in the whole marriage is important, Mr. Mason’s visit to Bertha… the drawings are really nice .
My mom is forcing me to read this book which is 540 pages. I have already read 20 pages and its so boring… Our teacher Told us to read this in 10 days which i dont believe is possible, so i decided to watch this article. After telling my mom that i dont need to read it cuz i already know what it’s about she started to yell at me and told me to finish it in 10 days. I just dont understand why my parents are so strict.
I quite like the reading of Bertha as Jane’s mirror. It bothers me to no end when people try to play off Jane Eyre as a love story, when it is so obviously about identity and personal growth. And so much proto-feminism. The love story is only relevant in the context of this personal journey. My favorite paper I’ve written in university was in my third year when I wrote a 10 page paper about the ways in which the many characters named John represent different parts of Jane’s identity that she is trying to reconcile. My argument was that in the same way that Bronte wrote under a male pseudonym, Jane is not allowed to feel or think certain things, so by giving them male voices, Jane has a reason outside of herself to consider these things without straying too far from her role in society.
The thing that always got me about this book that no one ever brought up: If Bertha had syphilis, odds are pretty good that Mr. Rochester did, too. Which made it an inevitability for Jane as well. In college, I almost wrote a whole treatise on STDs in the victorian era based around this book. (I’m a microbiologist. I relate everything to diseases of I can.)
I think one thing that gets looked over is the relationship of Jane Eyre (and the other characters) with children; more specifically, with Adele – Mr Rochester’s ward. Other character’s interactions with Adele shows some of the harsh attitudes towards children at the time; and is reminiscent of Jane’s upbringing under her Aunt and Lowood School. Jane has little confrontations with characters about how they should treat children as if they had feelings, and are independent (- just like adults! 😮 shocking revelation!) Jane treats her students as equals, with thoughts, opinions and feelings that need to be heard. Just like Jane strives for her independence, and to be herself within her position as governess. There is also the fact that Adele is often put down for her ‘vain’ behaviour and constantly compared to her mother – especially by Rochester – and how because she is her mother’s daughter she is somehow inherently ‘bad’ and tainted. Therefore making her more worthless than other children. Jane often brings Rochester round to seeing Adele as separate from her mother.
I’d rather be locked up in an attic than locked up in the mad house. In the mad house, patients were plunged in cold water to cool the over-heated brains that caused their madness. Food was denied to patients sometimes, the beds were hard and full of bugs, and some patients got chained to their beds; having to urinate etc. while in those beds because they weren’t allowed to be unchained to relieve themselves. And of course they got confined into straight-jackets and beaten by the staff. Mad houses didn’t help people get sane… they made people become insane! The attic is better than the mad house!
I definitely need to re-read Jane Eyre. It was my favorite book when I was 17, which was, uh, 35 years ago. As for who would want to wear knitted stockings? If you lived in 19th century, damp, cold England, with no central heating…you would want to wear knitted stockings! Those argyle socks on your feet were knitted, after all.
This was a wonderful analysis. I would like to offer: I also see that Mr. Rochester has to lose much of himself as well in the end. Mr. Rochester is a rich character as well that, as well as Jane, had to tame a lot to be worthy of the new Jane. I honestly take the fire, from which he attempted to save Bertha and was injured thusly, and his subsequent injuries as his punishment for his previous indiscretions. So in a way society crushed a part of both of them.
Don’t know if this is mentioned already or not but for me understanding the position of Bertha Antoinetta Mason-Rochester happened after reading Jean Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea which I can recommend from the bottom of my heart. This book is a Carribean rewriting of Bertha’s character and gives life to it. Once you’ve read it you will understand not only the position of women, but also certain pressures on men and the destructive force of colonialism. Jane Eyre is a fantastic novel, but this just gives it so much more meaning and is a wonderful novel in its own right. Best wishes.
Thanks for covering one of my favorite novels in a complex way. I know a few people who find Jane herself wishy-washy, but I think the strength of the novel rests not only on the strength of the writing but of Jane’s strength as a character. She starts out as an abused child, but her convictions see her through to her own happy ending. Do I want a Mr. Rochester? Absolutely not (Captain Wentworth, though…that’s another story). Does Jane deserve the person who makes her happy, though? Heck, yes.
Dear John, thank you for doing Jane Eyre, it is by far my favorite book that I have ever read and have reread it more times then I can count, the first time being on a tour bus in Paris. I think you did a wonderful job of explaining the book and all its glory. My favorite quote from it actually happens to be from Mr. Rochester, which is, “I love you like my own flesh.” I remember reading that and thinking, wow, that’s beautiful. I look forward to your next crash course!
This has been one of my favorite Crash Course articles for a while now, so when I saw that Jane Eyre was was on the syllabus for my British Literature course this semester I was thrilled! and boy, was I even more thrilled when I found out one of the essay topics we could choose to write about was how education plays a role in the novel! Now I get to watch this over and over and it won’t even be because I’m procrastinating 😀
Thank you for continuing to discuss your experiences with mental illness, John. Mental illness and the treatments for mental illness are so stigmatized in our culture; people who suffer from these illnesses are often reluctant or unable to seek out treatment. I know it gives people hope to hear someone who is successful and who seems to enjoy life so much publicly say that he struggles with these same issues.
What I found interesting about the reveal of Rochester’s wife being the mad woman in the attic is that despite her murderous actions, Jane defends her. Jane makes a point of saying that it’s not Bertha’s fault that she’s crazy. If the “Bertha is Jane’s mirror” analysis holds, it shows that maybe Bronte is defending those repressed feelings that women had against husbands who refused to treat them as equals.
I read Jane Eyre when I was about 9 or 10 years old, (Thanks to my mom, I really liked classics at a young age. She made me watch a lot of Jane Austen adaptations when I was like 7 that paved the way) and I think that now that I’m 16, I should reread it as to better appreciate the things I didn’t get to when I read it so young.
I once dropped a women’s lit class because the professor decided it was far more important to discuss a self-help book (not on the syllabus) instead of Jane Eyre (which was) for the entire class period. And at the end? She said, “Oh, well, I guess we’ll have to skip discussing Jane Eyre. Be sure and read (title of yet another obscure self-help book–by a man, by the way).” At the end of this WOMEN’S LIT class–one of the girls (another English major) sighed with relief. “Good. Jane Eyre is overrated and boring anyway.” I refrained from lecturing her on the importance of the book (wasn’t easy). Instead I voted with my feet.
Just a correction, Currer Bell is actually an ungendered alias, which Charlotte has said was “dictated by a sort of conscientious scruple at assuming Christian names positively masculine”. It doesn’t seem important, but critics debated a lot over the gender of Currer and I have doubts that the debate would have been there if the name had been purely masculine because her writing style wasn’t very feminine (I’m currently writing a research paper on critics’ response to Jane Eyre depending on the assumed gender and am now realizing I know a little too much about this…)
Thank you John and producers so much for this investment of time! I don’t read fiction for a lack of time and also for lack of enjoyment. I am so moved by these informative articles though that when I have time to read I hope to read and finally enjoy these books. The critiques really give me wonderful new perspectives and I enjoy it so much, especially because I don’t have to pay for university classes to get it. Please please keep them coming and when I get a job I’ll join subbable ♡
Great article John, but I feel you missed the main point. That being, who WOULDN’T want to wear knitted stockings?!?!? They’re easily thirty times as comfortable as machine made ones, they’re far stretchier and much more comfortable as well as durable. Not to mention, there’s the sentimental bonus, as well as the omnipresent feeling of all the the time and love that went into making them. Honestly, I am extremely unimpressed with your lack of education on the subject. I have come to expect more from you, Mr. Green.
I cannot believe I’ve found about this website only today. I’ve been kind of locked up in a mental attic for the past few years, but still no excuse. “Jane Eyre” is my favourite book/story of all time. I relate to it a lot because of events that happened in my life, not worth mentioning here. I love John’s witty review of the novel. He made laugh my brains out.
Haha, Victorian era authors remind me of that scene in The Life of Brian where all the town’s women disguise as men (who were the Python crew dressed in drag in the first place!) so they can attend the stoning, and the Roman soldier’s all, “…uh, are there any women here?” and you hear all these female voices going “No no no” 😛
“I married him.” It says a lot. Personally, I don’t think it makes her his equal, I think It makes her the empowered one in the situation. It gives her control of the situation. SHE is doing the action. SHE made the decision, as opposed to “He married me.” Which gives him the power to decide if the marriage was going to happen at all. I cannot read “He married me.” Without it evoking the implied passivity of the girl in the image and voice that inevitably forms in my head whenever I read. The girl is standing in a wedding dress waiting for it to happen TO her. Or, the teen is lying across her bed dreaming of her Prince, (who, having already come and wisked her away) she declares “He married me!” just before the “and we lived happily ever after!” I think it would have said more towards Jane being on equal footing if she had written “We were married.” Or “We married each other.”
My favourite part is when Mr Rochester says he intends to be married, and Jane thinks he means Miss Ingram and she bursts out with her feelings on being sent away: “Do you think I am an automaton? – A machine without feelings?…. Do you think because I am poor, obscure, plain and little, that I am soulless & heartless? You think wrong! I have as much soul as you – and full as much heart! And if God had gifted me with some beauty and much wealth, I should have made it as hard for you to leave me, as it is now for me to leave you.” I was like “aw yeah! Tell him Jane!” & it makes me want to cry every time I read it! :,) (I love the 2006 BBC version of this so much, too! Especially this scene. I think they portrayed the passion and emotion of this scene wonderfully.)
I have not read this book yet, having been dissuaded from reading it in the past (“Yo dawg, it’s mad boring! Lemme hook you up wit some Prides & Prejudices instead, bruv!”), but I think I’d like to give it a shot. Also, if there’s a revisionist version that depicts Jane discovering Bertha, nursing her back to health, and the two of them falling in love and eloping, leaving that Mr. Rochester in the dust, I’d be keen on reading that too.
Did people read this book? His wife is not kept locked up up in a (single room) attic; she’s kept in a set of rooms, with a companion/nurse/keeper … which was considerably kinder and more luxurious than standard treatment of ‘lunatics’ at the time, and was supposed to demonstrate Rochester’s relative integrity. His character specifically says that he chose the hall for her because it was better/healthier than the colder, damper alternative property he owns (where he ends up himself after the fire). Also; she does not become ‘upset’ because she’s locked up and he’s courting another woman … she’s been acknowledged and certified as insane for years before this, while still in Jamaica, and her behaviour is shown throughout the novel to have been degenerating for years. Also Rochester does not cheat on Bertha/live with mistresses until after she has cheated on him (presuming he tells Jane the truth of course), after she’s been certified insane, and after the marriage has essentially become him as her reluctant jailor/care-taker. He chooses keeping her in one of his properties as the kinder alternative to putting her in an asylum, and goes off to ‘live his life’ as much as he can.
Who wants to wear knitted stockings? John, when you don’t know about something, don’t be overly critical. Would you prefer to wear woven fabric on your feet and legs? Or how about braided fabric? Felted? Macrame? Tatted lace? Bobbin lace? Crochet? Knitted fabric (like your socks, no doubt, are made of) has the advantage of being naturally elastic, and can be made into a seamless tube. And I mean the word seamless in that literal sense of “no seams”! It is also easier and faster to produce (when such things were done by hand) than braided or crocheted fabric.
It links to how at the end, even though she is more equal to him and he relies on her, she is kind of bound to him by a duty to look after him and this bind has killed part of her free and wild self – BERTHA. – But this could also show how she has found peace at the end as the death of Bertha could symbolise the death of her anguish, suspicion, anger (towards Rochester, her role/position) etc.
I literally squeaked with excitement when I saw this article. It was one of the first classics I read as a teenager. One thing I don’t think you covered was the huge age gap between the two. Jane is still a teenager herself when she becomes a governess. Also, to begin with Rochester and Jane were mental combatants. She would often enrage him and leave him sulking like a child when she quite masterfully evaded him. However he admits that he is both capricious and cruel and delights in trying to embarress her yet her cool, calm responses both madden and excite him. He falls in love with her mind and her inner strength long before she realises she has it. It is that love that Rochester claims when they go walking on the heath after Jane’s return that has saved his soul from the blackness of his own corruption. My question though is do you think this is a subtle guide for women on how to be stronger or a cautionary tale for men to respect the women around them?
Technically; all stockings, no matter the fibre they are made from, are knitted, it was the invention of the automated stocking knitting frame that was one of the many catalysts towards the Industrial Revolution (thus helping to create the pollution problems that also helped spread things like tuberculosis and other respiratory diseases &c) 😀
I always felt like Jane had 3 choices in the end. Either marry the missionary cousin, get together with Mr. Rochester or she could have stayed and teached the children in the village. I thought of Mr. Rochester and her cousin as pricks, which is why I would have liked her to stay on her own. :-/ Anyone else felt that way too?
Remarkable, even at my advanced age and with some years of post-secondary study under my sizable belt. the only time I enjoyed the thrill of having an innovative and refreshingly honest and courageous view of literature at any level of school was in grade 11, when my controversial teacher (now an award-winning local university professor, W. Kenny), who was given his exit papers from the Dartmouth City school system the following year, put the heart and soul back in English classes that the Dartmouth Regional School Board (at the time) beat to a pulp to suit the deadhead status quo at the time.
You know, I haven’t read this book, but from the synopsis of it I was half expecting the end to be some big reveal that Bertha isn’t real and that it was the repressed desires of Jane Eyre freeing themselves by taking on a personality of their own while Jane’s calm side was just another personality. Something along the line of Tyler Durden in Fight Club, but instead it would be a woman who has an imaginary second personality that only exists as an hallucination in order for Jane to act freely without any guilt or hesitation. Her being wild and free are a part of her so she’s forced to make up another her so she can do as she desires without worrying about how she would be perceived by Victorian society.
Another mark toward the soft blow for gender equality (warning: personal, non-professional interpretation): Jane rejects two men who want to change her. Rochester wants to make her a dependent, pastel princess. St. John wants to make her an ascetic, duty-bound missionary’s wife. She rejects both Byronic self-indulgence and Puritanical religiosity, becomes independently wealthy, and marries a man who is dependent on her.
The men in this book are both emotionally abusive. Rochester is just as bad as St. John in their attempts at manipulating Jane. St. John: It is your Christian duty to marry me and accept a life of hardship. You are a bad person if you reject me. Rochester: If you leave me now, it is your fault that I will slip back into dissolute and immoral ways. You are responsible for my bad behaviour. I find it all rather gross. The novel is beautifully and powerfully written but when Jane goes back to Rochester I’m like “Nooooo! That guy is an abuser. She has no reason to think he’s changed, he has just lost some of his power.”
There was a wonderful founding father with a kind heart whose wife had to be kept in the basement because of her insanity. He lived in a wonderful plantation house not far from Thomas Jefferson. It was considered kind to keep them at home because they were much abused when they went to institutions especially if they were female of childbearing years from Rich families or Rich husbands. It’s not hard to figure how that could have turned out
gosh i just love the way you explain, its very interesting and educational. i know a lot of this novels are just pure great but sometimes are quite hard to understand at least in a profound way so can you please do a article about the novel crime and punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky and maybe even the novel Anna Karenina by leo Tolstoy . overall thank you so much <3
Recommended additional reading: Jean Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea. It’s the story, from Bertha’s perspective, of her life before Rochester (and when she meets him) and how she came to England from Dominica. Excellent piece of literature. Rhys makes it deliberately ambiguous whether or not her characters at the same as the ones from Jane Eyre, but it’s the most popular reading.
Ugh. I had to read this in high school, and hands-down I consider Jane Eyre to be the absolute WORST piece of “literature” to be deemed “classic”. Its prose is dull and overwritten, its pacing is a confused mess, the plot consists of nothing but horrible and unfortunate things happening to an dull and self-centered protagonist throwing a pity party for herself throughout the entire novel, and the vast majority of its concepts are antiquated and passe even for its own time (Jane Eyre’s only real innovation was making the reader forget to look at things from a grander perspective and from what the other characters must be thinking and realize that Jane is really quite selfish almost to the point of narcissism that you only don’t notice because the rest of the characters are even MORE horrible). Yet the movie adaptation even goes so far as to CUT TO CLOSE-UPS OF THE BOOK ITSELF as if it were some poetic masterpiece (Orson Welles… just… whyyyyyy… why would you be in that lame movie?!) Honestly I’ve read fanfictions on the internet that were twice as compelling and MUCH more riveting and inspiring than Jane Eyre… I do NOT understand in the SLIGHTEST why the FUCK this book is so lauded by academics… I dunno, maybe it’s the historical impact it had, or the mystery of the author that drove people into seeing WAAAAAAY too much into than there really was, but in the end, I only see a novel full of glaringly terrible plot contrivances spearheaded by the most self-righteous and pretentious woman I’ve ever had the displeasure of having to read about.
I’ve recently read Jane Eyre, and I agree with your analysis of Jane’s sacrifice of her fiery personality in favour of a more becoming, womanly, reserved girl fit to be a Victorian wife. However, I think one of the most impressive feats of Jane’s character is that despite being continually and relentlessly repressed (first as a child, then by her teachers, and then by nature of her profession, and then in her adulthood) she is able to maintain that same pyre (get it…eyre, pyre?) nevertheless. With Mr. Rochester, with all of his flaws and creepy tendencies, he still allows her to be brash and severe in speech. He gives her the freedom to be unequivocally herself, and he loves her for who she is and expects no change. This is contrasted by her other love interest, St. John. (If you could really call him a love interest). He continually beats her down through their interactions, and we can see that as their relationship develops she continually locks more and more of herself away. She is submitting to him in attempts to fill the void that Rochester has left. Yet despite this loneliness, she refuses to enter into a loveless marriage. For her, it is better to be alone and be herself than to be trapped with a husband with whom she could share no affection. Ultimately that is why she goes back to Mr Rochester. Truly ahead of her time
For anyone who enjoys Jane Eyre I might recommend checking Wide Sargasso Sea. It is a book that seeks to tell the story of Rochester’s wife locked in the attic. It is not written by Bronte, it is essentially a published headcanon (although the author did play with time periods a bit so it actually takes place after Jane Eyre would have, so I suppose it is better to say it was inspired by her desire to know the story of the woman in the attic, but Rochester is a major character in the book). It is a very interesting read and takes, I think, a fantastic stance on the gender dynamics it presents.
The parallel between Jane and Bertha was really mind blowing.. Quite revealing about about Charlotte’s thought process.. Also, Charlotte also has this guilt complex with having things.. I mean things never seem to come too easily to people and the characters often have to suffer or sacrifice things in order to gain stuff..
That was a good explanation of one reading of Jane Eyre, but I feel you didn’t look at the religious aspects of the book. You say that there was no condemnation for Rochester for having mistresses, but Jane did just that by refusing to become one. Throughout the book she talks about her faith and I see most of her actions as responding to her sticking to her principles. I do think Bertha is supposed to be an opposite of Jane, but not a reflection of her secret desires that she has to kill in order to become a good wife. Bertha is the sexual deviant who is suffering because she was not holy and chaste and Jane, who initially suffers for choosing to do the right thing and being a good Christian, gets rewarded in the end by being happily married to the man she loves. That’s how I’ve always read it, as a lesson that if you are good and stick to your religious principles you will be happy in the end.
Great job! Love how funny the synopsis is. Jane Eyre was also one of the first novels to be written from a child’s point of view (in the earlier chapters). In terms of autobiography, besides what you mentioned, it’s largely based on her unrequited love for her professor, Heger (he was married). Hadn’t considered how Bertha is a foil for Jane before…thank you!
John Green Someone may have already commented on this, but though I find it interesting, I don’t agree with the interpretation of Bertha as a representation of Jane. Maybe this is because I’ve always thought of Bertha as ROCHESTER’S wildness that must be tamed/killed before he and Jane can ever be happy together. It’s clearly a matter of reader response and interpretation, but I’d be interested in examples from the book of how people feel Jane regresses in the last part of the book to become “suitable.” I’ve always read her as being willful and independent to the very end. I base my interpretation off of Jane’s inner dialogue, especially when she is easing him into the idea of her leaving. She essentially has to “handle” him because he is so wild and out of control – say and do the exact right things to not anger him and help him be logical. There are even several moments when she expresses (internally) real fear for her safety because she has said/done too much. She loves him, which is why she indulges this, but it saps her of all her strength. She is completely drained. How could she and Rochester ever really be happy in this kind of unequal arrangement of him always taking and her always giving? She wants to stay, but ultimately it is Rochester’s unsteadiness – being saddled with a wild woman and wild soul – that forces Jane to leave him. If Rochester had not been forced to finally confront Bertha and maimed in the process – if his wildness had not been subdued – Jane could never have married him.
I read Wuthering Heights last winter, albeit I didn’t care much for the plot or Catherine, I loved the style in which it was written. Every sentence was poetry to me. Beautiful flowery language is the way to entrance me. I would often ask myself, why don’t we speak this way in modern day? It’s not as if the story were writ in some arcane language. Its not like it’s beyond our comprehension, on the contrary I found the story was able to convey ideas in a far more descriptive and articulate manner, than we do today. I feel like people were smarter the days of yore. I feel that we are becoming more lazy and dull with our language in the modern era. Any ways, I guess what I am trying to share here is that I will read anything through to completion, regardless if I am invested in the story, so long that it is written well. I will definitely check out Jane Eyre. The narrative looks more intriguing to me than Wuthering Heights and if it’s written in a similar style then it has my interest.
Thanks for doing a Crash Course episode on this book, John! Jane Eyre is one of my favorite novels. I think a couple of other commenters have already said this, but anyone who is a fan of the novel (or even anyone who didn’t like it) should check out The Autobiography of Jane Eyre, which is the vlog series adaptation on youtube. The creators have done a really fantastic job adapting the story and the characters to a modern setting.
I am afraid that one day I shall be elevated above the people of this era and my age group and I shall have no one to talk to about the crazy ideas and elevated thinking and that I will be left alone in search of an intelligent mate (extra intelligent may be) and may turn myself into a Writer perhaps and that.. that will be cause of you sir! John Green sir! High five! 😅
He doesn’t talk about the many many imperial allusions in Jane Eyre. The post-colonial critique of the novel talks about the idea of the Creole woman vis-a-vis the ideal English woman and the race and imperial hierarchical structures present in the novel. Jean Rhys’ novel, ‘The Wide Sargasso Sea’ examines the Rochester-Bertha marriage from this angle. As a Post-colonial student of Literature, I also find the discussion on Missionary work in India and Jane’s many fears regarding “being grilled under an Indian sun” an interesting point of study
This was excellent .. not only what you say .. but how you say it .. absolutely love your presentation,. Especially the little sides of what some might call comic relief .. Learned quite a bit about Jane Eyre ., as well as the Bronte sisters .. Jane Eyre is one of my favorite novels ., and absolutely fell in love with Mr Fairfax Rochester myself.. my kind of guy he is 🤗 Btw., loved the line ., and every one not already dead lived happily ever after ., beautifully said! Will definitely look for more of your article reviews ., thank you so much for the most delightful review of a classic book I have ever read❣ Jen999💙
It’s a shame you didn’t cover more on mr Rochester, as I find him a very intriguing character. He’s clever and rich, but ugly. He feels a duty to his wife, that he doesn’t abandon her, even as he’s never loved her and feels trapped by her. It’s an interesting conflict- duty or freedom? Of course he should not abandon her, she is his wife! …But should he never be allowed true happiness? He’s smart and desperate and foolish and Jane puts him in his place. A very interesting character.
The comments are now doomed to be 50% wtnv and 50% stuff that’s actually relevant to the article. (But, yeah. COOL T-SHIRT & COOL PODCAST. I hope this gets more people listening to it! I also hope those people will be good people who can contribute to making the fandom less shitty instead of… what it seems to be right now. Ugh.)
I really liked this explanation of Jane Eyre. I liked the interpretation that Mr. Rochester’s wife was actually the repressed part of Jane. However I did not think that would make it a less than happy ending. Actually I thought that it would show character growth. Instead of her losing a big part of herself, she was able to overcome tendencies like anger and irrationality to become the person who is sure of herself in the end.
Yes, Bertha can certainly represent Jane’s shadow self (so cool) but an alternate interpretation, perhaps more in line with the actual character of Jane Eyre as presented in the novel, is that Berta shows how Jane must integrate the darker parts of herself like her passions that tempt her to act against her personal morality? Could it be not that she’s sacrificing an important part of herself tragically but is actually growing and becoming a wholly virtuous woman -Rochester must also change in order to be with her, as realized equals in a relationship?
I really want to keep seeing Jane eyre as having a happy ending so what abt this… She does clearly grow and change but in settling down as a wife, she has chosen her own destiny. All her life she was kept down and pushed to be more gentile by those around her, but simultaneously in their put downs she found something to be her rock: her principles. Her religion and modesty, which doesn’t really make sense to me a 16 year old today, but it also makes perfect sense; it was what got her through all hardships time and time again. Of course falling in love she is thrilled, but mr. Rochester himself shakes her principles. He is prideful where she is modest, he is emotional where she is reserved. He is opposite what she values at that point. That’s at least why he likes her, opposites attract and all. She runs away because of her values. The thumb on the scale had been pushing too far on her passionate side, so the only way to ease her consciousness is to submit to the will of her childhood masters and keep to social and moral norms rigidly no matter the cost. When she runs away, the St. John story is particularly interesting to me. He is the embodiment of her core values. What she thought was the ideal character she suddenly realizes is not what it seems. She sees the coldness and the lifelessness and, most troublingly, how close she is to that life (seeing as he’s her flesh and blood). In repeated rejecting John, Jane eyre finally realizes the validity of emotion and the importance of her own happiness, using her strength of character and passion in harmony.
Compared to Jane Eyre, I personally prefer Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights. It’s not like Jane Eyre is worse or anything, it’s just that Jane Eyre is sophisticated in its philosophy and plot development (although it’s plot is kinda predictable), while Wuthering Heights is psychologically dark and impressive.
Your reading is mostly on point, but I wonder if – reading the book in early 21st century and being a brown body myself – we can exercise reading it from a postcolonial perspective? I would love to read an academic article within this angle. Don’t get me wrong. I love the book and I think I understand the historical context it was written for and its related discourses, but I can’t help being so amused with the portrayal of Bertha (as dark-, lunatic savage – the brown body) from the tainted, uncivilised colony. It is clearly described that she got this madness from her Creole’s mother up to three generation. Wow. The untameable savage. This is where your analysis of Bertha being Eyre’s mirror fits in perfectly? But then, perhaps more amusingly, Brontë further twisted this typical Empire’s 19th century racial biases precisely and exactly with the very embodiment of Rochester himself which alludes to his dark, Vulcan-like embodiment, perceived by many, “ugly” which Eyre corrected in few instances. More, the book was out in 1847, just four years before the first colonial exhibition opened in London – the ultimate show off of the Western colonialism which later became the norm across the European colonisers.
If you enjoy Jane Eyre, I highly recommend that you read Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys. It is a prequel to Jane Eyre, telling the tragic story of Antoinette Cosway, a white Creole heiress, who eventually becomes Bertha, Mr. Rochester’s crazy wife in the attic. It adds a great deal of depth and backstory to the one-dimensional character portrayed in Jane Eyre.
“Who’d want to wear knitted stockings?” Me! Me! Knitting and wearing hand-knit socks are one of the biggest simple pleasures of my life. Put a pair of hand-knit wool socks on your feet when it’s negative 10 degrees F outside, and then you’ll see 🙂 Also, anyone I knit socks for loves them and wears them often.