Preview

How Does Jane Eyre Change Throughout The Novel

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1408 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
How Does Jane Eyre Change Throughout The Novel
In the book Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë Jane travels many places as a young woman. It begins with her at Gateshead, where she lives as a young child. She then goes to a private school called Lowood. Here, she learns many disciplines and gains wisdom. After being a teacher for two years at Lowood she wants to seek a new way of life. Jane travels to Thornfield; she meets Mr. Rochester, a man who causes her to mature at the young age of 18. She learns that she must start making decisions for herself. During spring time, she leaves without a destination and comes across a town named Marsh End. Here she meets relatives and gains a sense of independence. After having her newfound independence she decides she must go back to Mr. Rochester and journeys …show more content…
While at Lowood Jane experienced many emotional changes. When she first arrived she noticed that all of the girls had, “plain locks combed from their faces,” (Brontë 45). This shows that all of the girls were taught to be the same, almost like they did not have their own personality. Jane was a very plain person, so fitting in was some what easy, except for the times she was reprimanded by Mr. Brocklehurst. This taught her become stronger and withstand unfair treatment. To add on, Lowood school was a very destitute place. During the time of the typhus disease Jane was put through hardship and she, “swallowed the remainder with an accompaniment of secret tears, forced from [her] by the exigency of hunger,” (Brontë 60). Jane had a hard time at Lowood because it became very dreary as typhus spread. As many as half of the girls passed away, including her friend Helen. Helen provided guidance for Jane and told her, “ Why...should we ever sink overwhelmed with distress, when life is so soon over, and death is so certain an entrance to happiness-- to glory?" (Brontë 70). This made Jane realize that she should do what fulfills her own …show more content…
Every place that she traveled she gained different levels of knowledge. She chose to stay in Ferndean with Rochester because she felt the safest there with him. Rochester became effusive when she accepted his marriage proposal. She wanted “more of intercourse,” while she was still in Moors end then what was, “within [her] reach," (Brontë 111), which is another reason why she wanted to be with Rochester. As Brontë says, “It is in vain to say human beings ought to be satisfied with tranquility: they must have action; and they will make it if they cannot find it,” (111), and this is what Jane did for herself. She went with the wind, until it carried her back to Rochester, where she gained independence and a passionate

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The plot of Jane Eyre follows the form of a Bildungsroman, In the novel, there are five distinct stages of development, each linked to a particular place: Jane’s childhood at Gateshead, her education at the Lowood School, her time as Adèle’s governess at Thornfield, her time with the Rivers family at Morton and at Marsh End (also called Moor House), and her reunion with and marriage to Rochester at Ferndean. From these experiences, Jane becomes the mature woman who narrates the novel retrospectively. The main relationship which affects the character of Jane is that of Mr.Rochester, and this relationship also changes throughout the novel, from Master/Governess, to companions, to lovers, to distrust and eventually to marriage.…

    • 3248 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jane Eyre grows throughout the novel. Other characters help her along her path of change, whether they are friend or foe. Jane is at first a young child that is completely dependent on others at and is trampled on and mistreated by the antagonists, Mrs. Reed and her son. Their mistreatment helps her to develop confidence and independence, because she finally has the courage to stand up for herself and realize that she is not below them. More noble characters in the novel such as Helen help Jane’s character development…

    • 410 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    After living at Lowood for eight years, Jane Eyre became content with her life with the help of Miss Temple her “mother, governess, and…companion” (Charlotte Bronte 100). Her lack of affection as a child made Jane seek praise,…

    • 880 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre tells the story of Jane’s growth and development as she searches for a meaningful existence in society. Author Faith McKay said, “No matter what your family happens to be like…it affects who you are. It matters.” Jane is an orphan, forced to battle a cruel guardian, a patriarchal society, and a rigid social order. (Anderson, “Identity and Independence in Jane Eyre”) Jane has concrete beliefs in what women deserve, as well as obtainable goals for how she imagines her place in society as a woman (Lewkowicz, “The Experience of Womanhood in Jane Eyre”) and with self-growth, Jane Eyre was able to define herself as well as equip herself with wisdom and…

    • 116 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the novel Jane Eyre written by Charlotte Brontë, Jane gradually matures until she is an independent woman. To achieve this state of autonomy, she must first make some life-changing decisions which mark major turning points in the story. Her first step to establishing herself as a self-sufficient woman occurs when she decides to leave Lowood, as she states, “I desired liberty; for liberty I gasped; for liberty I uttered a prayer…” (page 72). Jane indicates in this plea that she undoubtedly desires freedom, since she had been living at the Lowood School for eight years. She therefore decides to find a job, which would liberate her from the school, satisfying her yearning for freedom. Jane’s actions of applying for a job by herself illustrate…

    • 597 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The act of Jane leaving Mr. Rochester shows her courage. By this decision, she both defies the Victorian expectation of submitting to a man's will, which would be acting as Rochester's mistress and shows that she can break from the emotional power that Rochester has over her. Though it is hard for her to leave, because she did in fact fall in love with him, she musters up the courage to leave a life of…

    • 859 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    At the beginning of the book, Jane gets into trouble because of her behaviour towards John Reed. Described as it is, we realise immediately that she is the victim, and not a naughty child. When Jane refuses to live with Rochester as his mistress, it is easier to understand the moral code she lives by. When she struggles to resist St John Rivers, we can see her dealing with her desolation and sense of duty, at the same time as a certainty that marriage to him would not bring any happiness.…

    • 619 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jane Eyre, a Gothic novel by Charlotte Bronte, tells a story of a beauty and a beast. Jane Eyre grows up an orphaned girl in Victorian England who does not know love in her cruel aunt's household; after a few years her aunt sends her to a school where they abuse Jane further. After spending eight years as a student of Lowood and two as a teacher, she takes a nanny position where she meets Mr. Rochester, and sparks begin to fly. Bronte divides Jane's story into three significant sections, which have a different effect on Jane's life as seen at Gateshead, Lowood, and Thornfield .…

    • 328 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jane Eyre Essay

    • 413 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Jane’s aunt betrayal only continues when Mr.Brocklehurst arrives to take Jane away to Lowood School. Mrs. Reed tells Mr.Brocklehurst Jane is a liar and must be watched. Jane still manages to make friends. Helen Burns, her classmate, and Ms. Temple, the superintendent takes the time to get to know Jane. Jane becomes close, maybe somewhat attached to these ladies. Her feelings of betrayal soon reappear. Her best friend Helen dies. Then, Ms. Temple becomes Mrs. Temple and leaves Lowood. The first people that care about Jane leave her. Jane has to grow more into her independence.…

    • 413 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In each place that Jane resides throughout her life, Bronte created an environment in which Jane felt misplaced in the social hierarchy. At Gateshead, Mrs. Reed and her children continually bully Jane into believing that she is not worthy of notice. Facing a similar situation at Lowood, Jane is made out to be an outsider as Mr.Brocklehurst attempts to turn Jane’s pupils against her. Lastly, at Thornfield, Jane faces a different sense of isolation in which she has more class than the servants, but less class than the Ingram party. Bronte’s use of this motif sheds light on the life of women living in the nineteenth century and their struggle to find a place in…

    • 836 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Watershed Of Jane Eyre

    • 490 Words
    • 2 Pages

    From her short experience with Helen, Jane’s roommate, Jane fell in admiration of how Helen responds to unfair treatment of Mrs. Scatcherd. Like Jane’s situation with her and the Reeds, Helen was able to remain calm and collected--even during her passing of tuberculosis. Jane later matured eight years of discontentment of Lowood, which leads to her job as a governess. She later met Mr. Rochester, whom she later married much later in the story. If it weren't for Jane’s determination to be in the school, she wouldn't have accumulated her talents of being able to play the piano not learn French. She later was able to impress…

    • 490 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Jane Eyre Research Paper

    • 2461 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Today, Charlotte Brontë’s masterpiece Jane Eyre continues to sell even 150 years after its release and has been mimicked ever since. What makes Jane Eyre so captivating to a modern audience is the plainness of the eponymous main character, a trait that is not found in many classic novels. It seems as though readers always turn to Jane Eyre when they feel the way she does throughout the majority of the novel; depressed and useless. Charlotte Brontë’s excellent use of character development amazingly turns a rather bleak story into an optimistic one of triumph and love. Charlotte Brontë uses her abilities as a writer to manipulate Jane’s voice throughout the novel by creating parallels between herself and Jane as a narrator by simulating the development of her character through her own description of events in Jane’s life, and as Jane recalls specific events from her childhood leading up to her marriage to Mr. Rochester she includes with beautiful detail the emotions she felt at every important moment, encapsulating the development of her character from her lonesome days at Gateshead to her wicked but motivating years at Lowood Institution and ending with the memories of her life in Thornfield…

    • 2461 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Jane Eyre - Setting.

    • 1310 Words
    • 6 Pages

    In the novel, ‘Jane Eyre’ by Charlotte Bronte, setting is used throughout the novel to illustrate the development in the character. The novel is revolved around five separate locations, ; the Reed family's home at Gateshead, the wretched Lowood School, Rochester's manor, Thornfield, the Rivers family's home at Moor House, and Rochester's rural retreat at Ferndean, these settings all play a very important part in Jane’s life as they all represent the development of Jane’s character and the different period’s of her eventful life.…

    • 1310 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The theme of physical and mental isolation is shown all throughout Jane Eyre. This pattern of isolation had a negative effect on Jane that started at a young age and continued along with her until she experienced community and love in her marriage at Ferndean. Jane experiences isolation from her cousins at the Reed House when she is younger. This isolation then follows her as she attends Lowood School and when she becomes a governess at Thornfield. Her isolation left her with self-confidence issues and no friends. She does not feel a personal connection to anyone until she is happily married at…

    • 1141 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Set in the nineteenth century, Jane Eyre describes a woman’s continuous journey through life in search of acceptance and inner peace. Each of the physical journeys made by the main character, Jane Eyre, have a significant effect on her emotions and cause her to grow and change into the woman she ultimately becomes. Her experiences at Lowood School, Thornfield Hall, Moor house, and Ferndean ingeniously correspond with each stage of Jane’s inner quest and development from an immature child to an intelligent and sophisticated woman…

    • 2163 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics