Jane Eyre Tone and Diction
Jane Eyre The novel Jane Eyre is a story about a stoic woman who fights her entire life through many trials and tribulations until she finds true love and achieves an almost nirvana-like state of being. The manner, in which Charlotte Bronte writes, her tone and diction especially, lends its self to the many purposes of the novel. The diction of Bronte usually had characteristics of gothic culture and showed the usually negative and angry inner thoughts of Jane. The tone of the novel was there sympathetic towards Jane and displayed her as an intelligent and kind person who has been given a terrible lot in life. This allows the audience to feel connected with Jane because most people have gone through times in their life where they have felt similar emotions to that of Jane. This common thread between Jane and the audience allowed Bronte to better explain the internal struggles of Jane Eyre. Bronte usually showed Jane as a woman who was constantly abused, whether it be physically, mentally, or emotionally. Usually words she chose had negative connotations and are synonymous with pain and egregiousness. For example in the following passage, Jane described the emotions she had felt when Mrs. Reed told Mr. Brocklehurst that Jane was susceptible to deceit. This blatant lie had caused emotional abuse to Jane, “Now, uttered before a stranger, the accusation cut me to the heart: I dimly perceived that she was already obliterating hope from the new phase of existence which she destined me to enter (Bronte 36). One word stood out largely within this passage, obliterating. Both words are connected with negative subjects and are very cacophonous. They are appropriate however, because they show the true anger that Jane has within her mind. She thinks that Mrs. Reed is not only ruining her chances at the new school, but obliterating it which is damage beyond repair. The hyperbolic manner in which the word is used does give it a much more negative appeal and more sympathetic