Jane Eyre and books in Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
Dual aspect of books
-books as guides and mentors, companions and friends
part of her identity
part and parcel of her inner self as opposed to the outer one
the inner space : that of the line or path she decided to follow, part of the destiny she wants for herself
implies the idea of liberty but also life “within”
helping the narrator in giving her a composure: during the feast given by Mr Rochester
a social stance in a world in which she does not fit
the “duty” aspect of the governess: the social étiquette( the governess is recognizable by the fact that
she is dressed in a more sober and unattractive manner than the “ladies” of the good society of the times
books stand as a “vindication” of her status
(not unlikely the Brontës may have read Mary Wollstonecraft’s
book)
help her with her duties as a governess as well as the drawings done for others and being done by others
under her command
– books as escapism or the Madame Bovary syndrome
existential aides in times of turmoil :
– with Helen at school: drawing on a sketch book is a way of liaising and soothing the hardships of the rules
-a space for liberty and belonging to a different social sphere
implying dreamland of fantasies with all their dangers and pitfalls
as an orphan, books have been a refuge for her
the first book she might have been introduced to was the Bible
through the readings at her aunt’s house
and later on at school
books with a constraint and a moral
– last but not least: Jane Eyre’s message is a narcissistic one : “the best book is the book I am writing”
it outstrips and excells the book of books (namely the Bible) the word is mine ‘See Reader, how cute and intelligent!’ style
I am over the mass of my times: I will be published and read, I the writer, I the cretaor
I stand as the truth , that of the disguised writer under the quill of a governess to give my contemporaries
and all the generations of readers my piece of mind on
man without the kindness attached to mankind
still expecting my own recognition
(hence the act of auto-biographical writing)
further reading (with a fee) on GradeSaver
notes and texts by students
- Jane Eyre: The Independent and Successful Woman Of the Nineteenth Century
- Mystery and Suspense
- In Search of Permanence
- Jane’s Art and Story
- Beauty and the Representation of Authenticity: Women in Jane Eyre
- In Defense of an Ending: St. John and the Role of Destiny in Jane Eyre
- A Life On a Page
- Jane Eyre’s Flight From Flight
- Standing Alone: Isolation and Narration in Villette and Jane Eyre
- The Struggles of the Heroines in Wide Sargasso Sea and Jane Eyre
- Women in Literature: Examining Oppression Versus Independence in Henry V and Jane Eyre
- Fire: Destruction and Creation
- Treatment of the Independant Female in The Portrait of a Lady and Jane Eyre
- Jane Eyre: An Uncommon Heroine
- The Unenslaved Self: Feminist Enlightenment in Jane Eyre
- The Impossibility of Standing Alone: Jean Rhys’s “Wide Sargasso Sea” in the Context of Bronte’s “Jane Eyre”
- A Psychoanalytic Criticism of Emma, Jane Eyre, and Tess of the D’Urbervilles
- Class Structure and Morality in Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre
- Devices Used In Jane Eyre and Aurora Leigh to Represent Female Subjugation
- Surrogate Mother Figures in Jane Eyre
- The Burden of Feminism in Jane Eyre
- Examining Femininity in “Wide Sargasso Sea”
- The Woman at the Door: The Gypsy Scene in Jane Eyre
- Signifiance of Setting in Jane Eyre
The book of books : The Bible
an “imposed” book in many situations and by many characters
various attitudes and perspectives relating to it to be developped
(Brocklehurst, Helen, and Saint John)
Revelas reas by Helen
Bewick ‘ birds: a highly beautiful book far away from realistic narrative and imposing its dreamland of fantasies and landscapes
Pamela by Richardson is an inside narcissistic reference : epistolary style
History of Rome by Goldsmith is to be exploited as well