Often, people must struggle through negative, unpleasant experiences to mature and find where they belong in the world. In the novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, Jane struggles from youth to adulthood to escape confinement, mature, and discover her own person. Each of her experiences at different locations changes her until she finally finds her place in the world.
Jane acquires ideals at Lowood as a result of the pitiless treatment she experiences while she resides there. As Jane travels to Lowood, the thought of escaping Mrs. Reed’s Wrath at first relieves her. However, Lowood turns out to be a continuation of verbal abuse and other hardships from Mr. Brocklehurst and her teachers. Jane learns to be independent to avoid dealing with the people at the school. With encounters of humiliation and Helen’s help as a role model, Jane comes to understand the importance of keeping her feelings to herself and not letting the rebuking remarks upset or discourage her. Helen displays calm manners, letting things go that Jane would normally fight. She explains to Jane, “It is far better to endure patiently a smart which nobody feels but yourself, than to commit a hasty action whose evil consequences will extend to all connected with you.” (p. 48) Furthermore, Lowood forces Jane to accept her place in society. Mr. Brocklehurst emphasizes the fact that Jane is only a poor orphan, and his school will help her accept that and not expect to become any better, as he assures Mrs. Reed that Lowood offers “plain fare, simple attire, unsophisticated accommodations, hardy and active habits.” (p. 28)
The Essay on “Jane Eyre” as a bildungsroman novel
... the rest of Mrs. Reed’s family members. Jane has similar experience at Lowood School where she is incorrectly labelled &# ... referring to hero)” (Kern 6). After all Jane has experienced, from an adopted orphan to a gentlemen’s mistress, ... Lowood, she applies and becomes the governess of Adele where she will work at Thornfield. At Thornfield, Jane meets Mr. Rochester and experiences ...
When Jane moves to Thornfield, she gains more mature mannerisms and discovers new emotions that shape her personality. She combines the composure and manners she achieves at Lowood and her outspoken nature to remain calm and modestly defend herself when Rochester or anyone else criticizes her. Jane experiences jealousy for the first time when Rochester leads her to believe that he will marry Blanche Ingram. While with Rochester, Jane finds love; another feeling with which she has no past experience, having little exposure to the male sex. Jane also displays the ability to be strong in sticking to her principles. Upon realizing that she would be Rochester’s mistress rather than his wife, she flees Thornfield. She explains that “Laws and Principles are not for times when there is no temptation; they are for such moments as this. If at my individual convenience I might break them, what would be their worth?” (p. 302)
At Marsh End, Jane truly finds her own person and what she wants out of life. She acquires financial independence, for after she attains the five thousand dollars from her deceased uncle, she no longer needs to depend on anyone to provide for her (a major step toward her personal freedom).
She realizes that family makes a person more complete, as she experiences the joy when she apprehends that she currently lives with her cousins. She discovers this new revelation as “wealth indeed!- wealth to the heart!- a mine of pure, genial affections.” (p. 368) Finally, Jane realizes the power of love and that she cannot live without Rochester; empty and begging for food when she leaves him, she never seems right until she is with him again. St. John partially brings this realization out of her, because when he proposes to Jane, she sees that marriage should only be consummated out of love. Only Rochester loves her, and she decides that she should give in to this love. When Jane hears Rochester call to her, she makes up her mind that she regards him too highly to forget him, and she explains this moment as a time, even when the persistent St. John comes to her, “I must and would be alone. He obeyed at once…. When there is energy to command well enough, the obedience never fails.” (p. 401)
The Essay on Tristan And Iseult Jane Rochester Love
Parallels In Charlotte Bronte s masterpiece, Jane Eyre, of the Victorian period and the Romance of Tristan and Iseult, as retold by Joseph Be dier, the couples that find themselves in love are Jane Eyre with Edward Rochester, and Tristan with Iseult. Both couples face major obstacles that jeopardize or destroy their relationship. Some of the characteristics of romantic love used in these two works ...
From her journey through Lowood, Thornfield, and Marsh End, Jane matures and becomes a strong, independent individual who sticks to her principles and opens her heart to love. The unpleasant events of Jane’s early life help to shape her as an adult and as a human being.
