Blanche Ingram: Villain? Blanche Ingram is the most important woman, other than Jane Eyre, in the novel. Arguably, she is the most important antagonist in this book. It is difficult to fathom how an absolutely horrid, conceited, venal, apathetic creature could be so vital to the book; but take her away, the motivation, conflict, and character itself crumbles. Consider this synopsais: Jane Eyre has not yet come to terms with her love with Mr. Rochester. Mr.
Rochester is so infatuated with Jane that he can not contain himself and is ready to proclaim his love at any moment. Mr. Rochester must somehow occupy himself until he is certain of Jane’s fervent love for him and what better way to test this than with jealousy? This feminine competitive jealousy can only be achieved by bringing in the stereotypical, perfect woman of the epoch. This woman is Blanche Ingram. Blanche produces enough tumult to spark Jane to get over her reticence and speak out to Rochester of the love she feels for him. A second scenario: Jane loves Mr.
Rochester in her heart. She only needs something, some happenstance, where she can break through her reserve and coyness to express her feelings. Mr. Rochester brings to Thornfield a party of guests; all elegantly appareled and socially sophisticated. Hesitantly, Jane reaches the drawing room where she and Adele wait for the party to enter. The ladies all come in first, gathered together and chatting when they notice Adele and Jane. The ladies swoon over Adele while Jane sits on the side inspecting and criticizing each lady as she passes by.
The Essay on Tristan And Iseult Jane Rochester Love
... fortune of Blanche Ingram. He tells her things that she does not desire to hear about Rochester, things that imply that their love is ... Be dier, the couples that find themselves in love are Jane Eyre with Edward Rochester, and Tristan with Iseult. Both couples face ... she is a woman, and in feudal times, they were never considered important. In Jane s case, Jane feels that Rochester is playing games ...
No one is unpleasant to her and no one seems to grab Mr. Rochester’s attention; which puts Jane at ease. Jane is content and almost enjoying herself while she participates in some activities and becomes amiable toward the party. This is an extreme fairytale-like revision without Blanche. There is no hostility, no conflict, no pain, but also no motivation. There is nothing to instigate Jane into taking any step toward Mr. Rochester. Nothing is threatening her or giving her a feeling of urgency or duty to “save” Mr.
Rochester from some disastrous fate as well as herself and Adele. Originally, Jane confessed her love for Rochester because of her fear of being separated from him. Without Blanche, there is no threat or quandary in which Jane would feel the need to confess and affirm her place with Mr. Rochester. Jane is passive and feels outclassed, unworthy, and too young for him and is comfortable with just gazing at Rochester; so the likelihood of Jane accosting Rochester with her confession is extremely small when the situation is not unpleasant. Furthermore, Blanche is able to create conflicts which answer questions that are not clearly presented in the novel; for without her, Mr. Rochester cannot be perfectly certain that Jane, a dependent low-class governess, is not attracted to his money but only him. Through Blanche’s outward and daring personality she is able to reaffirm Rochester’s thinking of Jane’s feelings and indirectly brings them together.
Without Blanche’s presence Jane would not have proclaimed her love for Rochester with such fervor and Rochester would not have been able to justify Jane’s love with such conviction. It may be argued that Bertha is more vital to the story than Blanche but that is easily dismissed. Bertha in no way augmented Jane’s infatuation towards Rochester. The only relevance that came from Bertha was to create some predicament in which Jane had to go through a change in life and reform into a different, perhaps stronger character. The actual voyage through this transition was actually quite unimportant. Bertha did, however, through making Rochester crippled, make Jane and Rochester’s love seem stronger and unbending than before; yet without Blanche they would not have realized their growing love in the first place. It is important to realize the importance of Blanche Ingram to the plot in order to fully appreciate the novel. Is Blanche Ingram a villain? Could a heroine create a more perfect consummation? No; that is why no other character could have brought out more interest, more satisfaction, than Blanche Ingram..
The Essay on Jane Eyre and Bertha Mason from “Jane Eyre”
I bent forward: first surprise, then bewilderment, came over methis was not Sophie, it was not Leah The shape standing before me had never crossed my eyes within the precincts of Thornfield Hall beforeIts seemed, sir, a woman, tall and largeIt was a discoloured face—it was a savage face. I wish I could forget the roll of the red eyesthe lips were swelled and darkShall I tell you of what it ...
