小論文
The Theme of Self-growth
in Jane Eyre
Wu Min-Shan
吳旻珊
Hui-Wen Senior High School 惠文高中
Class
605
Teacher Chang Yi-Ju 張衣濡
I.
Introduction---Jane Eyre and Charlotte Bronte
Jane Eyre was an orphan adapted by her cruel aunt Mrs. Reed. Her childhood
living with her foster family at Gateshead was miserable. She scarcely got love
and care. By chance, Mrs. Reed decided to send her to Lowood school. There, she
got more independence while there were no any brutal relatives. She made friends
and learnt a lot there. After staying there for eight years, six as a student, two as a
teacher, she was eager for new experiences. Hired as a governess, Jane headed to
Thornfield and met Mr. Rochester. Through some challenges, they fell for each
other and decided to get married. However, on the wedding day, the secret that Mr.
Rochester had got married was revealed. Sadly, Jane left Thornfield without a
notification. Pennilessly, Jane stayed at Moor house, where she met St. John,
Diana, and Mary Rivers. Gradually, she could live by herself, working diligently.
One day, St. John came to Jane’s cottage said that Jane’s uncle had left all his
fortune to her. What’s more, the Rivers were all Jane’s cousins. After that, St. John
asked Jane to go to India with him as his wife. After the proposal, Jane felt Mr.
Rochester’s summon. She realized that Mr. Rochester was the one she truly loves.
She went back to Thornfield, finding the debris. Mr. Rochester lost his sight and a
limb. Even though, Jane had learnt the meaning of true love, she still decided to
live with Mr. Rochester as his wife in Ferdean Manor. In the end, one of Mr.
Rochester eyes regained the sight and was able to see his son.
“Jane Eyre” was first published with much controversy. In 19th century,
women were still dominated in many ways. For example, women were confined to
their house and were forbidden to move around or be disobedient. However, in
“Jane Eyre”, Charlotte depicts a woman’s pursuit for freedom, love and
self-esteem. Those rights are not allowed to women then but were actually crucial
for women to grow into modern individuals. Charlotte Bronte’s revolutionary
portraits of woman encourage women of her time to acquire the rights that they
deserved, through which the true meaning of their existence could be illuminated.
II. The theme of Self-growth in Jane Eyre
Self-growth is mentally and abstract. With self-growth, Jane Eyre was able to
define herself as well as to equip herself with enough wisdom and confidence to life.
Being such a book that clearly depicts a women’s self-growth, in Jane Eyre, Jane
Eyre developed her character, from place to place. She accomplished what lead to an
independent, self-conscious and wealthy woman step by step through moving from
places to places. In her movement, Jane Eyre defined self-growth with different layers
of meaning suggested by these names of the places she’d been to. “The problem of
this partial agency combined with Bronte’s dialectical from places Jane Eyre at the
cusp of feminist criticism as a call for a new dialectic to take the foreground to enable
freedom from the prevalent, yet archaic, feminine exile.” Jennifer Santos from
Arizona State University implied in her paper, ”Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre:
Working to Escape Feminine Exile”(p.1) Consequently, begins at “Gateshead”, Jane
moved to the bosky darkness and spiritual abyss of “Lowood”. At thornfield, she must
fight her way through the stings of many emotional and psychological thorns. Next,
she first tasted true freedom of movement in the open spaces at Moor House, with
which she finally realized that Ferndean Manor was the home where her love as well
as herself can grow strong and fertile.(Sparknotes) “Bronte’s maneuvers Jane through
a series of circumstances that complicate an already intense exile, chronicling Jane’s
growth towards independence from mastery and oppression, as seen within the
confines of Gateshead, Lowood, Thorfield and Moor House.” Jennifer Santos also
implied. (p.1)
In the first passage from Gateshead to Lowood school, Jane acquired such
freedom that she was no longer confined to her cruel aunt’s house. No more bully, no
more ignorance and no more loneliness, Jane was able to adjust herself into a normal
girl. Through learning from Helen and God, since Lowood school was Christian, Jane
realized the sense of “obedience”. This learning helped her refined her attitude to
accept challenges and difficulties, instead of complaining. More than that, she strived
to break a new way of life. In a sense, her life at Lowood gave her peace even with the
poor living condition. Compared to wealthy Gateshead, Lowood was certainly a better
place to secure her self-growth.
In second passage from Lowood to Thornfield, more freedom was given both
mentally and physically since there were fewer disciplines. Jane had to set her own
rules and gave guidance to herself. Therefore, this helped Jane to cultivate
self-confidence and independence. Her confidence and thoughts unconsciously caught
Mr. Rochester’s attention. Furthermore, after the outbreak of Mr. Rochester’s former
marriage, Jane remained calm. To put it more clearly, under such circumstances, one
can easily give himself to the wonderful life. But Jane kept aware of her self-dignity,
which meant she was against the idea that one should ignore her personal value. So,
she left Thornfied to keep learning and to keep searching for her own meaning of life.
In the third passage from Thornfield to Moor house, she lost everything herself,
and even attempt to complete herself, the opportunity to refine through which she was
granted. Without the job at thornfield, she got impoverished. Further more, without
Mr. Rochester’s love, her life was filled with emptiness as well as hardship. In her
stay at Moor House, Jane was given a job to help St. John to manage the school. Since
St. John didn’t control much about how she ran the school, the freedom given
prompted her to brood over what she really wanted and to understand herself. For this
reason, St. John was a crucial character, not only for his financial aid to Jane Eyre but
for his help to let Jane conclude who her true love was.
From Moor House to Ferdean Manor, the process of self-growth is completed.
With inherited fortune, Jane had become a wealthy, independent and grown-up
woman. She was no longer a dominated character. Instead, great difference was made
when she was back to help Mr. Rochester. Compared to previous impoverished and
obedient Jane, now she had transformed and grown into a mater of herself. “I told you
I am independent, sir, as well as rich: I am my own mistress.” She even dominates.
(p.543)
In Jane Eyre as it is further investigated, the protagnist’s self-growth is mainly
achieved in her two stays with Mr. Rochester, which happened to be the opening and
ending of their love affair. In her relationship with Mr. Rochester, Jane Eyre grow up
from being dependent, naïve and obedient to independent, sophiscated and even
dominating. She defined her self-value, retrieved her true love and figure out every
meaning of her existence particularly in her moving in-out-in to be with Mr.
Rochester.
At Thornfield, for example, Jane left Lowood for seeking new experiences. Yet,
she’s not mature enough to thoroughly figure out the true deed of love. Inside her
mind, she thought she didn’t deserve Mr. Rochester’s love because she lacked
confidence, self-awareness and fortune. Her obedience to Mr. Rochester not only
shows the fact that Mr. Rochester was the employer but also points out that Jane
didn’t possess certain qualities to secure an equal status as Mr. Rochester.
Consequently, all the way through, Jane not only denying the possibility of their love
affair but also denied her own the chance of self-growth. She surrendered herself as
the obedient and dominated one to Mr.Rochester. For this reason, whom Mr.
Rochester disguised himself as a Gipsy fortune teller, Jane’s attitude toward love was
revealed:“I can prove that you’re cold, ill and a fool.” She said “Listen. You’re cold,
because you’re alone. You’re ill, because you lack love. And you’re a fool, because
love is near you, and you won’t take one step to reach it” (p.250) Jane was cautious
about Mr. Rochester’s love. Additionally, Mr. Rochester trick to make Jane jealous
suggests his dominance. In a sense, Jane was almost forced to marry Mr. Rochester
with his dominance and her failure to judge wisely: Mr. Rochester made believe that
Jane would willingly be his mistress if that really happened. However, after knowing
the facts, Jane was painful to learn the truth. Without sufficient wisdom amd courage
to foresee the problem, Jane could do nothing but leave since she got no respect and
dignity in the affair of marriage. This leaving implies Jane’s self-reflection and served
as an incentive for her self-growth. Since the love between them was imbalanced,
undoubtedly, the marriage would come out as a broken dream. Before Jane equipped
herself with wise and mature compose to deal with changes and challenges, she would
never feel comfort in marrying Mr. Rochester. Like Mr. Rochester, who though in this
period was still a visible man, failed to see truth and tackle problems with a clear
vision in mind.
Then, in her second stay with Mr. Rochester, Jane showed her self-growth. Jane
Eyre’s movement and experiences constitute her self-growth, with which she now
could think and act equally to men. Like Mr. Rochester, who lost eyesight but gained
a vision of mind, Jane choose to return to Thornfield and found that she could be the
eye of Mr. Rochester. He, the eye, also retrieved his “I”. It is this self-value that she
decided to marry Mr. Rochester, who also learned to take a less dominant attitude
and appreciate such composure and self-growth the woman he love exhibited. Here,
Jane said “I entered not now obliged to part with my whole fortune as the price of its
accommodation” (p.527) to Mr. Rochester’s second proposal. She was, then, rich,
able to differentiate true love from Mr. Rochester’s and accompany form St. John
and choose what she wanted. Possessing the fortune, she eventually got the equal
status and self composure to stay with Mr. Rochester. Besides, these movement and
experiences consolidates her self-growth as she told Mr. Rochester that she was her
own mistress. This, as Jennifer Santos points out, implies that "she [Jane Eyre]
presents a series of oppressive situations in which Jane continues a dynamic process
that embodies the struggle for identity.”(p.1) She completed herself.
III. Conclusion
The novel, Jane Eyre, was certainly viewed as a classic, with its intriguing plots
and valuable feminine perspective offered. The author, Charlotte Bronte, provides
the women in her period with the role modal, Jane Eyre. Woman, instead of being
deprived of the rights to think, and to choose, shall try to define her own self value
and claim her self composure. For this reason, ever found with challenges and
changes in life, a woman can still stand still, independently, and be the master of
herself.
IV. Works sited
1.
Bronte, Charlotte (2005). NY: Pocket Books.
2.
3.
4.
Jennifer S.(2002). Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre: Working to Escape
Feminine Exile. Thesis Presented at Arizona state University.
夏綠蒂‧勃朗特(1983)。簡愛。台北市：陽明書局
廖炳惠(2003)。關鍵詞 200：文學與批評研究的通用詞彙編。台北市：
麥田
.