The chestnut tree in Jane Eyre and Mrs. Sparsits staircase in Hard Times - Essay Example

? The chestnut tree in Jane Eyre and Mrs. Sparsit’s staircase in Hard Times of The chestnut tree in Jane Eyre and Mrs. Sparsit’s staircase in Hard Times Two of the most important novels in the history of English literature, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte and Hard Times by Charles Dickens were significant for the complexity of their themes and the innovation of the stylistic devices that they were able to introduce into their novels. Their novels depicted the troubles that people of the Victorian age had to face as a result of the many changes that were happening during that period in history. The growth of trade and commerce and the industrial revolution had led to a kind of social mobility that brought the first glimmerings of capitalism to the English economy and later to other parts of the world. The importance of this lies in the various resistances that one finds to such developments in these novels. While there are certain radical elements in these novels, many of the literary devices that they talk of are a part of the traditional canon of literature. Two of the most important motifs in these novels are the chestnut tree in Jane Eyre and the staircase that Mrs. Sparsit envisages in her mind in Hard Times. This paper shall attempt to look at these two symbols in their cultural and literary contexts and analyze their relevances within the respective texts. One of the most important facts to keep in mind while analyzing the relevance of the chestnut tree to the novel Jane Eyre is the genre that the novel belongs to. While also being a text of social criticism, it borrows a lot from the genre of the gothic novel that writers like Elizabeth Gaskell had made popular. The whole of Thornfield and the woods that surround it are gothic in origin. Apart from this, the male protagonist of the novel, Mr. Rochester too is very much a part of this gothic setting (Pyrhonen 2010, 17). The mystery that surrounds the place and the secrecy that the place is imbued with throughout a large part of the novel has a lot to do with the fact that the novel borrows heavily from the gothic genre of the novel. This fact is further strengthened by the presence of Bertha Mason in the narrative. The chestnut tree then becomes a representative of the gothic and mystery. The burning of the chestnut tree as the result of a lightning strike is an example of the gothic nature of the tale that has a great bearing upon the thematic implications of the novel. The aura of fear and suspense in the reader is sustained through the motif of the chestnut tree that burns and is not left whole. The chestnut tree is burnt from a situation where it was whole and healthy. Its state of health was commented upon by the novelist in earlier passages. However, it burns because of lightning on the night that Jane decides to go ahead with her decision to marry Mr. Rochester. There is thus, a change from a natural state to that of an unnatural state. This can be seen as a religious and spiritual comment that Charlotte Bronte makes on the action of the plot. While it is possible for Mr. Rochester and Jane Eyre to enter into a marital relationship once his wife has passed away, it is not possible, at least spiritually, for them to be so while Bertha Mason is alive. This is signified by the almost divine intervention that the burning of the chestnut tree signifies. This can be seen in the validation of the illegality of the union as is later pointed out by Richard Mason, the brother of Bertha Mason. There is a certain masculine vigor that is employed to describe the chestnut tree and the violence with which it burns down. This can be seen from the comments that critics like Pat MacPherson make regarding the transgression that Jane Eyre makes. He refers to it as the “masculine freedom of expression” (1989, 18). The importance of such criticism lies in the fact that it makes one aware of the immense importance of a text such as Jane Eyre in changing the gender relations that existed during the Victorian era. The radical and revolutionary nature of a text such as Jane Eyre must always be kept in mind while analyzing an individual motif such as the chestnut tree. This feminist intervention that Bronte seeks to make can be seen in this passage from the text- Women are supposed to be very calm generally: but women feel just as men feel; they need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts as much as their brothers do; they suffer from too rigid a restraint, too absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffer; and it is narrow-minded in their more privileged fellow-creatures to say that they ought to confine themselves to making puddings and knitting stockings, to playing on the piano and embroidering bags. It is thoughtless to condemn them, or laugh at them, if they seek to do more or learn more than custom has pronounced necessary for their sex (Bronte 2000, 78). Another important aspect of the chestnut tree is that it is very characteristic of the English landscape and one can place the novel and its surroundings within a cultural context through the presence of the chestnut tree. This can then be contrasted with the revision of the novel which was done by a writer like Jean Rhys. Jean Rhys constantly invokes the landscape of the Caribbean in order to demonstrate the rootedness of Antoinette Mason in the Caribbean (Rhys 2000). The chestnut tree then becomes an important motif as far as the postcolonial aspect of the novel is concerned as it enables an understanding of the point at which Mr. Rochester and Jane are united in their cultural belonging. The chestnut tree becomes a symbol of Englishness, an Englishness that is hurt when something that is not strictly Christian is about to happen. The staircase in the mind of Mrs. Sparsit as it appears in Charles Dickens’s Hard Times is something that has a lot of interpretive scope. This is one of those motifs that manage to almost capture the essence of an era in itself. The staircase, at the very obvious level, points to the social mobility of the age that had led to the growth of somebody like the character of Bounderby through his efforts. On the other hand, a person who was a part of the aristocracy at a certain point of time like Mrs. Sparsit goes down the staircase of class. Thus, in Victorian England, what was important was class which was a malleable institution of society as opposed to birth which decided one’s position within the hierarchy of society in a feudal setup. The breakdown of aristocracy as a deciding factor within English society is also something that the character of Mrs. Sparsit and the staircase that she envisages stands for. The staircase however has greater significance for the woman characters as their social mobility depends on the economic condition of the man that they marry and thus, they are constantly shifted around on the staircase. Mrs. Sparsit’s staircase is thus, something that presents the miserable condition that women found themselves in despite the introduction of social mobility through the proliferation of trade and commerce. This proliferation too was the result of colonialism that was draining the wealth of a lot of colonies into Britain during the Victorian age. Hard Times like Bleak House, another novel by Charles Dickens, can then be called a work of social criticism (Srivastava 2001, 86). This aspect is best seen in this speech by Gradgrind- Now, what I want is Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing else, and root out everything else. You can only form the mind of reasoning animals upon Facts: nothing else will ever be of any service to them (Dickens 1999, 12) One of the most important aspects of the motif of the staircase is that it represents more than one form of a fall for women who are a part of the novel. In Dickens’s world the moral fall is as important and this is an attitude that is shared by Mrs. Sparsit (Eagleton 2006, 128). While she revels when a woman climbs down the staircase of morality, Dickens is pained and this pain is very much visible in the narrative of the novel that he creates. The descent of Louisa Gradgrind in this staircase is brought about by the manipulative actions of James Harthouse who seeks to have an affair with Louisa as he understands the fact that she is starved for love. Her descent down the staircase that Mrs. Sparsit envisages is brought about by the cruel and utilitarian conditions that existed during a certain part of the Victorian age. What Dickens depicts in his novel Hard Times is an exaggerated version of the utilitarian conditions that existed in the cities in Victorian England. The moral descent of the woman is also accompanied by an economic fall as she is entirely dependent on her chastity for her husband’s loyalty. The chastity of the woman then becomes a commodity that can win her the social security in terms of being provided for. The staircase that Mrs. Sparsit envisages is important for another reason. It signifies the individual morality that a person like Mrs. Sparsit is able to envisage, something that is the result of a bourgeoisie consciousness. This individual code of morality is greatly influenced by that of the society that Mrs. Sparsit is a part of. However, there are changes that it effects in relation to earlier codes, thus making the presence of mercantile trade and non-English worldviews known. Tis can also be seen in the different path that Louisa Gradgrind is willing to take in relation to her husband and her lover. This change from the beaten path, a descent down the staircase of morality is what leads to the salvation that Louisa and eventually her father Mr. Gradgrind are able to reach. The existence of such worldviews in the same society and the need to temper the strictness of one’s worldviews can be seen from the examples of Mrs. Sparsit and Sissy Jupe. The character of Sissy Jupe and her worldview which revolves around compassion are endorsed by the author in no uncertain terms. Therefore, the author does not close the possibility of the non-existence of a staircase which regulates morality. At the same time, he also expresses pain at what he feels is corruption, thus making clear the contradictions inherent in writing that emerges from a bourgeoisie society. The motifs of the chestnut tree and the staircase that Mrs. Sparsit envisages are very important as far as their symbolic significances are concerned. The two motifs advance the thematic interests of the novels and talk a great deal about the deep rootedness of the novels in the Victorian society and ethos that they emerge from. Being an age of change, the age’s novels’ motifs too reveal a tension that point to the changes that took place economically, socially and culturally. The Victorian age and the specter of colonialism cannot be kept out of any criticism that is made regarding the books of Charlotte Bronte and Charles Dickens. An understanding of the symbols would lead to an understanding of the nature of the British society of the Victorian age and the various changes that it had to undergo. The moral, spiritual and religious significance of the symbols in the text reveal the complexity of the texts and the age in which they were produced. References Bronte, Charlotte. 2001. Jane Eyre. London: Wordsworth. Print. Dickens, Charles. 2000. Hard Times. New York: Penguin. Print. Rhys, Jean. 2004. Wide Sargasso Sea. New York: Penguin. Print. Eagleton, Terry. 2006. Criticism And Ideology: A Study in Marxist Literary Theory. New York: Verso. Print. MacPherson, Pat. 1989. Jane Eyre. London: Routledge. Print. Srivastava, Deepika. 2001. Four Great Indian English Novelists: Some Points of View. New Delhi: Sarup. Print. Pyrhonen, Heta. 2010. Bluebeard Gothic: Jane Eyre and Its Progeny. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Print. Read More