Analysis of the theme and its significance to the meaning of Jane Eyre - Essay Example

Analysis of the theme and its significance to the meaning of the novel Jane Eyre is a renowned novel by Charlotte Bronte. The novel outlines some important themes that are widely accepted for their truth and universality. Themes related to class, resistance, spirituality and super natural are intertwined that gives depth and strength to the plot of the novel. Resistance is an important theme in the novel. Much towards the beginning of the novel, in Chapter 2, Jane is seen in conflict with Bessie. She makes the following comment “I resisted all the way: a new thing for me…” which actually foreshadows the important theme of resistance and female emancipation in the novel. The comment is made by her to express her dissatisfaction over her unjust punishment by Bessie but at the same time it serves the purpose of a platform through which Bronte is able to communicate her views on the position of women in the society. Bronte exposes the hypocrisy of the aristocratic class as she portrays Jane resisting all the criticism of the class conscious society. Jane is portrayed as a woman with strong personality who is seen resisting anything that goes against her principles. She enjoys working with her own hands and loves to exploit her own talents. At Lowood Institution she enjoys her work and forgets all the hard time she had suffered in the past. She has the ability to resist anything that comes in the way of her independence. It is for this reason she refuses to give up her work once she is engaged to Rochester. She resists becoming dependent on Rochester and instead prefers to remain as a governess even after her marriage with Rochester. She does not like the idea of becoming a dependent mistress with fancy gowns and would therefore resist anything that goes against her idea of independence. Her desire for independence compels her to write to her uncle to seek fortune for herself. This is evident from her comment in Chapter 37 as she says “I am my own mistress” once she gets the fortune from her uncle. The comment strongly reflects her personality. She would not like to become anyone’s mistress but of her own self. Throughout the novel Bronte expresses her thoughts on the social status of women with the help of Jane. Jane makes comments on women emancipation and the circumstances that force them to adopt a stagnant position in the society. An important comment is made in Chapter 12 in the following lines: “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 (Chapter 12)” The comment not only reflects Jane’s desire for independence but also serves as a strong satire on the standards for women that have been set by the English society. Jane’s resistance against her independence is also accompanied by her resistance against class. Jane has no money, family, looks, class and social position. However she is intelligent and this is what attracts Rochester and forces him to fall in love with her. Rochester is here portrayed as a man resisting against his class, position and social status. He is aware of the criticism that will accompany his marriage with Jane. Still he resists all this and gets engaged to Jane. At the same time Jane also resists all the criticism and agrees to marry Rochester. She strongly believes that marriage needs to take place between equals. Once she thinks she is equal to Rochester in every sense she agrees to marry him. As she says in Chapter 38 “I am my husband’s life as fully as he is mine… To be together for us is to be once as free as in solitude, as gay as in company…We are precisely suited in character- perfect concord is the result.” However Jane is not ready to accept her position as a mistress and resists all the temptations of her marriage with Rochester by refusing to marry him. She strongly criticizes the class prejudice in the following line as she enters into a dialogue with Rochester. “Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong!—I have as much soul as you—and full as much heart! And if God had gifted me with some beauty and much wealth, I should have made it as hard for you to leave me, as it is now for me to leave you (Chapter 23).” Bronte has dexterously mingled the theme of religion with the theme of resistance. Both the themes play an important role in revealing the nature of the protagonist. They also bring out the hypocrisy of the class conscious society. Jane finds herself in communication with God as the truth of Rochester’s first marriage is dawned upon her. She pleads for help as she says “be not far from me for trouble is near: there is none to help (Chapter 26).” She turns to God as she resists the temptations of marrying Rochester and tells him to do the same as well. Jane almost agrees to marry St. John and gives the reason for it in a religious manner “Religion called – Angels beckoned – God commanded – life rolled together like a scroll – deaths gates opening showed eternity beyond: it seemed, that for safety and bliss there, all here might be sacrificed in a second (Chapter 35).”On another occasion she refuses to marry St John because such an action will go against her principles. The super natural element is introduced to help the readers understand temptations as Jane struggles against her principles. On one occasion Jane hears Rochester calling from a far away place. It is also mentioned that Rochester could also hear Jane calling him from a distant place. As Jane hears the horse of Rochester approaching, she imagines it to be a spirit with a huge head. As she sees Rochester the reverie is ended because she realizes that no one could sit on a spirit like Gytrash. Jane is seen in the novel fighting between moral duty and worldly pleasure, between desire and spiritual duty. She rejects the type of religion that Mr. Brocklehurst, Helen Burns and St. John practice and accepts what she believes is right. She believes in God and does not give this up for worldly pleasures and comfort. Along with many others the motifs of fire and ice are repeatedly used in the novel. Fire symbolizes Jane’s vitality, emotions and spirit. Ice symbolizes the opposite forces that force her to give up her vitality. Fire imagery is also used to symbolize Jane’s nature. Jane is compared to a “Ridge of lighted heath, alive, glancing and devouring” in Chapter 4. Jane’s love for Rochester is evident through the “flashing and flaming eyes” (Chapter 25) of Rochester. Fire motif is also used when Jane goes back to Rochester who has been blinded by the fire. Rochester is shown as a “lamp quenched, waiting to be relit (Chapter 37)”. Ice and cold motifs are also used to describe the physical and emotional loneliness of Jane. This is evident through the depiction of “death-white realms” in Chapter 1. The metaphor depicts Jane’s loneliness at Gateshead. The freezing water at Lowood also symbolizes the same. When her wedding is stopped Jane describes her emotional state as a “Christmas frost” that has frozen every thing (Chapter 26). She refuses to marry St John and gives the reason in the following manner “. But as his wife—at his side always, and always restrained, and always checked—forced to keep the fire of my nature continually low, to compel it to burn inwardly and never utter a cry, though the imprisoned flame consumed vital after vital—this would be unendurable” (Chapter 34). Bronte’s protagonist has a strong personality. She uses Jane to identify the hypocrisy of the society and religious bodies. The forces that attract her to give up her principles and her resistance against them make her individual as well as universal in nature. Motifs have been aptly used to support the themes in the novel. The way Bronte has dealt with the themes makes the novel a master piece in English literature. Reference Bronte, C. (2005), “Jane Eyre”, Penguin Popular Classics, United Kingdom. Pg. 1-448. Read More