Substitute Mothers in Jane Eyre Essay - 2164 Words

Substitute Mothers in Jane Eyre In Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, Jane is an orphan who is often mistreated by the family and other people who surround her. Faced with constant abuse from her aunt and her cousins, Jane at a young age questions the treatment she receives: All John Reed’s violent tyrannies, all his sister’s proud indifference, all his mother’s aversion, all the servants’ partiality, turned up in my disturbed mind like a dark deposit in a turbid well. Why was I always suffering, always brow-beaten, always accused, forever condemned? (27; ch. 2). Despite her early suffering, as the novel progresses Jane is cared for and surrounded by various women who act as a sort of substitute mother in the way they guide,†¦show more content†¦Jane’s motherly figures in the novel are heavily focused on her child and young adult life, when a real mother would be of most importance, and when Charlotte felt her mother‘s absence the most. Mothers are often missing in Victorian fiction of the mid-nineteenth century (McKnight 18). A large part of this is due to the very real threat of death through childbirth or from other incurable illnesses, but also because novelists like Bronte were capturing the life-threatening reality of motherhood in the century by showing how often mothers simply were not on hand to watch their children mature (McKnight 18). In similar regards to Bronte mimicking her own life with her characters, it is said: While Jane’s orphaned and outcast condition represented a spiritual truth about the Victorian state of existence, it also signified an artistic truth for Bronte, who explained to Wordsworth the joy she felt in creating characters with ‘no father nor mother but your own imagination’ (Berg 4). He also states that without any family to tie her down, Jane is able to float freely and be in any situation she chooses, after an age where that is accepted (Berg 5). Clearly, this is an error because Jane is in constant battle with her lack of options. The reason that she ended up at Thornfield at all is because Mrs. Fairfax is the only person who replied to her ad. According to Adrienne Rich in her essay Jane Eyre: The Temptations of aShow MoreRelatedSummary of Clarkes Brontes Jane Eyre and the Grimms Cinderella1341 Words   |  6 PagesClarke, Micael M. Brontes Jane Eyre and the Grimms Cinderella. SEL: Studies in English Literature 1500-1900. 40.4 (2000): 695-710. Clarke explores the similarities and importance of Brontà «Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s use of the Grimms’ version of Cinderella within the story of Jane Eyre. She outlines how the two stories are parallel and then skillfully explores the symbolism that is present in both. 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Besides English and my mother tongue, Chinese, I‘ve studied Japanese and Japanese culture for two years. I also noticed that several professors of your program master in bilingual language acquisition and teaching. I hope my experiences in learning English and Japanese may help