An Analysis of Jane Eyre’s Character

1、简爱人物性格的分析an analysis of jane eyres charactercontentsabstract.1key words.1i. introduction21biography of charlotte bronte.22. the origin of jane eyre.2ii. literature review.3iii. the development of jane eyres character.41. miserable experience leads to fight for equality.42. the true love reveals her

2、inner beauty.53. jane eyres pursuit of liberty and equality.61) the equality of social classes between jane and rochester.62) the equality between men and women.73) love cannot change her attitude to freedom.74) this heroine image reflect her thoughts.8iv. reasons for jane eyres dual personality.81.

3、 the duality of victorian spirit.82. the author charlotte brontes attitude to life9v. conclusion10references.10an analysis of jane eyres characterabstract: the thesis mainly discusses the character of the heroine in charlotte brontes famous novel jane eyre. there are three major partsintroduction, a

4、nalysis which is the main body of the thesis, and conclusion. jane eyre, the heroine, is a new woman image who demands independence, equality and freedom. the thesis just analyses janes rebellious character through four periods of her experiences. first, in her childhood, she has shown her rebelliou

5、s spirit. as an orphan, jane suffers a lot of misery. not only does her aunt treats her cruelly and her cousins despise her, but also do the servants have prejudice against her. in janes immature heart, she is unwilling to bear ill treatment. she rebels against them bravely. second, when she studies

6、 at lowood, her rebellious spirit is exposed further. her criticism is not directed to mrs. reeds alone, but to the whole society. she makes hypocrisy of so-called charity to be discovered completely. at the same time, she declares her independent, equal rebellious thought to her friend hellen who e

7、ndures oppression willingly. third, she, as a governess in thornfield hall, falls in love with rochester her master. during this period, her thought grows into maturity. though she loves him passionately, she never loses her dignity and independence for him. when she knows his mad wife is still aliv

8、e, she makes up her mind to leave him. she refuses to become his mistress. fourth, her refusal of st. johns proposal of marriage depicts janes character. she knows john does not love her at all and his purpose of marriage is only to perform his great task of being a missionary. jane does not want to

9、 become a sacrifice. she breaks the traditional morality, and then she goes back to rochester.key words: rebellious; equality; freedom; independence; human dignity摘要:简爱中女主人公,所表现出来的对自由和平等的追求是女权主义的一种强有力的反映,从而引起了读者强烈的共鸣,奠定了其在世界学史的地位,其成长过程中,不屈的性格注定了其爱情,事业的曲折和最终的胜利.简从反抗里德一家的虐待上升到与整个社会的抗争再到最后敢于选择自己的真爱完成了现

10、代女性角色的转变，注定她的不平凡和所有女性的对男权社会发出的强有力的呼声。关键字:反抗; 自由; 平等; 独立; 人格尊严i. introduction1. biography of charlotte brontecharlotte bronte (1816-1855) was born in the family of a poor country clergyman at haworth, yorkshire, in northern england. in this period of tense class struggle appeared a new literary trend

11、-critical realism. english critical realism of the 19th century flourished in the forties and in the early fifties. the critical realists described with much vividness and great artistic skill the chief traits of the english society and criticized the capitalist system from a democratic viewpoint. s

12、he and three of her sisters were sent to a charity school where they were cruelly treated, and where her two elder sisters died. in 1835-1838 she worked as a school teacher, and later as governess. in 1842 she went with her sister emily to study languages at a school in brussels, where during 1843 s

13、he was employed as a teacher. in the next year she was back at haworth, and in 1846 appeared a volume of verse entitled poems by curer, ellis, and action bell, the pseudonyms of charlotte, emily, and anne respectively. the professor, charlottes first novel, was rejected by different publishers, and

14、it was not published till after her death. she went to write another novel, jane eyre, which was published in 1847 and achieved immediate success. 2. the origin of jane eyrefrom the beginning of the story, jane eyre is an orphan without parents, brothers and sisters. as an orphan whom mrs. reed does

15、nt prefer to adopt, jane is an “external person”, an “alien”, “a person rather than servant”. in gateshead, she does not have an explicit position and identity. she lives upon others under the cold shoulder and discrimination of aunt reed. she is weak and plain and no one likes her. reality brings h

16、er into a personality of being solitary, sensitive and obstinate, which makes her immature heart value herself especially in an early time, cherish her right and dignity as a human especially. she does not feel good about this environment, but she is not able to change it. through the whole story, w

17、e can divide jane eyres experience into five segments; gateshead, logwood, thornfield, moor house, and ferndean. the plot is not complicated and fantastic in this story. also the character of this kind is very common in the writers generation. but charlotte composes jane eyres character, which is no

18、t ordinary from universal. just as what she said to her two sisters at the time of composing jane eyre. “ill write a female protagonist, she is as plain and small as me, but she will give rise to readers interest as same as any female protagonist which you write.” jane eyre has a common appearance a

19、nd owns for nothing. why is she glorious? the reason for it is her outstanding and rebellious personality. the authors writing is mainly about the depiction of janes character, the exquisite description of her rich inner world. this kind of writing presents her lively personality to the readers. in

20、jane eyre, the representative work of charlotte bronte the english novelist of 19th century, the author successfully traces the emotional and spiritual development of the heroine jane eyre. it describes her search for an identity as a woman supported by equal status and independent human dignity. ja

21、ne eyre has a great influence upon the society at that time. for a long time, the image of jane eyre is favored by numerous readers. and charlotte bronte is famous for jane eyre. at the time of charlotte brontes writing of jane eyre, in order to put down the workers movement british bourgeois govern

22、ment took some reform measures on the surface, such as adopting the act of ten hours work for female labor. but the womens status in society at that time had not been improved rather than gaining the equal right. though going through the charter movement, which had three climaxes and attracted milli

23、ons of workers and labors to take part in the fight for equal right, it still wasnt able to solve the equality problem between men and women.ii. literature reviewin jane eyre charlotte describes the experience of an orphan girl. through this orphan girls experience, it reflects the miserable conditi

24、on of british women at that time. also through this orphan girls process of seeking happy life and love which finally becomes true, it reflects womens demand to shake off mens oppress, discrimination and striving for freedom and equality. in britain where women have an extreme low status at that tim

25、e, we cannot say that it has no a unique meaning. through the analysis of these fighting activities of seeking equality, this article reveals her characteristics: rebelliousness and righteousness.mr. rochester eventually is a mirror to reflect the kind of man required by that period, british society

26、 was in the period of expansion around the world. society needs those men who have the ambition to conquer, to overcome. therefore, there is no wonder why mr. rochester chose bertha as his wife. from his background, he is not the first son of this family, which also means that he will be poor after

27、graduation from college soon. the marriage connection with bertha becomes more pertinent than ever before. in order to escape from this bad end, he naturally selects this so-called politic marriage. according to british law, women have no rights for their own properties. at the beginning bertha was

28、a normal woman. as the feminist critics point out that he made this woman mad. bertha actually is a victim of this kind of social tragedies. from this point of view, we easily come to realize that bertha is another invisible image of jane. a series of berthas behavior reveal that, as a single woman,

29、 it is hard to fight against the whole society, even rich bertha. however, jane was such a poor girl. how to hold a position in such a sophisticated society is a huge challenge to jane. as the second son, he got the 30.000 dowries of pound from this marriage. it is a typically phenomenon in upper cl

30、ass of british society because of primogeniture. bertha becomes a victim of snobbish society, yet jane refuse to be that one, she never submitted herself to the unfair world.man forces woman to live and behave as man wants, which really gives women a great oppression. for thousands of years, women s

31、uffer from mans oppression and discrimination. john reed, brockcelurst, rochester and st john oppress jane in different ways. they are only some typical examples. through charlotte exposes and denounces mans oppression sharply. the agony women actually suffer may be much more than janes. should they

32、 always be silent or stand to fight? jane eyre gives a definitely answer. her stories awaken womens female consciousness. what is a woman like if she wants to fight for her proper rights? here, charlotte answers the question with the portrayal of jane eyres character. all in all, jane is such a self

33、respecting, independent and decisive woman. her female consciousness and her struggling experience set a brilliant example for the female worldwide. her spirit encourages women to fight for liberation. jane eyre tells not only what an independent woman is like but also what a successful woman should

34、 do. in fact, charlotte is presenting through the character of jane some of her own most deeply felt convictions of permanent importance in human life such as the right of the humblest person to affection, selfrealization, honesty and integrity, the right to speak out f rankly and the claims of mora

35、lity and religion. janes long struggle to attain these values to become a person who is admired, respected and cared for without compromising any of her other principles leaves an indelible impression on us. as a great book, jane eyre not only awakens its early readers of the victorian age, but also

36、 stimulates and encourages modern womens movementiii. the development of jane eyres character 1. miserable experience leads to fight for equalitythe development of jane eyres character is related to her life environment. from the beginning, jane possesses a sense of her self-respect and dignity, a c

37、ommitment to justice and principle, a trust in god, and a passionate disposition. her integrity is continually tested over the course of the novel, and jane must learn to balance the frequently conflicting aspects of herself so as to find contentment. jane loses both of her parents shortly after bir

38、th. she lives at the household of her aunt, mrs. reed, an unfeeling woman, who is rude and unjust to the poor orphan. her children also find pleasure in teasing and mocking jane. living under this circumstance, jane feels exiled and ostracized at the beginning of the novel, and the cruel treatment s

39、he receives from her aunt reed and her cousins only exacerbates her feeling of alienation. afraid that she will never find a true sense of home or community, jane feels the need to belong somewhere. this desire tempers her equally intense need for autonomy and freedom. mrs. reed doesnt like jane and

40、 sends her to a charity school for poor girls in lowood. maltreated by the authorities and leading a half-starved existence, jane stays there for a long time, spent in studies, and the remaining in the capacity of a teacher. then jane gets s a position of governess in the family of mr. rochester, a

41、rich squire.2. the true love reveals her inner beautymr. rochester is attracted deeply to jane by her extraordinary stubbornness and independent spirit. for rochester who now detests the life of upper class and seeks for a fresh start in morality, jane eyres character, which is out of the ordinary a

42、nd intelligence, also her idea of social convention like a spring wind on face, gives him a shake for heart and soul. at the same time, in their contact between jane eyre and him, she discovers there are resonance in many respect on her and mr. rochesters mind gradually. he is cordial and honest. th

43、ese personalities attract jane to approach him. mr. rochester is my relation rather than my master. during the days in thornfield my thin destiny seemed to enlarge; the blanks of existence were filled up, my bodily healthy improved, i gathered flesh and strength.” rochester becomes pillar of her lif

44、e, she feels suppose he should be absent spring, summer, and autumn; how joyless sunshine and fine days will seem.” though jane eyres emotion to rochester is so deep, she makes a clear boundary between herself and rochester. she knows well herself is the paid subordinates of the master. she must rem

45、ind herself continuously of the fact there is a chasm always between them. when she falls in love with rochester she feels bitterly disappointed. she also feels desolate when she thinks of wealth status and conventions between her and the person she loves spontaneously and unavoidably. here we know

46、there is a strong respect of herself in jane eyres rebellious personality.3. jane eyres pursuit of liberty and equality1) the equality of social classes between jane and rochesterin order to lead a life of independence, jane works as a governess at thornfield hall. she is looked down upon by the ric

47、h ladies of the fashionable society, but she never despises herself, she never feels herself inferior. she is satisfied with, and even proud of her honest, independent work. rochester is attracted to her qualify of mind, courage, independence, and strong personality, and falls in love with her. but

48、it is jane eyre who declares her love to rochester before he makes his sentiment clear to her, “do you think, because i am poor, obscure, plain, and little, i am soulless and heartless?” she cries,“ you think wrong. i have as much soul as you, and full as much heart! and if god had gifted me with so

49、me 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. i am not talking to you through the medium of custom, conversation, nor even of mortal flesh: it is my spirit that addresses your spirit; just as if both had passed through the grave, and

50、 we stood at gods feet equal, as we are！”here, equal” is the word, she loves rochester just because he regards her as a human being, or more importantly, as an equal. equality is what she strives for, and in him she finds what she strives for. evidently, charlotte claims equality between men and wom

51、en through janes relations with rochester, however, is it really equal between them? although jane is independent on economy as a family tutor, she is dependent on rochester in spirit. it shows that jane is not very mature in mind. without rochester, her material life cant be affected, but she cant

52、part from rochester in spirit and emotion. she is his intellectual, but not his social, equal. rochester wins janes heart, because she feels they are kindred spirits, and because he is the first person in the novel to offer jane lasting love and a real home. rochester is janes social and economic su

53、perior and men were widely considered to be naturally superior to women in the victorian period. when jane knows rochester has a mad wife, she decides to leave him because living with rochester as his mistress would mean the loss of her dignity. ultimately, she would come back and depend upon roches

54、ter for love. there are no obstacles between them. even if rochester has not a mad wife, jane will only get into marriage with rochester after she has gained a fortune and a family. she waits until she is not influenced by her own poverty, loneliness, psychological vulnerability, or passion. the mos

55、t important is that because rochester has been blinded by the fire and has lost his manor house at the end of the novel, he has become weaker while jane has grown in strength. jane claims that they are equals, but in fact the marriage dynamic has tripped in her favor. the social gap has narrowed. th

56、en they are really equal and get married. 2) the equality between men and womenjane struggles continually to achieve equality and to overcome oppression. in addition to class hierarchy, she must fight against those who believe women to be inferior to men. three central male figures threaten her desi

57、re for equality and dignity: mr. brocklehurst, edward rochester, and st. john rivers, each tries to keep jane in a submissive position, where she is unable to express her own thoughts and feelings. in her quest for independence and selfknowledge, she must escape brocklehurst, reject st. john and com

58、e to rochester only after ensuring that they may marry as equals. the last condition is met once jane proves herself able to function, through the time she spends at moor house, in a community and in a family. she will not depend solely on rochester for love and she can be financially independent. furthermore, rochester is bind at the novels end and dependent on jane to be his wife. jane articulates wh