Jane Eyre

1. Jane Eyre By Charlotte Bronte

2. Jane Eyre: Introduction What do you do when everyone who loves you is gone and you’re all alone in the world? Jane Eyre is an orphan in 1800s England. Her aunt has agreed to raise her but treats her badly. She allows Jane’s cousin to bully her and punishes Jane harshly, yet she expects Jane to be thankful.

3. Jane Eyre: Introduction When Jane tries to stand up for herself, her aunt is furious. She calls Jane an ungrateful child and sends her away to boarding school. At Lowood School the girls sleep two to a bed, get up before dawn, bathe in ice-cold water, eat burnt porridge for breakfast, and are taught to suffer in silence.

4. Jane Eyre: Introduction Jane is caught between her desire to fight back and her fear of being punished—or labeled “bad” by the teachers and other girls. Luckily, Jane meets two good friends—Miss Temple, a kind teacher at the school, and Helen Burns, an older student who teaches Jane the importance of patience and forgiveness.

5. Jane Eyre: Background The author Charlotte Brontë encountered her own share of harsh conditions. After their mother’s death, Brontë and three of her sisters were sent to the Clergy Daughters’ School. The school was similar to Jane Eyre’s Lowood School: The food was bad, discipline was harsh, and two of Charlotte’s sisters died of tuberculosis there.

6. Jane Eyre: Background Tuberculosis was a common killer during the Victorian era. Tuberculosis often destroys its victims’ lungs, resulting in a bloody cough. If untreated, sufferers may die of tuberculosis because their lungs are so badly damaged.

7. Jane Eyre: Background Jane Eyre’s Lowood also suffers an outbreak of typhus, a disease that causes headaches, chills, rashes, and fevers that last up to three weeks. Typhus is spread by lice, fleas, and ticks.

8. Jane Eyre: Background Both tuberculosis and typhus are diseases associated with crowded, unsanitary conditions. The threat of catching one of these diseases is a major concern for the characters in Jane Eyre.

9. The Bronte sisters • Charlotte had 4 sisters and 1 brother. • While at the Clergy Daughter’s School, her 2 older sisters (Maria & Elizabeth) died of tuberculosis

10. Charlotte Brontë • Four of the sisters, including Charlotte, were sent to a school for the daughters of clergymen • The school was in poor condition with inadequate food and harsh discipline: two of Charlotte’s sisters would die there of tuberculosis • These memories would become a part of Jane Eyre

11. Charlotte’s family con.’t • The Clergy Daughter’s School at Cowan Bridge became the model for Lowood, the fictitious girls’ school in Jane Eyre. • Anne and Emily Bronte were also successful writers. • Charlotte’s brother, Branwell, was a gifted painter.

12. Charlotte Brontë • Tragedy followed the family: the brother died from alcohol and opium abuse and Emily caught a cold at the funeral and died of consumption, as did Anne later • Charlotte would use both sisters as models for the heroines in her novel Shirley • Charlotte became a successful writer and married, only to die a month before her 39th birthday in 1855 from complications during childbirth

13. More on Charlotte’s Family • In 1846, Charlotte & her sisters started publishing poems and began writing novels: • The Professor was Charlotte’s attempt to fictionalize her love for a college professor she had met at Brussels. • In 1847 Wuthering Heights was sister Emily’s first success. Charlotte followed with Jane Eyre.

14. Charlotte’s Religious Views • Father, Patrick Bronte, was an Anglican clergyman • Due to her upbringing, she often wrote about religious hypocrisy—those who preach one doctrine but live by another

15. Jane Eyre’s Romantic Heritage • The Romantic Movement • Came into play in at the end of the 18th Century. • Championed for the rights of the individual over the demands of society. • Believed that humans were inherently good • Valued imagination over reason • Inspired by nature

16. Historical/Social perspective • Industrial Revolution • Wealth changes from land ownership to manufacturing • England is the first industrialized country • Social values change • Queen Victoria dictates the changes in society, which becomes overly proper and closed minded • Literacy becomes commonplace • Education is compulsory • “Middle class” values predominate social discussions • The novel form of writing comes to be popular.

17. Schooling • During the early 19th century, it became fashionable to educate females. • However, free education was not yet available for either sex. • Only the very rich could send their daughters to elegant girls’ schools

18. Governesses 1. Less costly schools were formed by well-meaning benefactors in order to educate poor females. 2. Illness was common because there was not a clear understanding of the relationship between dirt & disease 3. With the new stress on female education, governesses were in demand. 4. Pay was poor, but it was one of the only jobs available to educated, yet impoverished young women

19. Role of the governess • Employers & other servants shunned the governess because they felt she was “putting on airs.” • Her employers would ignore her, too, because she had a superior education, which intimidated many people.

20. A ground breaking novel Why? • The heroine is small, plain, & poor • The heroine is the first female character to claim the right to feel strongly about her emotions and act on her convictions • This romantic ground had previously been reserved for males • Such a psychologically complex heroine had never been created before

21. “Feminist” Novel • During this time period, men and women were separated into separate “spheres” • Men occupied the world of work, knowledge, power, society, etc. • Women occupied the world of the home and family • There were few occupations available to women

22. Bildungsroman • A novel that considers the development (psychological/spiritual) of a person from childhood to maturity, to the point at which the protagonist recognizes his/her place and role in the world From The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms, 2nd Ed.

23. Jane Eyre and theGothic Novel • “Dark Romanticism” • Mystery • Haunted castle or house • Dreaming and nightmares • Doppelgänger or alter ego • Physical imprisonment • Psychological entrapment and helplessness • Involvement of the supernatural • Psychology of horror and/or terror Henry Fuseli’s The Nightmare, 1781

24. The Byronic Hero A.K.A. Villain-Hero: Aristocratic, charming, moody, solitary, secretive, intelligent, cynical, and emotionally wounded. Irresistible to women--relationships destructive. Lord Byron by Richard Westall, 1813 Byron in Albanian attire by Thomas Phillips

25. Topics Explored in Jane Eyre • The various natures of love • Female independence in a world where women are made to be dependent on men • Forgiveness • The effect of money on happiness • The effect of religious belief on social conduct