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Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre. Biographical Background. Born in 1816, the third daughter of the Rev. Patrick Bronte and his wife Maria. Brother Patrick Branwell was born in 1817 Her sisters Emily and Anne were born in 1818 and 1820. In 1820, the Bronte family moved to Haworth.
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CharlotteBronte Jane Eyre
Biographical Background • Born in 1816, the third daughter of the Rev. Patrick Bronte and his wife Maria. • Brother Patrick Branwell was born in 1817 • Her sisters Emily and Anne were born in 1818 and 1820. • In 1820, the Bronte family moved to Haworth.
Clergy Daughters School • In 1824 the Bronte girls were enrolled at Clergy Daughter’s Bridge at Cowan Bridge. • In 1825, Maria and Elizabeth, the two eldest daugthers, became ill, left the school, and died. • Charlotte and Emily were brought home.
Roe Head • In 1831 Charlotte became a pupil at the school at Roe Head, but left school the following year to teach her sisters at home. • She returned to Roe Head School in 1835 as a governess. • She left Roe Head in 1838 to become a governess to a family.
Brussels • The three sisters decided toopen their own school. • In 1842 Charolotte and Emily went to Brussels to ocomplete their studies. • After a trip home to Haworth, Charlotte returned alone to Brussels where she remained until 1844. • She became infatuated with a married school headmaster.
Bronte Sisters’ Publications • Upon her return home from Brussels, Charlotte discovered Emily’s poems. They decided to publish a selection of the poems of all three sisters. In 1846, they published Poems, written under the pseudonymns of Currer, Ellis and Acton Belle. • Charlotte completed The Professor which was rejected for publication. • In 1847, Charlotte’s Jane Eyre, Emily’s Wuthering Heights, and Anne’s Agnes Grey were published under the Bell pseudonyms.
London • In 1848, Charlotte and Ann visited their publishers in London and revealed their true identities. • In 1849, Charlotte visited London and began to move in literary circles. She met Elizabeth Gaskell and Thackery. Gaskell published The Life of Charlotte Bronte in 1857. Bronte dedicated Jane Eyre to Thackery. • In 1848, her brother Patrick and her sisters Emily and Anne died.
Marriage • The Rev. A.B. Nicholls, curate of Haworth, proposed marriage to Charlotte in 1852. Her father opposed the marriage, and in 1854 they were married.
Illness and Death • In 1854 Charlotte, expecting a child, caught pneumonia. • She died on March 31, 1855.
Jane Eyre • Themes • Love vs. Autonomy- The quest to be loved and the search for identity • Religion – Throughout the novel Jane struggles to find the right balance between moral duty and earthly pleasure • Social Class – Jane Eyre is critical of Victorian England’s strict social hierarchy. Bronte explores this theme through Jane’s position as a governess. • Gender Relations – Jane struggles to achieve equality and overcome oppression.
Motifs • Fire and ice – Fire represents Jane’s passions; ice represents the oppressive forces trying to extinguish Jane’s vitality. • Substitute mothers – Jane encounters a series of nurturing and strong women on whom she can model herself • Bessie • Miss Temple • Helen Burns • The moon • Diana and Mary Rivers
Symbols • Bertha Mason – a manifestation of Jane’s subconscious feelings • The Red Room – a symbol of what Jane must overcome in her struggles to find freedom, happiness and a sense of belonging
Conclusion • Jane becolmes an independt woman in a world of inevitable struggle. • The conclusion of the novel chronicles the totality of Jane’s triumph over all that threatened her will: society, St. John, Rochester, and religion. • At the end of the novel, Jane is a fully realized psychological entity.
