Pointed Lace

I think Jane did socialize more with the Rivers than she did at Thornfield because the Rivers might seem more her “type”. However, Rochester was her "type" too in terms of intellect and emotional balance. Jane is unique because we cannot assign her a single specific niche or identity. In this sense, she is isolated. She is different from everyone else, and through the course of the book, we see her in different settings that highlights her individuality and distinguishe her from everyone else. Even by the end of the book, we can’t assign her to a particular class. In the first chapter, we know that Jane is poised between different “worlds”, or different ways of life because she is sitting on the windowsill facing the world outside while behind her is Gateshead’s torment. She is in two places at once, symbolically. Though Lowood's strict religious rules oppressed her, she refused to yield to them, and maintained her sense of imagination and independence of mind. In Thornfield, although she is a governess, a class which is next to being that of a slave, her intellectual potential and accomplishments place her in a much higher class, even that above people such as the Ingrams. Rochester is drawn to her precisely because she is that much different from anyone else, an eclectic mix of sorts that defies classification. In Moor House, although she makes friends with and grows to love the Rivers sisters, their religious beliefs don't exactly mesh with her own. She is much more passionate than any of them. Reading that segment, even I could sense the fire in Jane’s nature that contrasts with the placid calm of the Rivers sisters. So basically, she is isolated because is in a class of her own.

I somehow did not get the impression that they socialized much in Thornfield. I mean besides that visit by the Ingrams, we don’t really know how much they socialized or if they socialized much at all. Rochester was used to doing so before he moved to Thornfied after the arrival of Jane, but it is not evident if he socialized much afterwards. Being a member of the gentry, it is possible that he could have attended neighborhood balls. However, it was nearly impossible for Jane to socialize much because of her position as governess. She would not have fitted in either the lower class or the upper class. Jane could be herself, i.e. Jane Eyre, in a place that is like her, in other words, a place that is isolated.

When I read the whole Thornfield episode in the book, I always got the impression that the place was isolated, and the absence of mention of neighbors or balls (in contrast to Austen’s novels), just gave me the sense that Jane (if not Rochester) felt isolated there. I also think that feeling "isolated" is also a part of Jane's nature. If you look at Chapter 12, from the paragraph that starts with the quote “Anyone may blame me who likes when I add further……”, and the next paragraph that starts with the quote “Who blames me? Many no doubt; and I shall be called to …” and the rest of that page talks about how Jane felt so restless in Thornfield, she wanted more “action” and less “tranquility”.

To me, tranquility is synonymous with the isolated nature of Thornfield and Jane’s position as governess. She yearned for more. So did Rochester, he wanted more than what women in his class possessed. He found his equal in Jane. This is why I would say that because of Thornfield’s physically isolated postion, and also the absence (by Bronte) of mention of much socialization, that Jane and Rochester’s isolation in Thornfield drew them together. Even if you say that people came in and out of Thornfield, both Rochester and Jane must have felt “isolated”, i.e. alone, because they were both characters who could not really be classified into “one” type, more so in the case of Jane.

In Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte has endeavoured to portray love in different forms, in an attempt to find her own definition for love.

From Rochester's perspective, dependence and control is love. From his entrapment of Bertha and subsequent treatment of her, to his wishing to possess Jane despite the latter's oppositions, and his legal (marriage) concerns, his form of showing love (before Bertha's "burning down the house") involves control and force.

However, after Jane's departure from Thornfied, and Bertha's death, he is increasingly despondent and becomes more humble while realiizing his mistakes. His becoming handicapped in the end adds to the fact that he is physically as well as emotionally dependent on Jane. Hence, in this case, his love is one of dependence.

From Jane perspective, her love is based on dependence, pity, dominance, and most impotantly, action. When she first meets Rochester in Thornfied and falls in love with him, she becomes emotionally involved with him. She needs Rochester, and so was dependent on him, for her emotional balance. She was lonely and isolated in Thornfield and she wanted to interact with an expanded mind and an intelligent person who also balanced her emotional needs and thus Rochester complements her.
When Rochester becomes handicapped and Thornfield burns down, Jane returns to him, but her love for him now could be interpreted as having arisen out of pity for his situation, and a desire to exert her dominance, specially now that she was indeed an independent heiress.

A novel definition for love is "love as action". This definition emphasises love as something active, NOT passive. Jane's quote in Chapter 12 "who blames me? Many no doubt; and I shall be called discontented. I could not help it: the restless was in my nature; it agiatated me to pain sometimes. ...." reiterates how she yearned for excitement and action in her life. This need was fulfilled by Rochester. He represents the "action" she seeks, because after meeting him, her mind was engaged and occupied and her thirst for action does not resume until afte her life settles into a routine while she teaches in the school patronized by Rosamond.

St John also fulfills the notion of "love as action" except that his kind of "action" is differnet from that of Jane and Rochester's. St John seeks to physically do "work" as a missionary in India, and he wants Jane to complement him in his mission, that is, work like him. His love for Jane is based on how much she is useful in his quest and fulfilling his mission. However, that kind of love or "action" does not suit Jane because it does not mesh with her emotional, intellectual, and physical needs.

Arising from the "love as action", which introduces the "religion as action" concept presumed by St John, it serves as a necessary logical transition to compare and contrast with the the "love as religion" theme in Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights. However, In the interest of time (and energy), I intend to strive to make this other interesting discourse the subject of a future essay.

(This essay and those following it are part of a collection of essays I composed a year ago in relation to Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre)

This essay was inspired by ideas from Lyndall Gordon's Charlotte Bronte: A Passionate Life.

Although much talk revolves around Rochester as a controlling man set out to quench Jane's fredom, and Bertha as Jane's "other" self who tries to fight against the injustices placed upon her by a patriarchal society, when seen through another lens, I found much to support quite the contrary: that Bertha could have an entirely different purpose for her presence in the novel, that instead of being presumed as Jane's double, she could well be Rochester's.

For one, Bertha represents Rochester's past. Even though Rochester tries to start a new life in England, Bertha (and therefore his "bad" qualities) continues to haunt him (even literally). He tries to "trap" his bad conduct of the past but it continues to follow him even when he tries to change a new leaf.

His bad conduct lies in the means by which he conducted licentious relationships with women. His approach was conniving, and according to Bronte, unacceptable, wrong. He was attracted to the wrong type of women: shallow women with material possessions and superficial attractiveness. All his mistresses were beautiful and insipid and he tosses memory of them away like he had nothing more than a shade of interest in them. He was drawn to Bertha because of his vices: he was attraced to her wealth and beauty, two evil temptations bound to lead man to misery.

Bronte, being a reformer, sought to correct his faults. In order to be happy he needed to give up such vices-so he tries to trap Bertha (thus the evil in his nature), and he tries to start a real, genuine relationship with Jane-a poor, plain girl devoid of any connectoins or material wealth, but rich in acceptable qualities (according to Bronte) that readers must value and emulate: intelligence, independence, honesty, passion (the right kind of passion), humility, and courage.

Rochester, unlike other men of his society who dismissed women that seemed invisible, saw Jane (who had a double identity in that she appeared to be meek, disinterested governess on the outside while she hid such strength of character, intelligence, and indomitable spirit on the inside) for who she really was, and loved her for herself alone. As his relationship with Jane blooms, he must still purify his love for her, based on "good" qualties. I believe that Bertha still haunted him because he had a lot of learning to do: he needed to give up the controlling streak in his nature (Bertha controlled him as well because he was afraid of her and fear is a result of control imposed by another entity). In addition, although unconsciously, initially, he might have entertained lustful designs on Jane (for example, she had fueled his imagination, as he had associated her with fairy tales and other contexts), so he needed to rid himself of such impure thoughts.

Rochester has his final battle with Bertha (and therefore with himself) when Bertha tries to burn down his house. This was a warning that his bad qualites had the capabiltiy to destroy all forms of strength: not only him, but also a fortress (and symbolically meaning Society at large, and Imperial Britain). However, because Rochester still harbored kindness for Bertha (kindness for human kind despite the evil in them) he tries to save her thereby injuring himself. However, this act of kindness (and therefore the injury) actually saves his soul. It humbles him, makes him realize his mistakes, and gives him the will to survive despite any obstacle: he knows now that even if he has to go on living without love or hope, he is prepared to do so. He has gained the "good" qualites that Jane possesses: the will to love one faithfully and whole, courage and independence. Only after this is is he rewarded. Only then does Jane return to him-her love is all the more intense and true because she sees him beyond physical appearance or material gains. She sees him as the "reformed" man, capable of loving her truthfully and whole in ways he wasn't quite able to before, in ways she truly deserves.

The novel definitly had elements of a fairy tale, complete with a poor young girl marrying her "Prince" in the end and living happily ever after. As for it resembling Cinderella, there are many clues:
1. Just as Cinderella was an orphan, so was Jane
2. The Reeds are Jane's "other" family, complete with the evil stepmother and evil siblings (including two "wicked" step-sisters)
3. Bessie, Miss Temple, and Helen (to an extent) play the role of Fairy Godmothers at differnt points in Jane's life. Bessie is the only kind person in Gateshead, as Miss Temple was the benevolent teacher at Lowood that Jane turned to for support and obtained encouragement and wisdom. As well, Helen taught Jane about the "finer, higher" aspirations in one's life, and showed her patience, endurance, and humility. While Helen's quite fortitude was a contrast to Jane's tempestous nature, Helen's presence is necessary in the improvement of Jane's character.
4. Prince Charming: Rochester (um..yeah...not your average, conventional Prince LOL): While Rochester could have chosen any other woman, including a woman from the upper class (such as Blanche or even any of the Miss Reeds), he chose poor, plain, Jane.
5. The Ball: Jane romances with Rochester while she stays as governess in Thornfield (and all these scenes constitute the "Ball" scene in Cindrella), and there is even a Ball at Rochester's house where he is all the more attentive to Blache while Jane watches in the midst of despair. Eventually Rochester "sees" and "falls in love" with Jane and "leaves" Blanche (this is when Jane returns after the death of Mrs Reed), and he even proposes to her. However, just when they are about to marry, Jane runs away from him (just like Cinderella runs away from the Prince on the stroke of Midnight).
6. The Prince finds Cinderella: Rochester does in some sense "find" her again, because they have the telepathic connection between them that would not leave them, and hence they cling to each other regardless of distance. Jane cannot get enough of Rochester, and it is to such an extent that she compared other people (such as St. John) to him, and decided that only Rochester would complete her. In the end, the "calling" gets so intense that it forces her to seek Rochester (in contrast to the Prince seeking Cinderella of HIS own accord, Rochester "calls" out to her and Jane does the "seeking").
7. This is my BEST IDEA so far: The Shoe in Cinderella is analogous to the telepathy in JE!!! Because ONLY Jane and Rochester can have that telepathy JUST as the shoe that the Prince finds on the night of the Ball can ONLY fit Cinderalla and NOT anyone else.

(taken from a previous essay)

The portrayal of women in Victorian novels raises questions about the search for their identity, and as a consequence, serves as a vehicle for the projection of the authors varied opinions on the rights and position of women in Victorian Society. In this essay, my purpose is to analyze five heroines in Victorian Literature and compare and contrast how each form their respective identies.

I am my beloved: Catherine Linton (Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights)
For Catherine, who she is as an individual depends on how much she is a part of her soulmate, Heathcliff. As long as she is free to be with Heathcliff, she could be herself, but the moment she goes against her nature, i.e. try to "better" her self by marrying Linton, and thereby break her relationship with Heathcliff, she loses a part of herself. After her marriage to Linton, Cathy takes on another persona. She is no longer the girl who would roam wild and free in the moors. Instead, she is confined to the suffocating grandure and Victorian sense of propriety in Thrushcross Grange. Cathy even acknowledges to Nelly that she and Heathcliff were one when she says "I am Heathcliff". Hence, in this case, the woman takes the identity of her beloved.

I am his equal: Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre)
For Jane, her identity as an intelligent, independent woman is resolved through ties with Edward Rochester, her imposing employer and Master of Thornfield. Although Jane does seek her own independence (and thereby her identity as a single woman), in the end, she finds she needs Rochester to be complete. Firstly, there is the telepathic relationship that she shares with Rochester, which I believe is a strong indicator (from the author) that as long as that supernatural connection exists between Jane and Rochester, they could not be entirely happy without each other. They need each other to be whole because they are "equals" and complement each other. Jane needs Rochester during moments of her insecurity (when Rochester is more controlling of her), and by the end of the story Rochester needs Jane when he is (phsycially) found wanting (thus Jane controls Rochester). This symbiotic sort of relationship is differnet from that of Cathy and Heathcliff in that this is a relationship of equals, where only each will do for the other, but each keeps their own identies. Jane is NOT Rochester in the manner as Cathy affirms she IS Heathcliff.

I am my husband's wife: Dorothea Brooke (George Eliot's Middlemarch)
For Dorothea, finding her place in the world and fulfilling her purpose in life is to marry an influencial man, and thus, she marries Casaubon, although there is no passion or love between the two of them. Dorothea, having been brought up in a wealthy and lavish life, identifes her purpose in life early on. She wishes to make a change in her society and to help people below her. She also has a thirst for knowledge and is intent on learning more about the world around her. She believes that marriage to Casaubon will help her attain all her goals. To an extent, marriage to Casaubon does give her some liberty to help people around her, such as helping Lydgate. However, it is only after her marriage that she realizes Casaubon's duplicity and weakness of character, along with finding out who she was as a person and what she wants in a marriage. Though she does fall in love with Will Ladislaw, even after her marriage to him, her powers as woman fulfilling her aims in life remain obscure, as she is only able to excercise them through her husband, a powerful politician.

I am my father's daughter: Margaret Hale (Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South)
Margaret, being the daugther of a cleric, was used to having the influence of her father lead the way she conducted affairs in her own life. Being very close to her father, she is also prone to holding some of her true feelings back, as when she bravely consents to leave Helstone even though her heart broke the whole time. In Helstone, Margaret was an important personality and she was able to influence people around her by means of her position. Thus, even when she moves to Milton with her family, she still carries that mentality (the fact that she was "superior" to the other workers). Even though her father resigned from the Church of England and only chose, through his own free will, to teach the workers, it gave Margaret an upper hand, in that she knew that while her father had a choice to do a noble deed such as educating workers when he could have led a more comfortable life, the workers in Milton are deprived of such a choice. Thus Margaret also feels that she has to live up to her father's standard of judgement and leadership. While this prompts her to visit workers and to try and change them herself, she also learns a lot from them, which later allows her to overcome class boundaries, most importantly, reconciling her relationship with John Thornton, a man far below her in terms of the social scale.

I am Myself: Tess Durbeyfield (Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles)
Tess is the most radical of all of these heroines in that who she is as a woman is NOT merged with the identity of any man. When Angel compares her to Greek Goddesses like Demeter or Artemis, she immediately retorts, "call me Tess". She wants Angel to accept her for who she is, despite doubts revolving around her "purity". She stands her ground when the Pastor refuses to baptise Sorrow, and she herself baptises her own child, even though such a practise is foreign. She tells Angel the truth about her past hoping that he will accept as she forgives him. Even when her parents doubt her character, she leaves her home in search of her own independence without Angel. She loved Angel but did not think of him as "herself" or her "equal" as the heriones above did.

Hello and Welcome!

I am mysticgypsy, the author of Pointed Lace. In 1846 Emily Bronte and her sisters Charlotte and Anne published their first volume of poetry assuming male identities: Charlotte was Currer Bell and Anne was Acton Bell. I have been fascinated with the Brontes since studying them in depth in college, and that endeavor has drawn me toward the world of Women’s Literature, particularly that of the Victorian period. Besides the Brontes, another author whose writings I find intriguing is L.M.Montgomery, a Canadian author best known for the Anne of Green Gables series of novels.

This blog will serve as a forum for presenting my thoughts on the portrayal of women Literature, which will include exploring authors and characters, their various identities from witches to authoresses to Angels in the House and everything in between.