Jane Eyre: Bildungsroman

Jane Eyre: Bildungsroman

Jane's Journey

THE END!

The End!

Journeys Effect

Throughout the novel Jane's surroundings slowly mold and shape her into a blissful, kind, and loving woman. The traits she once had have, not been taken away, but rather matured and bent to create a person that everyone, including herself, admires.

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At the Moor House Jane also discovers that her uncle has left all of his money to her. Now she is financially equal to Mr. Rochester, which makes it easier for her to turn down St. John and go back to the man she loves, Mr. Rochester.

• "Reader, I married him"(PG.

• "‘Well,’ said Mr. Rochester, gazing inquiringly into my eyes, ‘how is my Janet now?’

‘The night is serene, sir; and so am I.’

‘And you will not dream of separation and sorrow tonight; but of happy love and blissful union’"(PG.545).

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• "I felt I could speak, and I answered—‘My name is Jane Elliott.’ Anxious as ever to avoid discovery, I had before resolved to assume an ALIAS"(PG.391)

Jane also attempts to start over. when she arrives at the Moor House, she tells them her name is Jane Elliott hoping to put her past behind her

• "All these relics gave to the third

story of Thornfield Hall the aspect of a home of the past: a shrine of memory. I liked the hush, the gloom, the quaintness of these retreats in the day"(PG.199).

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However she was still scared to love again...

"Wrought old English hangings crusted with thick work, portraying effigies of strange flowers, and stranger birds, and strangest human beings"(PG.199).

"I could not unlove him now, merely because I found that he had ceased to notice me"(PG.351)

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"I did not like re-entering Thornfield. To pass its

threshold was to return to stagnation"(PG.219).

"‘I dreamt another dream, sir: that Thornfield Hall was a

dreary ruin, the retreat of bats and owls. I thought that of

all the stately front nothing remained but a shell-like wall, very high and very fragile-looking. I wandered, on a moonlight night, through the grass-grown enclosure

within: here I stumbled over a marble hearth, and there

over a fallen fragment of cornice"(PG.538).

Moor House

• While living in the Moor House Jane's character evolves into a person who longs to try new things. She is able to get outside of her box, and grow into her most outgoing, kind, and confident self.

Thornfield

• Thornfield represents a crucial stage in Jane’s adult life. It is at Thornfield where she is first faced with temptation and mystery. The name has significance because it represents a “field of thorns” which has a biblical connotation in that it reminds the reader of the thorns places around Jesus’ head, and represents ultimate sacrifice. Thornfield is one of the most significant settings in her life because it forces Jane to decide whether to give into the “temptation” and “sacrifice” her principles to lead an acceptable life of a women during the Victorian Era.
• EX.) Loving Mr. Rochester

People At Lowood

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• Helen Quote:

• Miss Temple Quote:

“You think too much of the love of human beings; you are too impulsive, too vehement: the sovereign Hand that created your frame, and put life into it, has provided you with other resources than your feeble self, or than other creatures as feeble as you. Besides this earth…there is an invisible world and a kingdom of spirits…God waits only the separation of spirit from flesh to crown us with a full reward. Why then, should we ever sink overwhelmed with distress, when life is so soon over, and death is so certain an entrance to happiness – to glory?”(83).

“Miss Temple’s friendship and society had been my continual solace; she had stood me in the stead of mother, governess, and latterly, companion… From the day she left I was no longer the same: with her was gone every settled feeling, every association that had made Lowood in some degree a home to me. I had imbibed from her something of her nature and much of her habits…my mind had put off all it had borrowed of Miss Temple – or rather, that she had taken with her the serene atmosphere I had been breathing in her vicinity – and that now I was left in my natural element, and beginning to feel the stirring of old emotion” (100-101).

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• "Besides, school would be a complete change: it implied a long journey, an entire separation from Gateshead, an entrance into a new life."

Lowoods Effect On Jane's Journey

Lowood made Jane finally come out of herself. She stopped feeling sorry for herself and instead of being bitter she became grateful. Lowood and the people she met there made her realize what she had to live for.

She soon starts to realize that she deserves better. For once she stands up to Mrs. Reed and this confrontation exemplifies Jane's growth throughout her stay at Gateshead.

• "I resisted all the way: a new thing for me, and a circumstance which greatly strengthened the bad opinion Bessie and Miss Abbot were disposed to entertain of me... I felt resolved, in my desperation, to go all lengths" (PG. 6).

• "I was left there alone—winner of the field. It was the hardest battle I had fought, and the first victory I had gained: I stood awhile on the rug, where Mr. Brocklehurst had stood, and I enjoyed my conqueror’s solitude" (PG.29).

This chapter also introduces two women who will have significant impact on Jane's development: Miss Temple and Helen Burns. Miss Temple's is tall and fair with a "benignant light" in her eyes and a "stately" posture. Mr. Brocklehurst on the other hand lacks compassion and enforces harsh treatment to the students.Another hero in Jane's story is Helen Burns, Helen is older than Jane and more mature. Helen teaches Jane how to stay positive and also introduces Christianity to Jane. This makes Lowood a special place for Jane and is the first destination through her journey of self-knowledge. Jane's goals in this first section of the book to learn to recognize character and to find a role model

This quote is significant because at this point in the novel. Jane's character has gained a sense of expansion and development as she begins to transition into Lowood.

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Lowood Institute

Jane was weak, bitter, and full of fear while living at Gateshead.

• "Each picture told a story; mysterious often to my undeveloped understanding and imperfect feelings"(PG. 2).

• "He bullied and punished me; not two or three times in the week, nor once or twice in the day, but continually: every nerve I had feared him, and very morsel of flesh in my bones shrank when he came near. There were moments when I was bewildered by the Jane Eyre terror he inspired, because I had no appeal whatever against either his menaces or his inflictions; the servants did not like to offend their young master by taking my part against him, and Mrs. Reed was blind and deaf on the subject: she never saw him strike or heard him abuse me, though he did both now and then in her very presence, more frequently, however, behind her back "(PG. 3)

Gateshead

• Jane is making progress in her journey of self-knowledge, and at this point in her journey has progressed from Gateshead to Lowood. Its name tells the reader that the school will be a "low" and "odd" place for Jane, and on her first day, describes it as rainy, windy, and dark. This chapter in her journey shows the harsh realities of charity-school life (much like her experiences at Gateshead). However it also shows that even though the conditions aren't much different from Gateshead, some of the people are. Helen Burns and Miss Temple are what really creates a change in Jane and in her life.

Jane's Journey

• Living in Gateshead is the foundation of the Bildungsroman. While dwelling there the reader is exposed to Jane's Immaturity. Although Jane is head strong and self-sufficient, she behaves in a childish manor and lacks personal development. Jane is angered easily, rebellious, and an orphan who grew up with a hard childhood.

• Gateshead

• Lowood Institute

• Thornfield

• Moor House