Transcript Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre
Charlotte Brontë
Themes
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Christian love and forgiveness
Moral conflict
Spiritualism
Love and the need for autonomy
The system of social class
Gender relations
Symbols
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The moon=change
Food=deprivation and want
Fire=passion
Chestnut tree=Jane and Rochester’s relationship
Bertha Mason=the “trapped” Victorian wife; the
prevailing attitude towards other cultures; Jane’s
subconscious rage
 The red room=what Jane must overcome in order
to find love and independence.
Charlotte Brontë
The Gothic Novel
 Definition: Gothic novels, originally from the
European Romantic Period, have a
prevailing sense of mystery and terror.
 Called gothic b/c its imaginative impulse is
drawn from the rough and primitive grandeur
of medieval buildings and ruins.
 Dark and tempestuous – full of ghosts,
madness, outrage, superstition, and
revenge.
Gothic, cont.
 Settings often castles or monasteries with
underground passages, dark battlements,
hidden passages, and trapdoors.
 Examples: Frankenstein, Dracula
 Jane Eyre is not strictly gothic, but many
elements can be found.
Elements of gothic motifs in Jane
Eyre
 Romantic and desperate escape/flee from
site of male hero.
 Setting is castle-like structure
 Haunting mystery and suffering
 Secrets
 Dark, disturbing characters
 Emotional trauma
 Alienation
Motifs, cont.
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Fire and ice
Prevalence of mystery
Suspense
Ghosts
Imprisonment
The appearance of a fortune teller
Portentous dreams
The Byronic Hero
 So called from poet Lord Byron’s heroes
 A type of antihero who is a romanticized but
wicked character
 Defies authority
 Associated with destructive passions
 Brooding, alienated
 Persistent loneliness
 Fiery rebellion
Hero, cont.
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Arrogant
High level of intelligence
Suffering from unnamed crime
Troubled past
Powerfully seductive
Moody
Jaded, world-weary
A good heart in the end
Victorian fashions
cont
cont
Victorian architecture
more
more