Transcript Jane Eyre
Jane Eyre
Charlotte Brontë
Themes
Christian love and forgiveness
Moral conflict
Spiritualism
Love and the need for autonomy
The system of social class
Gender relations
Symbols
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.
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.
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