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Abstract
The thesis is on the book of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, which is generally divided into two parts. The first part represents the death and its use in the book of Jane Eyre: death pushes the development of plot and consummates the character of heroine. The second part focuses on analysis the purpose of the author: out of death, what remain. Through the arguments from the novel and the author herself, we draw this conclusion: from death, we learn to love—deep feelings to the people and thankful cherishment of being.
Outline
Introduction: The general character erected in the book of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte and present the topic of death employed by the author in the story.
Demonstration: the function of the death in the development of the novel.
1. Death pushes the development of the plot.
A. Uncle Reed’s death makes the way for Jane to the boarding school.
B. The death of orphans in school enables Jane to finish her living there.
C. A series of things connected with death bring the love between Jane and Mr. Rochester.
D. Two uncles’ death offers Jane the chance to refine the love.
E. The death of the old Thornfield Hall pushes the lovers, Jane and “her master”, to a happy union.
F. St. John died in the end.
2. Death consummates the character of heroine.
A. The bitterness of childhood mixed with menace of death affects Jane’s character deeply.
B. Jane establishes her temperament in her adolescence in Lowood School.
C. Jane develops her temperament in the life in Thornfield Hall.
D. Jane exploits her character through the experience in Moor House.
E. Mrs. Rochester’s insane wife’s death consummates Jane’s character.
3. Death gives birth to the love.
A. Life confronts the author with death constantly and never easy to her.
B. Author’s view of life is expressed in her works, Jane Eyre.
C. Jane’s character forms on the hardness and death in her life.
D. As Jane, the author treasures her life with love to others.
A.
Conclusion: Death gave birth to the love—the deep feeling to other people and the thankful cherishment of being.
Thesis:
As a masterpiece in English literature, Jane Eyre established his heroine, Jane Eyre, to be a brave, independent, intellectual lady with the spirit of equality. The first clue of the novel is the growth and experience of Jane. Now that death plays a very important role in the life of human being, so does in this autobiography—Jane Eyre.
1. Death pushes the development of plot.
At the very beginning of the novel, readers are showed an orphan, Jane, whose parents had died of illness. Jane Eyre was left under the governance of her di8sgusting aunt, Mrs. Reed, after having lost her respectful uncle, Mr. Reed. This unbearable life just came from the death of the death of her uncle, who loved his little Jane so much that made his wife promise to take good care of her at his last-time. Mrs. Reed, as a selfish woman, was impossible to be kind to this child, who in Mrs. Reed’s eye was an ugly, dependent, unlovable orphan and shared her own children’s prosperity and happiness. Naturally, after fighting back the abuse from Mrs. Reed’s son, John Reed, Jane was thrown into the place of death--“red-room”, where her uncle died and now gave Jane the first and the most unforgettable frightful impression of death. As a result, Jane was frightened to be sick and was eventually sent to a boarding school for poor clergymen’s orphans, run by the strict, cold, stone-hearted clergyman, Mr. Brocklechust, which, indeed had been decided as the fate of Jane at the very moment of Mr. Reed’s death.
Though, in the eyesight of a child, Lowood school was much better than Gateshead, 1 it was never a place for a child to live long with the unhealthy situation, the appalling food and the harsh discipline. The inevitable breakout of typhus brought the block death of the orphans, which disclosed the darkness of the school before the society ad actually brought the rest, including the lucky Jane, a better school. 2. Benefiting from the dead, Jane escaped the death of illness or starvation or something else that might happen in the Lowood School sooner rather later and finished her education s an intellectual lady.
The marriage of Miss Temple, the principal of the school and Jane’s best friend there, which meant the death of Jane’s relationship to the school, made Jane to exploit her new life and eventually took her to the most important scene—Thornfield Hall, where occurred the great love between Jane, the governess and her master, Mr. Rochester. Even their meeting was the result of something linked to death—Mr. Rochester returned home only after trying suicide! It was the temptation of Mr. Rochester’s insane wife to burn her husband dead in bed that turned the possibility of love into reality, now that Mr. Rochester expressed his faith in the small, plain Jane after she saved his life. Love was born and went on to grow day by day in the life of Thornfield Hall, presenting the author the problem: how to develop the love affair and the plot? Now, the evil John Reed’s death caused his mother, Mrs. Reed, Jane’s aunt’s serious illness, which required a short-term department of the two people in secret love, Jane and Mr. Rochester. The department examined and firmed their deep feelings to each other respectively. As a result, when Jane returned to Mr. Rochester from Gateshead, she was so happy staying with her master again that she trembled unconsciously. At the same time, in Mr. Rochester’s eyes, Jane was his fairy. Before long, it was not reluctant to offer their solemn pledge of love to each other.
The death of love’s foundation—equality in spirit, came from the disclosure of Mr. Rochester’s wife, Jane escaped and roamed to Moor House where her unknown cousins, St. John, Diana and Mary gathered together for their father’s death—a perfect coincidence! Her uncle John Eyre’s death enriched Jane to be an independent female in the society. The lack of equality in spirit was fulfilled by the final death of Mr. Rochester’s mad wife in the fire which burnt Thornfield Hall to the ground and disabled Mr. Rochester. Through the ordeal of death and fire, their love was finally refined and legalized. A happy family was found and the novel ended in the death of St. John.
Can we imagine without the death here and there in the plot, how the story would develop? Because of this, the novel is analysed “meticulously planned and structured”. 3.
2. Death consummates the character of heroine.
Jane Eyre was an endurant, educated, independent laky in the Victorian Literature. Making a little study of Jane’s life and character, we can find it was a series of death that made her grow mature.
As a child, Jane lived without parents and her parental uncle, Mr. Reed. Under her aunt’s breeding, who never took her as her daughter-in-law, she had t endure the abuse not only from the aunt and her children, but even from the servants. Only enjoying herself in the books and her daydreams. 4. Lonely and rebellious she was, and the horrible death experience in the “red-room” broke the covers on her character. As a result, the accumulation of the character burst out in form of renounce to her aunt.
“ I am not deceitful… and this book about the Liar, you may give to your girl, Geogiana, for it is she who tell lies, and not I…
… You think I have no feelings, and that I can do without one bit of love or kindness… I shall remember how you thrust me back—roughly and violently thrust me back—into the red-room… ” 5.
It was unusual for a little girl to speak out such words, so Mrs. Reed could neither understand the reason nor stand the mysterious force in little Jane, “ her work had slipped from her knee; she was lifting up her hands, rocking herself to and fro, and even twisting her face as if she would cry.” 6. The bitterness of childhood mixed with the death’s menace affected Jane’s character deeply.
In Lowood, Jane spent her adolescence and was educated to be a lady from at least three spheres: the books, Helen Burns and Miss Temple. Due to her intelligence and industry and the improved condition of Lowood School, which was the result of the block death of orphans in it, Jane benefited a lot from books and the “English education” 7. Helen Burns introduced her relief to endure the hardness of life, though was a failure at last. 8. Seeing her schoolmates and her Helen died one after another, little lonely Jane might brood over and understand Helen’s words, “we all must die one day.” 9. Miss Temple showed her an example of ideal English lady and of how to face the dying poor people, 10. The latter two delivered her not only the knowledge but also the pity and friendship, so that she nourished herself with the warmness of humanity.
Till now, with primary experience of life in Lowood School and elementary view of life, Jane had owned the basic qualification of the one who Mr. Rochester required of, “ an intellectual, faithful, loving woman”11.
The inevitable death of the old life and people in memory gave the birth to new ones. The death like stability also urged Jane to find more passionate life, which is, in fact, the result of starvation for love. In subjective world of individuals, love at certain periods is the whole meaning of life and the purpose of being, whereas in reality, it is just part of life and a course of being. We cannot deny Jane’s character benefited from her love to Mr. Rochester, offering her a stage to demonstrate her thoughts of equality, independence as well as courage to treasure one’s feeling.
Facing dying Mrs. Reed, Jane remembered the rule of life, “we all must die one day.” Then wasn’t it necessary for us to keep hostile, complaining to life or to anything in our life? When Mrs. Reed’s stubborn proved friendly approach out of reach, Jane had exercised Helen’s belief and now manifested it a failure, establishing her own belief, “ I know… that she was resolved to consider me bad to the last… and then I felt a determination to subdue her—to be her mistress in spite both of her mature and her will.” 12.
The reveal of Mr. Rochester’s live mad life on Jane and Mr. Rochester, taught her the lesson of life: things wouldn’t always go smooth—the old Jane “died” in her. She buried it in her own way and went out to make preparation for her revival—to taste another new experience of love and life at Moor House. With the agony in spirit, Jane experienced the suffering in body, realizing the meaning of being and death during the three-day’s wandering on the moorland. She came to know herself better through the days in Moor Land, especially through St. John’s love.
The death of Mr. Rochester’s mad wife finally consummated Jane’s character, now that she was suffered, mature, independent and was able to practice her equal thoughts both in love and in life. She wasn’t just an acceptance in life any longer and would play the role of protector and donator, which her once Byronic master, Mr. Rochester, had played to her. Thus, author achieved to present us a new female, 13. Jane Eyre, on the background of a classic love.
3. Death gives birth to the love.
Closing the book, I felt a cloud of death all over the world of Jane Eyre, of the author, and also of myself. Now that Jane Eyre is regarded as an autobiography, it’s necessary to know some information about the author, Charlotte Bronte. As the third daughter of a clergyman, Charlotte was born with two elder sisters in 1816. Being motherless at 5 was followed by the death at 9 of two sisters in the boarding school. In 1842, Charlotte arrived with her two little sisters at Brussels as pupils to improve their qualifications in French and acquire some German to establish their school, where Charlotte found deep feelings in her French teacher. Till her aunt’s death called her back home.14. It was believed in 1846 when her father stayed in Manchester for an operation in his eyes that the company, Charlotte began to write her novel, Jane Eyre with her poor eyesight. 15. Before and during the course of her writing, her plan to establish a school failed and she lost the friendship with her respected French teacher, in addition to this, she was annoyed at her best loved little brother’s self-abandonment after he was dismissed as a tutor for his love to his mistress. 16. Life confronted Charlotte with death constantly and was never easy to her.
Charlotte’s view on the death in life was well expressed in her works, Jane Eyre, in which death was followed by birth and despair gave birth to hope. Without the death of the former pure love to Mr. Rochester, there would be no the more wonderful refined marriage. On the base of the evil wife’s death and destruction of Thornfield Hall, Jane and Mr. Rochester came to found their happy family. The Blind Mr. Rochester was bestowed a son with “large, brilliant and black”eyes.17.
Suffering met only from the death of relatives, friends, but from the constant menace of death in life, Jane found the rule of being “we all must die one day” and death is only going back to the Father who creates us, so can we just be born for death? No, Jane answered in her action—she never abandoned her endeavor for a good life. Because of death we are supposed to live a better life. When we connect death with life, we’ll find our life requiring more cherishment---love your life and love the people (be kind to others). Jane listened to the call of her inner world. Once caught it, she pursued it-- she fell in love with her master bravely. She cherished everything around her: the people, the plant, the animal and the whole nature. Besides Mr. Rochester, she was kind to her friends, her cousins, her students and the servants, 18 even to the dog and the moorland. To her hostile enemy, Jane gave the same mercy: Mrs. Reed, her daughters and son, the evil mad woman of Mr. Rochester.
On this point, Jane was totally a speaker of the author Charlotte: what can we do before the hardness of life, including death? Charlotte learned to have (and maybe decided to love). The love consisted of two passions: the deep feeling to the human and the thankful cherishment of being. With constant sufferings in life, which were believed to be unbearable for most of us, Charlotte struggled to live her noble life, taking her responsibility in family and society, starving friendship 19 and pursuing her career. As a mercy from Father, she succeeded in her novel and found her true love I her four proposal. 20.
In this masterpiece, Charlotte displayed us a world of death and love, transmitting her view of life: since “we all must die one day”, why not “love” our life? She succeeded in establishing a brave new female in English literature as well as demonstrating to readers an abstruse theory of life. It is not a least feather to place Charlotte Bronte together with her contemporary writers: Jane Austine, and it is not supposing to find that Jane Eyre was continuously widely read as a masterpiece all over the world.
Notes:
1. “I would not now have exchange Lowood with all its privations for Gateshead and its luxuries.” Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre, Foreign Languages Press. 1994. 106.
2. “But not till its virulence and the number of its victims had drawn public attention on the school … several wealthy and benevolent individuals in the country subscribed largely … the school, thus improved because in time a truly useful and noble institution.” Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre, Foreign Languages Press. 1994. 115.
3. Marion, Bloomsbury, Bloomsbury Publishing Ltd. 1989.107.
4. When having been driven away from her aunt’s “happy” family, “when Bewick on my knee, I was then happy: happy at least in my way.” Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre, Foreign Languages Press. 1994. 41.
5. Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre, Foreign Languages Press. 1994. 68.
6. Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre, Foreign Languages Press. 1994. 69.
7. Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre, Foreign Languages Press. 1994.
8. Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre, Foreign Languages Press. 1994. 18.
9. Helen’s last words before her death.
10.Miss Temple was so kind to Helen and other boys and girls under the menace of death from typhus.
11. Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre, Foreign Languages Press. 1994. 339.
12. Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre, Foreign Languages Press. 1994. 259.
13. 沈建青，“妇女文学理论初探”，《外国文学研究》，1990年第3期。
14. Encyclopaedia Britannia, 2:546:b.
杨静远 译，《夏洛蒂 勃朗特书信》，三联书店，1984。第69-76页。
盖斯凯尔夫人，《夏洛蒂 勃朗特传》上海译文出版社。
15. 盖斯凯尔夫人，《夏洛蒂 勃朗特传》上海译文出版社。
16. 杨静远 译，《夏洛蒂 勃朗特书信》，三联书店，1984。
17. Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre, Foreign Languages Press. 1994.
18. The servants include: Bessie, Mrs. Fairfax, Hannah all became her friends, even to her little servant in Moor House’s school and the old John and his wife, she was kind and generous.
19. Ellen Nursey, , and her schoolmates in miss Wooler’s School at Roe Head(1831).
20. Her father’s assistant clergyman and her husband, Arthur Bell Nicholls.
Bibliography
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Encyclopedia Britannia.
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