Title: Jane Eyre Author: Charlotte Bronte Date of Publication: 1847 Literary Period: Victorian (Gothic) Genre: Bildungsroman, Romance Describe the setting and then explain the relevance of the setting. The novel is set in Victorian England, a time period filled with social class tensions, gender issues, and racial hardships. Bronte uses the time period to make commentary on issues she saw in English society that needed to be fixed. Additionally, Britain's colonization of India and the West Indies plays a role in the book; Rochester became a part of the upper-class system of marrying for money and land in the British colonies, and the plight he suffers can be considered punishment for his actions. Throughout the novel, Jane travels from location to location.
Climax, resolution, and major plot points):Jane Eyre is an orphan who lives with her mean. It is an opportunity to perform good works.
The names of each location are symbolic of what Jane is experiencing or feeling at each point in the novel. Gateshead: This is the beginning of Jane's journey; the red room scene, which defines the three motifs of escape that shape the work, occurs at Gateshead, making the gateway to Jane's story the source of a primary cause of tension in her bildungsroman. Lowood: Jane spends the rest of her childhood at Lowood, a school for orphan girls. Lowood is a low point in Jane's story: there is little food (much of which is inedible), Jane's closest friend, Helen Burns, dies, and once Jane becomes a teacher at Lowood and the mother figure of Lowood, Miss Temple, leaves, Jane experiences sensations of starving to experience the world and fading away at the school, where she feels she no longer belongs. Thornfield: Here Jane enters into her new life as a governess: Thornfield is beautiful, but filled with an air of mystery and dark secrets. Jane finds herself falling in love with Rochester, a man who is already married to a mad woman.
The field of thorns she escapes from seems almost biblical--- Jane faces temptation and must turn away. Moor House/Marsh's End: This location actually gives Jane more than she's ever had: she finds family that loves her, makes a career for herself as headmistress of a school, and inherits 20,000 pounds from her uncle. Jane comes to the end of many of the lifelong battles she's had to face (being an orphan and longing for family, searching for a kind of personal faith that suited her, being of a low social class) and experiences a moment of spiritual epiphany in which she hears Rochester calling out for her. Ferndean: When Jane returns to Rochester, she does not find him in the field of thorns where they met; instead she finds Rochester blind, missing a hand, and widowed. I don't know how to use this word.) Rochester is staying in Ferndean, a place that represents new life and growth. Theme In Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, the author uses a childhood incident of imprisonment to develop three motifs of escape that emphasize the oppression of women and the divide between social classes in the Victorian era. Plot Summary Memorable Quotes and their SIGNIFICANCE.
'But how could she [Mrs. Reed] really like an interloper not of her race, and unconnected with her, after her husband's death, by any tie?' (1.2.16) - Jane learns from an early age that loyalty lies in family and social class; she realizes that because she is neither related to Mrs. Reed nor of the same class as Mrs. Reed, she will never be fully accepted as an equal to the Reeds. Bronte emphasizes the severity of social class divisions by showing that a young orphan is not accepted by the family she has been left to because of her family and social class. 'Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless?
You think wrong! I have as much soul as you, and full as much heart!' (2.8.318) - Jane recognizes that her social class does not define how valuable she is as a person. 'To this crib I always took my doll; human beings must love something, and, in the dearth of worthier objects of affection, I contrived to find a pleasure in loving and cherishing a faded graven image, shabby as a miniature scarecrow.' (1.4.33) 'No; I know I should think well of myself; but that is not enough: if others don't love me, I would rather die than live---I cannot bear to be solitary and hated.' (1.8.85) 'It does good to no woman to be flattered by her superior, who cannot possibly intend to marry her; and it is madness in all women to let a secret love kindle within them, which, if unreturned and unknown, must devour the life that feeds it; and, if discovered and responded to, must lead, ignis-fatus-like, into miry wilds whence there is no extrication.' (2.1.203) - Jane's longing for love carries throughout the novel and drives many of her decisions; her desire for familial love is one of the things she must find before she can be happy with Rochester.
'That 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 m natural element and beginning to feel the stirring of old emotions [.] Now I remembered that the real world was wide, and that a varied field of hopes and fears, of sensations and excitements, awaited those who had courage to go forth into its expanse, to seek real knowledge of life amidst its perils.' (1.10.104) - This is one of the novel's strongest examples of fading away as a form of the starvation motif. Jane no longer believes that she belongs at Lowood and longs for a change; she feels like she has become the archetypal stranger in the village. 'I mounted to my chamber; locked myself in; fell on my knees; and prayed in my way---a different way to St. John's, but effective in its own fashion.' (3.9.529) - Jane's struggle with religion and finding a personal faith carries throughout the book; in this scene, she finds her own way of connecting to God.
Describe the significance of the opening scene. The opening scene describes Jane's treatment by the Reeds, primarily to show how Jane is trapped into being submissive to her cousins of a higher class and restricted from being herself. The punishment she receives after being injured by her cousin shows how much of a pariah Jane is in the Reed household.
The strong sense of alienation is important to Jane's character as her sense that she doesn't belong somewhere inspires many of her flights (from Lowood to Thornfield, from Thornfield to Marsh's End, and from Marsh's End to Ferndean.) Describe the significance of the closing scene. 'Reader, I married him.' Jane breaks the fourth wall by addressing the reader; this direct address brings the focus back to Jane. She gives conclusion to her story and expresses a genuine sense of bliss and contentment with her life; although a modern reader might argue against her traditional, Victorian happiness in marriage, it is important to remember that Jane and Edward's marriage happens on Jane's terms: once she has satisfied her need for familial love, a strong personal faith, social equality to Rochester, and will not have her moral values compromised by being a kept woman, she returns to Rochester.
Author's style Charlotte Bronte uses the novel of manners style to emphasize gender, class, and race tensions throughout the book. She develops most of Jane's growth throughout her bildungsroman by describing her inner thoughts and opinions. 'But how could she [Mrs.
Reed] really like an interloper not of her race, and unconnected with her, after her husband's death, by any tie?' (1.2.16) List importance characters and their significance. Jane Eyre: Jane Eyre is the narrator of the story; she is widely considered to be the first feminist character in a novel and was written as plain, a unique choice in the Victorian era. Edward Rochester: Jane's love; becomes her husband after Bertha dies. The cause of much of Jane's sadness and primary conflict in volumes 2 and 3. Bertha Mason: Bertha Mason is Jane's foil; while Jane shows fierce passion, she is able to control her impulses and urges, while Bertha cannot. Bertha is also the biggest moral obstacle standing between Jane's marriage to Rochester; although she does not like the social class difference, Jane is willing to look past that.
She is not, however, willing to compromise her morals and become a kept woman. John: Rochester's foil; he is pious and devoted, but sees no place for love in a marriage because of his strict religion. List important symbols from the work and their significance Fire/Ice Juxtaposition: Jane shows an obvious correlation between positive things and fire as well as an association of negative things and ice.
Fire itself works as a symbol of destruction in a positive light (the fire that destroys Thornfield), warmth and brightness. Launch X431 Diagun Serial Number on this page. The Red Room Scene: The red room scene introduces three motifs of escape (flight, insanity, and starvation) that carry throughout the work and drive Jane's decisions.
Major Works Data Sheet for Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte Advanced Placement Literature and Composition General Guidelines: • Historical information: When does the novel take place and what socially or culturally significant events are occurring? • Biographical information: What are some important facts about the author? • Characteristics of the genre: What is the genre of the book and what are the characteristics of that genre? • Plot Summary: What are the main or most important events that occur in the novel? • Author’s Style: Describe the author’s syntax and diction. If you don’t know what these mean or how to apply them, just describe how the author describes events and/or characters.
• An example: Give a quote from the text that you feel exemplifies their style. • Memorable Quotes: You may need to complete this on a separate sheet of paper.
Write down 15 quotes from the beginning, middle and end of the novel and explain why they are important to one of the following: Character, Setting, Conflict, Theme or a Literary Device such as Simile, Metaphor, Personification, Imagery, Symbolism, or Allusion (Try to apply each term at least once). • Characters: Write down the name, role and significance of the main characters and 2-3 adjectives that describe each character. • Setting: The specific time, place and era the novel takes place. • Symbols: Any objects, people, or places that you feel are representative of something else. Make sure you tell me the symbol as well as what it symbolizes or represents.
• Possible Themes: What are three possible themes? Remember a theme is what the author is trying to show us about human nature or life. What can we all relate to?
• Significance of the opening scene: Why is the opening scene important? What does it set up or how does it add to the rest of the novel? • Significance of the closing scene? Why is the closing scene important? How does it conclude the novel or what message does it leave us with? • Old AP Question: You can leave this box blank. We will be filling in this box with sample questions as we navigate through various sample tests.
Historical Information: Biographical Information: Characteristics of the Genre: Plot Summary: Author's Style: An Example: Memorable Quotes: Characters: Setting: Symbols: Possible Themes: Significance of the Opening Scene: Significance of the Closing Scene: Old AP Question.