Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte reflects the history of the 1800s. In this time period in England, the society was very male dominated. This is very different from today's society. In the period of which this book was written, women were considered more of second class citizens and were probably not given as many working opportunities as the men. Jane was happy to get any employment available, and was not picky even when she is asked to teach poor village girls. "I thank you for the proposal, Mr.Rivers; and I accept it with all my heart" (Bronte, page 432, paragraph 3). Some of the behavior and social issues dealt with this time was the way orphans were treated, and in this case Jane. From what I have read, it seems to me that orphans were looked at differently back then and were not as respected or cared for as they are now. It sounds like Jane was kind of discriminated at the Reed's house for simply being an orphan. I think another issue reflected in this book was traveling. Some of the journeys took days to complete when they were not even separated by an extreme amount of miles. We have no problem with traveling great distances today and the timing is very convenient. A symbolic significance in this book was definitely the red-room. This represented what Jane must overcome to gain freedom and she refers back to it on the night she leaves Thornfield Hall. A thematic significance in Jane Eyre has to be love. Jane's love for Mr.Rochester and her longing to be loved by others is really the main focal point of this story.
Bronte, Charlotte. The Illustrated Jane Eyre. New York: Viking Studio. 2006. Print.
No comments:
Post a Comment