Concetti Chiave
- Charlotte Bronte's novels, including Jane Eyre, are largely autobiographical, drawing from her experiences in harsh conditions during her schooling years.
- Bronte's female characters, like Jane Eyre, exhibit strong personalities that defy the conventional norms of the Victorian era, marking her as a precursor to modern feminist thought.
- Jane Eyre, unlike typical Victorian heroines, is portrayed as an orphan with resilience, living through her courage in a world that often limits her opportunities for happiness and advancement.
- The novel blends elements of the Victorian age with dark and gothic themes, as Jane navigates complex relationships and societal expectations, particularly in her romance with Mr. Rochester.
- Despite societal pressures, Jane Eyre remains steadfast in her principles, rejecting numerous marriage proposals and ultimately choosing a life based on her own terms and values.
Indice
Charlotte's early life and rebellion
Charlotte Brontë was born in 1816 in the North Yorkshire, at Thornton, from a family with Irish descendants. Her father was an Anglican clergyman while her mother died in 1821 because of cancer, one year after they moved to Haworth.In 1824, Charlotte was studying in a boarding school when two of her sisters got ill and died so she had to come back home but she managed to spend about a year at Roe Head boarding school. She will also teach there from 1835 to 1838.
In 1835, Charlotte and her sisters Anne and Emily decided to publish by themselves their poems and they used pen names, respectively Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell.
Their romantic novels explored the extremes of passion and violence in a new way because they rebelled against Jane Austen's world of order and restraint.
Charlotte tried to publish firstly her novel The professor but it was rejected for publication for years and, as a matter of fact, it was publicly known only in 1857, after the author’s death.
This literary work was not forget by Charlotte since Villette, her last novel which was published in 1853, resembles it but from a feminine point of view.
At the same time, Anne reached to publish Agnes Grey while Emily became famous for Wuthering Heights.
In particular, Charlotte convinced the editors with her Bildungroman 'Jane Eyre' which was published in 1847.
Jane's journey and challenges
Jane Eyre is centred around the story of the orphan Jane, from her childhood to maturity and it ends with the typical reward given to heroines of the novel of formation: marriage.In fact, after a terrible time, Jane starts a work as a governess to a young girl, the ward of Mr Ronchester, in Thornfield. Here she's finally happy.
After some time, Ronchester proposes to her, Jane agrees, but just before the wedding, she finds out that he's already married, with a mad woman, Bertha, who is locked in the artic.
Jane decides to leave Ronchester and she becomes a teacher in a small village and after a long time she discovers that Thornfield has burnt down and that Bertha is dead.
At this point, she returns in Thornfield and marries Ronchester.
Autobiographical elements and impact
The plot has many autobiographical elements, such as the use of the first person narrator, and the way of describing the events through emotions.The novel was a shock for some readers, because it went against the Puritanical tradition.
Jane Eyre mixes also elements of the Bildungsroman with several elements of Gothic fiction. Gothic is the mysterious atmosphere , the dark shades of description, and also the figure of Bertha, the woman surrounded by an aura of fear.
Bertha is like the nemesis of Jane, somehow the repressed animal inside of her, so they are complementary. They can be considered two faces of the same coin.
At the same time all Charlotte’s heroines are strong-willed, self-confident, passionate and driven by their values and convictions to show how to defeat patriarchy and bourgeoise social roles in which was implied that children were supposed to be only obedient and women subservient.
Domande da interrogazione
- Quali sono gli elementi autobiografici presenti in "Jane Eyre"?
- Come si differenziano i romanzi delle sorelle Brontë da quelli di Jane Austen?
- Qual è il significato del personaggio di Bertha in "Jane Eyre"?
- Quali sono le sfide principali affrontate da Jane nel romanzo?
- In che modo Charlotte Brontë ha influenzato la letteratura con "Jane Eyre"?
Il romanzo contiene elementi autobiografici come l'uso del narratore in prima persona e la descrizione degli eventi attraverso le emozioni, riflettendo l'esperienza personale di Charlotte Brontë.
I romanzi delle sorelle Brontë esplorano gli estremi della passione e della violenza in modo nuovo, ribellandosi al mondo di ordine e moderazione di Jane Austen.
Bertha rappresenta la nemesi di Jane, il lato animale represso dentro di lei, e può essere vista come il suo complemento, due facce della stessa medaglia.
Jane affronta sfide come l'essere orfana, il lavoro come governante, la scoperta del matrimonio segreto di Ronchester, e la sua decisione di lasciarlo per poi tornare e sposarlo dopo la morte di Bertha.
"Jane Eyre" ha scioccato alcuni lettori per la sua opposizione alla tradizione puritana e ha mescolato elementi del Bildungsroman con la narrativa gotica, mostrando eroine forti e determinate a sfidare il patriarcato e i ruoli sociali borghesi.
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