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Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre presents a novel that utilizes a strong female narrator to portray the negative aspects of Victorian expectations for women. In addition, Bronte uses the French language, the lack of a mother, and parallels to fairy tales in order to bring more in depth meaning to Jane’s struggle for independence as well as a place where she can find acceptance from the people around her. Throughout the novel, Jane Eyre is constantly searching for her own sense of self amid the challenges of her life as well as Victorian social constructs.
Charlotte Bronte’s use of French in the novel represents Jane’s journey of finding independence as well as a community to call her own.
Her last name of Eyre is the same pronunciation as the letter “r” in French (Eells). The “r” represents her search for a family to call her own as she begins the story in the Reed household who provides her nothing of what someone would call a family.
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Later on, she lives with the Rivers family which also begins with an “r.” However, again, this family fails to provide the acceptance Jane seeks. She denies the marriage request of St. John Rivers which would have made her an official part of their family and given her the family she longed for. Through this denial, Jane proves her independence and unwillingness to sacrifice any part of herself in order to gain anything, including the thing the reader witnessed her search for.
Eventually, Jane marries Mr. Rochester thereby giving her a last name beginning with an “r,” allowing her to keep a part of herself and her independent nature, even as she enters into a marriage with someone else. Through this, Jane has finally found a family accepting of her true self. Jane Eyre’s initials spell the pronoun “je” in French. Through this, Jane establishes her role as the narrator, putting her in control of the autobiographical story (Eells). Bronte only emphasizes this connection when Jane signs her advertisement to be a governess “J.E.” (Bronte 114-116). The significance of this is that Jane applying for a governess position signifies her taking control of her own life. She, for the first time in her life, is in control of what will happen next; she has the opportunity to choose whether to stay at Lowood or take the job offer from Thornfield Hall. Therefore, she truly becomes the author of her life, not just the story of her past. Through the use of the French language, Jane becomes the strongest figure in the novel, both as the narrator and as the main character striving to find a place in this world.
Throughout the novel, Jane Eyre is struggling to become the storyteller of her own life. The novel opens with Jane being punished for what her nurse Bessie has said she has done. When she questions what she has apparently done, Mrs. Reed responds, “Jane, I don’t like cavillers or questioners; besides, there is something truly forbidding in a child taking up her elders in that manner. Be seated somewhere, and until you can speak pleasantly, remain silent” (Bronte 12). Here, Jane is denied the opportunity to tell as well as hear the story about her (Simpson). Jane proves through the rest of her childhood that she has the ability to tell stories yet she is never given the avenue to display that skill. She is silenced in the Reed home as well as during her years at Lowood. However this begins to change and, “As an adult, Jane uses storytelling to implicitly challenge social institutions by gaining the authoritative position of storyteller, a position that gives her significant influence over St. John Rivers, Edward Rochester, and, of course, her reader” (Simpson). In Victorian times, a woman did not have a lot of power or representation in literature. Charlotte Bronte opposes this idea by giving a woman the ability to control how the story is told. Jane Eyre portrays the feminist nature of women such as Bronte who published a book based solely on a woman’s life story which did not fit the ideal Victorian standards of being a woman at all. Finally, Jane, simply by writing her story after Mr. Rochester has been blinded and will no longer be able to read it, gives her the power to determine what she wants detailed in her story (Simpson). Through this action, Jane proves that even by marrying Mr. Rochester, she has not lost the independence she sought throughout the novel. She chooses her own path regardless of society’s expectations, giving her a feminist nature in a patriarchal world.
Jane Eyre is able to become her own independent person because of the struggles she faced as a child. She grew up without the presence of a loving mother. Her own mother was dead, and her replacement was Mrs. Reed whom she tells, “I am glad you are no relation of mine: I will never call you aunt again as long as live . . . you think that I have no feelings, and that I can do without one bit of love or kindness” (Bronte 48). Even Jane feels that her lack of a mother has put her at a disadvantage in life. However, using the idea of a fairy tale, Betty Ruddy explains that “Without having been forced to become a ‘Cinderella,’ the heroine would never have become the bride of the prince” (41). Essentially, if she had had a loving and caring mother, Jane Eyre would not have become the independent woman that she did. Jane would never had ended up at Thornfield Hall and never have married Mr. Rochester. This presents the idea that a person is who they are because of the experiences they have had and the struggles they have faced. Their life is a compilation of events and decisions they have made, each influenced by what comes before. Because of this, Jane’s lack of a mother is necessary for the development of her character as well as the novel. In addition, the lack of a mother is imperative to the reader’s interpretation of and reaction to Jane’s constant rebellion throughout the book. Betty Ruddy expresses her belief that “the reader can rejoice in the heroine’s eventual success without feeling a conflicting sympathy for the mother” (40). Normally when a character acts out against society’s standards, a reader considers how their actions affect those around them, leading to their sympathy for the character’s mother. By eliminating the mother from the story, the reader can exclusively focus on Jane’s accomplishments and celebrate the independence she achieved throughout the novel.
Finally, Charlotte Brontё expresses Jane’s sense of independence using parallels to fairy tales. For example, the story of Jane Eyre includes many elements from the Grimm Brothers’ Cinderella story. In the German fairy tale, Cinderella leaves the ball simply because she is tired and wants to leave. Similarly, Jane Eyre leaves Thornfield Hall and Mr. Rochester because she wants to. As Micael Clarke says, “Like Cinderella, Jane Eyre runs away from the too-powerful prince” (705). She leaves Mr. Rochester because she does not like the power he has gained over her or the abuse of his fortunes in life; she wants to escape the situation which limited her freedom and she has gained enough independence to confidently do so. Again Jane proves her independence when she refuses St. John Rivers’ marriage proposal saying, “I broke from St. John, who had followed, and would have detained me. It was my time to assume ascendency. My powers were in play and in force” (Bronte 534). She realizes that she is her own person and no social construct should force her to be somewhere she did not want to be and that no ones wishes should force her to commit to an unhappy life. Jane’s eventual marriage to Mr. Rochester also parallels a fairy tale because it provides the reader with the classic happily ever after commonly seen in every fairy tale, especially Cinderella. Bronte is able to give her reader this classic aspect while also maintaining Jane’s achieved sense of her own self worth and independence.
Struggle for Independence in Charlotte Bronte’s "Jane Eyre". (2021, Mar 24). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/struggle-for-independence-in-charlotte-bronte-s-jane-eyre-essay
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