簡愛On Jane Eyre

1、On Jane EyreI. IntroductionCharlotte Brontë (1816-1855), a novelist, daughter of a clergy man of Irish descent and of eccentric habits, who influenced the lives of his children by his special theories of education. Brought up in a small parsonage close to the graveyard of a bleak, windswept vil

2、lage on the Yorkshire moors, and left motherless in early childhood, she was “the motherly friend and guardian of her younger sisters,” among her two younger sisters, Emily and Anne. After various efforts, the sisters turned to literature and published poems under the names of Currer, Ellis, and Act

3、on Bell; however, it faced a failure. Charlotte then wrote her first novel, The Professor, which did not appear until after her death. She began Jane Eyre appeared in 1847and then took the public by storm. It was followed by Shirley in 1849 and Villette in 1852. In 1854, she was married to her fathe

4、rs curate, but after a short though happy married life, she died in 1855.Jane Eyre was published in London, England, in 1847, an autobiography under the pen name "Currer Bell." The first American edition was released the following year by Harper & Brothers of New York. The Penguin edit

5、ion describes it as “influential feminist text” because of its in-depth exploration of a strong female characters feelings. The novel merges elements of three distinct genres. It has the form of a Bildungsroman, a story about a child's maturation, focusing on the emotions and experiences that ac

6、company with a girl from a girl to an adult. The novel also contains much social criticism, with a strong sense of morality at its core.II. A Summary of the BookThe novel begins with a ten-year-old orphan named Jane Eyre, who is living with her uncles family. Jane's parents died of typhus. Janes

7、 Aunt and all her children are unfriendly to her, physically and emotionally. And she is afraid of the red room, where her uncle died, and she is finally rescued when she is allowed to attend a school for Girls school. Jane arrives at Lowood Institution, a charity school, with the accusation that sh

8、e is deceitful. During an inspection, Jane accidentally breaks her slate, and Mr. Brocklehurst, the self-righteous clergyman who runs the school, brands her as a liar and shames her before the entire assembly. But with the help of other teachers there, Jane is publicly cleared of Mr. Brocklehursts a

9、ccusations ultimately. The condition of schooling is very poor, and many people died when a typhus epidemic strikes. But luckily, When Mr. Brocklehurst's neglect and dishonesty are discovered, several benefactors erect a new building and conditions at the school improve dramatically. After six y

10、ears as a student and two years as a teacher, Jane decides to leave Lowood.Then Jane goes to Thornfield Hall, and she takes the position of teaching a young French girl Adele Varens. Nearby a town, she meets a horseman Edward Rochester. And Jane knows Adele is his ward, left in Mr. Rochester's c

11、are when her mother died. The two people enjoy each other, and spend many hours together. However, odd things start to happen at the house, such as a strange laugh, a mysterious fire and an attack. After a few days, Janes aunt dies, and she returns to Thornfield and begins to communicate to her uncl

12、e John Eyre. After that, Jane broods over Mr. Rochester's impending marriage to Blanche Ingram. But on a midsummer evening, he proclaims his love for Jane and proposal. When she is preparing her wedding, she feels not very calm in heart. During the wedding ceremony, Mr. Mason and a lawyer declar

13、e that Mr. Rochester cannot marry because he is still married to Mr. Masons sister Bertha, who escapes. Mr. Rochester asks Jane to go with him to the south of France, and live as husband and wife, even though they cannot be married. Refusing to go against her principles, and despite her love for him

14、, Jane leaves Thornfield in the middle of the night.Jane travels through England using the little money she had saved, living a poor life. Exhausted, she makes her way to the home of Diana and Mary Rivers, but is turned away by the housekeeper. She faints on the doorstep, preparing for her death. St

15、. John Rivers, Diana and Mary's brother and a clergyman, saves her. After she regains her health, St. John finds her a teaching position at a nearby charity school. Jane becomes good friends with the sisters, but St. John remains reserved. At last, the sisters leave for governess jobs and St. Jo

16、hn becomes closer with Jane and makes a proposal. But Jane refuses him. When her uncle John Eyre has died and left her his entire fortune, Jane, overjoyed by finding her family, insists on sharing the money equally with her cousins. As soon as Jane's resolve against marriage to St. John begins t

17、o weaken, she mysteriously hears Mr. Rochester's voice calling her name. Jane then returns to Thornfield to find only blackened ruins. She learns that Mr. Rochester's wife set the house on fire; and in his rescue attempts, Mr. Rochester lost a hand and his eyesight. Jane reunites with him, a

18、ssures him of her love and tells him that she will never leave him. Mr. Rochester again proposes and they are married. He eventually recovers enough sight to see their first-born son.III. My Views on the BookIt is a novel often considered ahead of its time due to its portrayal of the development of

19、a thinking and passionate young woman who is both individualistic, desiring for a full life, while also highly moral. The person who affects me most is Jane Eyre, the protagonist of the novel and the title character. Orphaned as a baby, she struggles through her nearly loveless childhood and becomes

20、 governess at Thornfield Hall. Jane is passionate and opinionated, and values freedom and independence and strong conscience. Jane evolves from her beginnings as a poor and plain woman without captivating charm to her mature stage as a compassionate and confident whole woman. As she matures, she com

21、ments much on the complexities of the human condition. Jane also has a deeply pious personal trust in God, but is also highly self-reliant. Although Jane suffers much, she is never portrayed as a damsel in distress who needs rescuing. For this reason, it is sometimes regarded as an important early f

22、eminist novel. The novel has shown us many aspects, such as morality, God and religion, love and passion, social class, feminism, forgiveness, search for home and family. All these are closely related to human nature. From moral aspect, Jane refuses to become Mr. Rochester's paramour because of

23、her "impassioned self-respect and moral conviction." She rejects St. John Rivers' Puritanism as much as the libertine aspects of Mr. Rochester's character. Instead, she works out a morality expressed in love, independence, and forgiveness. Jane does not want to be seen as an outcas

24、t to society or be a mistress to Rochester. From the religion part, throughout the novel, Jane endeavors to attain equilibrium between moral duty and earthly happiness. She is a strongly believer of God. From love and passion aspect, a central theme in Jane Eyre is that of the clash between conscien

25、ce and passion which one is to adhere to, and how to find a middle ground between the two. Jane, extremely passionate yet also dedicated to a close personal relationship with God, struggles between either extreme in the novel. When she knows Mr. Rochester already has a wife, when Jane is begged to r

26、un away with Mr. Rochester and become his mistress, up until that moment, Jane had been riding on a wave of emotion, forgetting all thoughts of reason and logic, replacing God with Mr. Rochester in her eyes, and allowing herself to be swept away in the moment. Throughout the novel, love and passion

27、are taking too great a role in her life, and where she will not allow herself to forget her moral and religious principles. From feminism aspect, the role and standing of women is shown by Jane's independence and ability to make decisions for herself. As a young woman, small and of relatively low social standing, Jane encounters men during her journey. However, virtually all of them, no matter their ultimate intentions, attempt to establish some form of power and control over Jane. Jane, however, believes in the importance of women's independence