Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
1. Jane Eyre lives in the cruel household of the Reed's who mistreat and ignore her. Because she is sent in a dark room by herself as an unfair punishment, she passes out after seeing a ghost. This event ultimately leads to her to moving to a all girls school, but before that, she builds deep hatred against her cousins and especially her aunt. Jane travels to Lowood in which faces difficulties of adjustment and hard work but builds companionship with Helen and Miss Temple. Jane expands her knowledge through education over the next several years and becomes a governess in Mr. Rochester's household for Adele, his daughter. She forms an odd relationship with Mr. Rochester and begins to develop feelings for him as he does too for Jane. An accumulation of wierd situations occur. A seamstress in the household, Grace, sets fire to Rochester's curtains while he's asleep and not given punishment, and another time, a guest Mr. Mason is found stabbed in the arm. Jane returns back home for a while as she finds news of her aunt's soon to come death. She also learns she has been inherited a large amount of wealth from her uncle in a foreign country. Jane returns to Thornfield and soon afterwards the two acknowledge their love for each other and are engaged. The day of their wedding comes when the mysteries are resolved during the ceremony by Mr. Mason who states that Rochester is already married to his sister who is taken care by Grace. Jane decides to leave and finds herself living in the company of St John who helps her find a job. Jane begins to hear Rochester's voice in her sleep and decides to travel to Thornfield. She finds the house burned down and finds out Betha, Rochester's crazy wife, has set fire and in the process, Rochester went blind and now resides in a different place. She meets him and they get married and live happily together.
2. Good things come to those who wait. Jane lived the beginning of her life surrounded by hatred and abuse. She never had a welcoming home and lived her life working hard until she met Mr. Rochester who cared for her extremely. She finds happiness in his presence and finally finds someone who she can rely on after having spent a majority of her life as an independent woman.
3. The author's tone is informative yet mysterious and reflective.
"My first quarter at Lowood seemed an age, and not the golden age either; it comprised an irksome struggle with difficulties in habituating myself to new rules and unwonted tasks."
"I was left in total darkness. I listened for some noise, but heard nothing."
"Why you have saved my life - snatched me from a horrible and excruciating death and you walk past me as if we were mural strangers!"
4. Foreshadowing pg 15 "From my disclosures with Mr. Lloyd, and from the above reported conference between Bessie and Abbot, I gathered enough of hope to suffice as a motive for wishing to get well: a change seemed near."
Reflection/Flashback pg 55 "Hitherto I have recorded in detail the events of my insignificant existence to the first ten years of my life I have given almost many chapters. But this is not to be a regular autobiography: I am only bound to invoke memory..."
Characterization pg 76 "He had a dark face, with stern features and a heavy brow; his eyes and gathered eyebrows looked irefull and thwarted just now; he was past youth..."
Comparison pg 62 "A new chapter in a novel is something line a new scene in a play; and when I draw up the curtain this time..."
Imagery pg 56 "There were the two wings of the new building; there was the garden; there were the skirts of Lowood, there was the hilly horizon.
Symbolism pg 84 "The first represented clouds low and livid, rolling over a swollen sea: all the distance was in eclipse so too was the foreground..." Symbolizes her gloomy mood.
Contradictions pg 126 "She was very showy, but she was not genuine; she had a fine person, many brilliant attainments, but her mind was poor..."
Personification pg 140 "The consequence was, that when the moon, which was full and bright, came in her course to that space in the sky opposite my casement, and looked in at me through the unveiled panes."
Anaphora pg 174 "None: and that you know. None: as I have taken pains to prove..."
Irony pg 283 "Not that St John harbored a spirit of unchristian vindictiveness - not that he would have injured a hair on my head, if if had been fully in his power to do so."
1. Direct characterization: "He had a dark face, with stern features and a heavy brow; his eyes and gathered eyebrows looked irefull and thwarted just now; he was past youth..."
"I am feverish: I head the wind blowing: I will go out of doors and feel it."
Indirect characterization: "I resisted all the way, a new thing for me, and a circumstance which greatly strengthened the bad opinions Bessie and Miss Abbot were disposed to entertain me."
"The fear of failure in these points harassed me worse than the physical hardships of my lot, though these were no trifles."
2. The the author'a syntax and diction does not really change when taking about the character as there is still elevated vocabulary and a formal language because the story in told in old English. "He gorged himself habitually at table, which made him bilious, and gave him a dim and bleated eye with flabby cheeks." "From my disclosures with Mr. Lloyd, and from the above reported conference between Bessie and Abbot, I gathered enough of hope to suffice as a motive for wishing to get well, a chance seemed near..."
3. Jane is a dynamic and round character. Over the course of the book, she transitions from a person who just goes through her daily life because do the constant conflicts she goes through, to someone who finds inspiration and love. Her transitory stays also contribute to her evolvement. In each new environment, a different side of Jane is revealed: vulnerable, lonely, and hopeful. Her character is also fully developed in that her thoughts and actions are stated and her transitioning stages are told to fully create the person she is and how her environment shaped her to become a person better than what she was set out to be because of her rough childhood.
4. I was really able to understand this character and felt as if I has met Jane Eyre. This book starts from her young childhood living with her aunt, all the way to when she marries Mr. Rochester and lives happily ever after. The story is told in first person and therefore, Jane's thoughts are clearly expressed while I was also able to interpret her actions. Jane's story was very intriguing in that her life story and the way Bronte wrote the book pulled the reader in to real sympathize for Jane when she was in hardships and to rejoice when she found happiness in a welcoming home.
