Topic > Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte - 1176

Charlotte Bronte is, first and foremost, a storyteller at heart. She broke the mold for women of her time because there were not many occupations deemed acceptable other than "teacher" or "housekeeper" in the mid-nineteenth century. His imagination was too creative to be left unwritten on a page. Charlotte Bronte's writings reflect her views on the role of women in society and this view is shown in Jane Eyre. Although Jane Eyre was considered radical for the time because women were not supposed to play the role of heroine, Jane Eyre rises up from her oppressors, fights for what she believes is right and above all remains true to herself and today she is considered a true role model for the characters of the heroines. Jane Eyre tells the story of an orphan who goes through her life with challenges and comes to have an "awakening" in the process. Jane goes through a “pilgrimage of life” (Bomarito 405) in which she grows mentally and emotionally. From her low beginnings Jane is unwilling to accept her place in society and what others believe her place to be. (Magill's) Her family's violent ways do not allow her to believe she is less than what she is or will become. Because of her determination to better herself, she eventually achieves complete inner peace, but not until she overcomes her inner demons and the tests placed before her by others. (Bomarito) Early in her life, Jane was adopted by her uncle, who later died and left her with her less-than-loving aunt and cousins. Everyone treated her horribly, thinking that because she was an orphan, she belonged to a lower class than them. Oppression follows Jane to her Lowood school and to her benefactor, Mr. Brocklehurst, and even to her future employer, Mr. Rochester, and her distant cousin St. John. Jane's whole life involves... middle of paper... it's perfectly normal to be your own hero. Works Cited Berg, Maggie. Jane Eyre: Portrait of a Lifetime. Boston: Twayne, 1987. Print. Bomarito, Jessica. "Jane Eyre." Feminism in Literature: A Critical Companion to Gale. vol. 2. Detroit [ua: Thomson Gale, 2005. 405-19. Print.Brontë, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. New York: Random House, 1997. Print.Draper, James P. “Critical Commentary: Charlotte Brontë.” World Literature Criticism: 1500 to the Present: A Selection of Major Authors from Gale's Literary Criticism Series. vol. 1. Detroit: Gale Research, 1992. 399-412. Print."Feminist Ideals and the Women of "Jane Eyre"" Feminist Ideals and the Women of "Jane Eyre" HubPages, Inc., n.d. Web. November 25, 2013. Magill, Survey of World Literature by Frank N. Magill. New York: Marshall Cavendish, 1993. Print.