Personification of Oppression in Charlotte Brontes Jane...

Personification of Oppression in Jane Eyre At first glance and under insufficient scrutiny, the persona of Jane Eyre reflects a slightly expanded Cinderella character. But Jane Eyres personality and life delve much deeper than a superfluous rags to riches story. Her identity is as complex as literature can convey and her characteristics are manifested through several subtle parallels. These parallels relate to objects and nature, but mostly to one particular individual in the novel. A seemingly exact opposite of the personas placid character, the maniacal Bertha Mason actually personifies an inner part of Jane, the part of her personality that longs to live free but goes crazy under the oppression of society, and especially†¦show more content†¦Bertha is locked as tightly in her secluded room as Jane is locked into her subordinate life, and even in the literal prison of the red room. Society perceives these two characters, and in fact the characters perceive themselves, in a similar way. Both are unwanted and unnoticed, and certainly neither fits into her environment. Jane notices: I was a discord in Gateshead Hall; I was like nobody there; I had nothing in harmony with Mrs. Reed or her children, or her chosen vassalage (47). She feels the same way in the company of the guests of Thornfield Hall, who Jane views as too far above her both in elegance and in caste to notice a plain orphan girl: everyone downstairs was too much engaged to think of us (197). Likewise, Bertha has nothing in common with the people around her, and all who know of her regard her as a madwoman (328), a mysterious lunatic kept under watch and ward (320). Mr. Rochester wants nothing to do with Bertha, who he claims he was cheated into espousing (320). Clearly, both of these female characters feel very unwanted at some point in their lives, if not throughout. Brontà « uses very similar images and language to portray Jane Eyre and Bertha Mason. She frequently refers to both as animals, especially dogs. While Janes subdued character likens herself to a masterless and stray dog (363), others refer to her as a bad animal (41) orShow MoreRelatedFunhouse Mirrors: Jane Eyre and Bertha Mason Essay1717 Words   |  7 PagesTim Bartlett ENG 396 March 23, 2011 Funhouse Mirrors: Jane Eyre and Bertha Mason â€Å"Jane Eyre† is a book centred around female duality. In a time when females were still expected to fulfill their â€Å"womanly duties,† Charlotte Bronte wrote a novel dealing with a woman’s view on morality sexuality, passion sensibility, and conformity insanity, among other themes. This motif of duality plays a strong part in the dynamism that makes up the book, and is not limited to the themes, but is also usedRead More A Comparison of the Ideals of Bronte in Jane Eyre and Voltaire in Candide2672 Words   |  11 PagesThe Ideals of Bronte in Jane Eyre and Voltaire in Candide      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Subjective novelists tend to use personal attitudes to shape their characters. Whether it be an interjection of opinion here, or an allusion to personal experience there, the beauty of a story lies in the clever disclosure of the authors personality. Charlotte Bronte and Voltaire are no exceptions. Their most notable leading characters, Jane Eyre and Candide, represent direct expressions of the respective authors emotions andRead MoreA Dialogue of Self and Soul11424 Words   |  46 Pagesto women, though it refers brieï ¬â€šy to the ambiguous class position of governesses such as Jane Eyre. The authors analyse the intertwined processes of female rebellion and repression in the narrative and highlight in particular the reading of Bertha Mason, the mad wife, as the symbol of Jane’s repressed passion. This was later to become an accepted interpretation of Bertha. In relating the novel to Charlotte Brontà « the writer, they see the text as ultimately half-optimistic for women’s future in