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Abstract：Jane Eyre, by far the best known of Charlotte Bronte’s literary production, published 1847. Jane, the heroine, a governess’s rebelliousness, her hate of servility, her insistence on equality with her master, and her declaration that she has a right to feelings and passions that impresses me most. This paper, from what Jane Eyre experiences and what she thinks about the happenings, analyses Jane Eyre’s independent characters and spirits in five segments each with its own setting: Gateshead, Lowood, Thornfield, Moor House, Ferndean, points out the significance of Jane Eyre’s independence in her ages.
Key words：independence significance the nineteenth century five segments
Chapter 1 At Gatesead: Consciousness of Independence
Jane, a ten-year-old orphan living with her relatives, the Reeds, as a dependent who never seems to fit in at Gateshead. From Chapter 1 to Chapter 4 the author describes that although Jane seems to be defeated and punished at last because of Mrs. Reed’s partiality for John, she appears her distinguished characteristic of fighting for independence.Jane’s characteristic charm and value is embodied for the first time.
From then on Jane begins to realize that she needs to be saved from her blind fear of authority and be self-reliant or self-independent. Jane claims that "I resisted all the way: a new thing for me,like any other rebel slave, I felt resolved, in my desperation, to go all lengths." (P5) These sentences foreshadow what will be an important theme of the rest of the book, that of female independence or rebelliousness.
At Gateshead it becomes obvious that Jane is self-willed and has a temper. Here Jane makes her first declaration of independence. She will no longer be considered a secondary member of the Reed household. We preliminarily see Jane’s independent spirit from her childhood and can continually find how the writer develops it to a higher level in the following chapters.
Chapter 2 At Lowood Institution: Expansion of Struggle into a wider environment
In Lowood Institution, Jane does not extricate herself from an awkward predicament. She suffers from cold, hungry, beat and humiliation. From Miss Maria Temple and Helen Burns, Jane learns the value of independence and comes to under influence of tolerance and endurance of suffering. Jane also learns from Helen the importance of duty and self-control. In the following novel, when Jane is back to Thornfield to see her dying aunt, she bears the snubs of her cousins with a new equanimity, and pities her helpless aunt with all her heart. She has learned to forgive.
Jane spends eight happy years in Lowood, the last two as a teacher. There Jane gains strength from her teacher and fellow students to achieve her independence. If in Gateshead Jane resists only her aunt’s family, then in Lowood the resists object has expanded into a wider environment.
Chapter 3 At Thornfield Hall: Resistance to Traditional System
But after Miss Temple leaves to be married, Jane realizes that there is a great world beyond and longs to explore it. She longs for liberty and gives up her position in school to apply for the governess in Thornfield, the house of Mr. Rochester. Till then, the character, Jane goes up on the social stage formally and goes on developing her independent character and shows her insistence on the rights of women to a complete and full life.
Jane tries to regain control over her passion when she feels her loss of independence after she accepts Rochester’s love. She resists becoming dependent on him and his money. Twists and turns of love between Jane and Rochester produce a large space to open up Jane’s character entirely. However, she does not lose heart and withdraw or even belittle herself. She conducts herself in this battle for love with a great disparity in social status. Jane refuses to have sexual relationship with Rochester because she fears that she will lose her independence because of passion. Jane’s high demand for equality is just to fight with the social unjust treatment and traditional marriage system.
To this step, the object Jane resists has become a traditional system. To Jane, the appearance of the raving maniac—Mr. Rochester’s wife, is undoubtedly a blot from the blue, but also stimulates her independent spirit. To defend her dignity and uphold the solemnity legality and purity of marriage, Jane, too proud and independent to be just a mistress to Rochester, left lover resolutely and determinedly in spite of Rochester’s countless implores, heart-brokenly. Jane’s indomitable fights not only win Rochester’s respect and true love but also gain the high praise from millions of readers.
Chapter 4 At Moor House: Pleasure of Self-sufficiency and Self-supporting
After leaving Thorfield, Jane met with difficulties for forgetting her parcel in her disturbed state. Penniless and starving, she is saved and befriended by St. John Rivers and his two sisters. Jane becomes spiritually stronger and more confident through her friendship with them. She realizes that her problems are her own, that she has no claim on any people. In the long interlude before Jane is reunited with Mr. Rochester, she is tested still further, but she has grown in moral power and in recognition that she is fully responsible for what she is and does.
Jane Eyre rejects John’s proposal of marriage because she does not love him and he does not love her. Jane Eyre finally insists at the last moment depending on her born independent spirit. Jane now is fighting against not only St. John but also an ostensible Christian duty—to be a priest’s wife to serve God. So she once puzzles for the object she resists is in relation to scared God. Fortunately, Rochester’s call draws her back and impels her to make up her mind to refuse St. John. We can easily prove Jane’s independent spirit from her analysis on her own character.
Chapter 5 At Ferdean: Achievement of Independence
At Ferdean, Jane marries Rochester as his equal after his wife’s death and his loss of all his property in a big fire. What I admire most and find touching is the self-respect, faith and persistence shows in Jane’s love to Mr. Rochester. Jane values love highly on basis of honesty and self-respect. Compared with her deep love to Rochester, she cherishes self-esteem and independent integrity even more.
According to the standards of women’s moral behaves in Victorian, we could discover two faults in Jane: The first is that she expresses her love to a man actively; on the other hand, she refuses another man’s love. But it is just these plots that show Jane’s independence sense and the strong wish of longing equality extremely. Jane becomes a person who is admired, respected, and cared for, without compromising any of her other principles in her long struggle to attain her unchanged terms. Jane’s actions opens the doors for a new interpretation of women and shows that it is possible for a woman of the nineteenth century to achieve independence and success on her own.
Conclusion
Through above analyses, we can know obviously that the author of Jane Eyre creates successfully a typical heroine’s personal character that has the spirit of independence and fights for freedom and equality is different from the common run. Charlotte is also presenting through the character of Jane some of her own most deeply felt convictions, convictions of permanent importance in human life the right of the humblest person to affection and self-realization, honesty and integrity, the right to speak out frankly, and the claims of morality and religion.
References：
[1]Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte．南方出版社．
[2]Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre by Ruth H. Blackburn．外语教学与研究出版社，Simon
Key words：independence significance the nineteenth century five segments
Chapter 1 At Gatesead: Consciousness of Independence
Jane, a ten-year-old orphan living with her relatives, the Reeds, as a dependent who never seems to fit in at Gateshead. From Chapter 1 to Chapter 4 the author describes that although Jane seems to be defeated and punished at last because of Mrs. Reed’s partiality for John, she appears her distinguished characteristic of fighting for independence.Jane’s characteristic charm and value is embodied for the first time.
From then on Jane begins to realize that she needs to be saved from her blind fear of authority and be self-reliant or self-independent. Jane claims that "I resisted all the way: a new thing for me,like any other rebel slave, I felt resolved, in my desperation, to go all lengths." (P5) These sentences foreshadow what will be an important theme of the rest of the book, that of female independence or rebelliousness.
At Gateshead it becomes obvious that Jane is self-willed and has a temper. Here Jane makes her first declaration of independence. She will no longer be considered a secondary member of the Reed household. We preliminarily see Jane’s independent spirit from her childhood and can continually find how the writer develops it to a higher level in the following chapters.
Chapter 2 At Lowood Institution: Expansion of Struggle into a wider environment
In Lowood Institution, Jane does not extricate herself from an awkward predicament. She suffers from cold, hungry, beat and humiliation. From Miss Maria Temple and Helen Burns, Jane learns the value of independence and comes to under influence of tolerance and endurance of suffering. Jane also learns from Helen the importance of duty and self-control. In the following novel, when Jane is back to Thornfield to see her dying aunt, she bears the snubs of her cousins with a new equanimity, and pities her helpless aunt with all her heart. She has learned to forgive.
Jane spends eight happy years in Lowood, the last two as a teacher. There Jane gains strength from her teacher and fellow students to achieve her independence. If in Gateshead Jane resists only her aunt’s family, then in Lowood the resists object has expanded into a wider environment.
Chapter 3 At Thornfield Hall: Resistance to Traditional System
But after Miss Temple leaves to be married, Jane realizes that there is a great world beyond and longs to explore it. She longs for liberty and gives up her position in school to apply for the governess in Thornfield, the house of Mr. Rochester. Till then, the character, Jane goes up on the social stage formally and goes on developing her independent character and shows her insistence on the rights of women to a complete and full life.
Jane tries to regain control over her passion when she feels her loss of independence after she accepts Rochester’s love. She resists becoming dependent on him and his money. Twists and turns of love between Jane and Rochester produce a large space to open up Jane’s character entirely. However, she does not lose heart and withdraw or even belittle herself. She conducts herself in this battle for love with a great disparity in social status. Jane refuses to have sexual relationship with Rochester because she fears that she will lose her independence because of passion. Jane’s high demand for equality is just to fight with the social unjust treatment and traditional marriage system.
To this step, the object Jane resists has become a traditional system. To Jane, the appearance of the raving maniac—Mr. Rochester’s wife, is undoubtedly a blot from the blue, but also stimulates her independent spirit. To defend her dignity and uphold the solemnity legality and purity of marriage, Jane, too proud and independent to be just a mistress to Rochester, left lover resolutely and determinedly in spite of Rochester’s countless implores, heart-brokenly. Jane’s indomitable fights not only win Rochester’s respect and true love but also gain the high praise from millions of readers.
Chapter 4 At Moor House: Pleasure of Self-sufficiency and Self-supporting
After leaving Thorfield, Jane met with difficulties for forgetting her parcel in her disturbed state. Penniless and starving, she is saved and befriended by St. John Rivers and his two sisters. Jane becomes spiritually stronger and more confident through her friendship with them. She realizes that her problems are her own, that she has no claim on any people. In the long interlude before Jane is reunited with Mr. Rochester, she is tested still further, but she has grown in moral power and in recognition that she is fully responsible for what she is and does.
Jane Eyre rejects John’s proposal of marriage because she does not love him and he does not love her. Jane Eyre finally insists at the last moment depending on her born independent spirit. Jane now is fighting against not only St. John but also an ostensible Christian duty—to be a priest’s wife to serve God. So she once puzzles for the object she resists is in relation to scared God. Fortunately, Rochester’s call draws her back and impels her to make up her mind to refuse St. John. We can easily prove Jane’s independent spirit from her analysis on her own character.
Chapter 5 At Ferdean: Achievement of Independence
At Ferdean, Jane marries Rochester as his equal after his wife’s death and his loss of all his property in a big fire. What I admire most and find touching is the self-respect, faith and persistence shows in Jane’s love to Mr. Rochester. Jane values love highly on basis of honesty and self-respect. Compared with her deep love to Rochester, she cherishes self-esteem and independent integrity even more.
According to the standards of women’s moral behaves in Victorian, we could discover two faults in Jane: The first is that she expresses her love to a man actively; on the other hand, she refuses another man’s love. But it is just these plots that show Jane’s independence sense and the strong wish of longing equality extremely. Jane becomes a person who is admired, respected, and cared for, without compromising any of her other principles in her long struggle to attain her unchanged terms. Jane’s actions opens the doors for a new interpretation of women and shows that it is possible for a woman of the nineteenth century to achieve independence and success on her own.
Conclusion
Through above analyses, we can know obviously that the author of Jane Eyre creates successfully a typical heroine’s personal character that has the spirit of independence and fights for freedom and equality is different from the common run. Charlotte is also presenting through the character of Jane some of her own most deeply felt convictions, convictions of permanent importance in human life the right of the humblest person to affection and self-realization, honesty and integrity, the right to speak out frankly, and the claims of morality and religion.
References：
[1]Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte．南方出版社．
[2]Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre by Ruth H. Blackburn．外语教学与研究出版社，Simon