Meet Charlotte Brontë · that were a blend of myth, history, current events, and society-page...

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a set of twelve wooden soldiers their fatherbrought home, they invented imaginary worldsthat were a blend of myth, history, current events,and society-page stories from newspapers andmagazines. Gradually Charlotte came to focus onromantic passion and themes of temptation andbetrayal in these melodramatic tales. This story-writing provided an essential outlet for Charlotte’screativity, an outlet she would painfully miss onceshe began her “wretched bondage” as a governess.

After unsuccessful attempts at living awayfrom Haworth as students or teachers, Charlotte,Emily, and Anne decided to launch a school forgirls in their hometown. To help them prepare forthis venture, their aunt paid for them to go to aschool in Belgium to study foreign languages.There, Charlotte fell deeply in love with herFrench teacher, a man with whom she had nohope of a future. Heartsick, she returned home.

When the sisters’ school failed to attractpupils, all three turned in earnest to their long-cherished literary ambitions. Under male pseudo-nyms they published a joint collection of poems.Soon afterward, each sister completed a first novel.Emily’s Wuthering Heights was published, as wasAnne’s novel. But Charlotte’s Professor, a storyloosely based on her experiences in Belgium, wasrejected. Charlotte’s second novel was an immedi-ate success. Jane Eyre, the compelling story of aself-reliant young governess, was published in 1847.Alternately referred to by critics as “a book afterour own heart” and an “anti-Christian composi-tion,” Jane Eyre signified the triumph of Charlotte’sdesire to bring forth a creation entirely her own.

Brontë’s enjoyment of her fame was short-lived. Her brother Branwell, an unsuccessful artistwho had become an alcoholic, died in 1848.Then, within a year, both of her sisters died ofconsumption. Charlotte continued to live atHaworth in order to care for her elderly father.She also continued to write. Finally, a year beforeher death, she married a family friend. She con-fided to Ellen Nussey, “What I taste of happiness isof the soberest order.”

Meet Charlotte Brontë

Unless I have something of my own to say, and a wayof my own to say it in, I have no business to publish.

. . . Unless I can have the courage to use thelanguage of Truth in preference to the jargon of

Conventionality, I ought to be silent.

—Charlotte Brontë

Charlotte Brontë, born in 1816, grew up in the small mill town of Haworth on the

edge of the rugged moors of West Yorkshire, innortheastern England. The setting was isolatedand made lonelier by the fact that Charlotte’smother had died when Charlotte was five.Charlotte, her four sisters—Maria, Elizabeth,Emily, and Anne—and their brother, Branwell,turned to each other for companionship.

Charlotte Brontë’s father was a Cambridge-educated clergyman. Because the family was notwell off, the Brontë girls were sent to a boardingschool where they could prepare for their futureemployment as governesses. At the school, disci-pline was harsh, the food inadequate, and livingconditions unhealthy. Students often became ill.Maria and Elizabeth Brontë both contracted con-sumption (today called tuberculosis) at the schooland died at home in 1825. After this tragedy, Mr.Brontë himself educated the children at Haworth.

Throughout their childhood and into adult-hood, the close-knit Brontë children entertainedthemselves by creating fanciful stories. Inspired by

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The writer has us by the hand, forces us alongher road, makes us see what she sees, neverleaves us for a moment or allows us to forgether. At the end we are steeped through andthrough with the genius, the vehemence, theindignation of Charlotte Brontë.

—Virginia Woolf, British novelist

How did Charlotte Brontë come to write Jane Eyre?According to her friend and biographer ElizabethGaskell, Charlotte was having a debate with her sisters about the important qualities of a female pro-tagonist. Acknowledging the tendency of authors tomake their heroines beautiful, Charlotte assertedshe would create “a heroine as plain and small asmyself, who shall be as interesting as any of yours.”

The main character of Jane Eyre is not pretty.As the character herself says:

I sometimes regretted that I was not handsomer:I sometimes wished to have rosy cheeks, astraight nose, and small cherry mouth; I desiredto be tall, stately and finely developed in figure;I felt it a misfortune that I was so little, so pale,and had features so irregular and so marked.

Brontë’s unconventional heroine appealed to herreaders, however. As one critic said in 1887, “JaneEyre neither languishes in drawing-rooms nor sitsdangling her ankles upon gates, but is alwaysinteresting, eloquent, vehement.”

Jane Eyre is a young governess, a middle-classwoman hired to teach the children of well-to-dofamilies. When we first meet Jane, she is ten yearsold, without money, family, or friends. The novelcharts her progress toward maturity as she con-tends with a social world that is hostile and indif-ferent to her goals and desires.

Brontë’s novel is unconventional in waysother than her choice of heroine. Brontë tellsJane’s story in the form of an autobiographicalnarrative. In so doing, she takes readers intoJane’s inner life, a world of intense feeling andvigorous thought. At the time that the novel waspublished, such exploration of character andmotive was new in English literature. While thepopular gothic novels of the time—stories of the

supernatural set in exotic places—had exploredthe emotional side of experience, Brontë revealedthe psychological undercurrents of everyday life.So lifelike was her depiction of Jane Eyre’s per-sonality that many readers believed Jane was areal person. As Brontë’s contemporary G. H.Lewes remarked, “Reality—deep significant real-ity, is the characteristic of this book.”

Charlotte Brontë was strongly influenced bythe Romantic poets of the early 1800s, includingWilliam Wordsworth and Lord Byron. Theirworks stressed the importance of imagination,subjective emotion, and individual freedom.Brontë embraced these ideas, but she alsobelieved that literature should represent life. Sheshowed concern about the social and economicproblems of her day, about the poverty of theworking classes and the secondary status ofwomen. Later in life, she even wrote a novel,Shirley, about an industrial conflict that tookplace in Yorkshire. Jane Eyre expresses Brontë’ssocial conscience as well as her interest in theimaginative experience of the individual.

Many early readers of Jane Eyre also readElizabeth Gaskell’s biography of Brontë, whichcame out just two years after Brontë’s death.Details in the biography fueled speculation aboutjust how closely the novel mirrors Brontë’s ownlife. While there is not an exact correspondence,the novel does incorporate incidents and charac-ters from Brontë’s life. Today the parallelsbetween Charlotte and Jane are still part of theappeal of Jane Eyre, which remains one of themost popular of all English novels.

THE TIME AND PLACEThe novel takes place in England around the1840s, during the Victorian era. This period takesits name from Queen Victoria, who reigned from1837 to 1901. The period was generally a time ofpeace and prosperity, and by the 1840s, Englandhad emerged as the leading industrial society ofthe world and the hub of a vast colonial empire.The rising middle class was amassing unprece-dented wealth, but for the working population

Introducing the Novel

Jane Eyre Study Guide 11

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the 1840s came to be known as the “HungryForties,” a time of poverty and economicupheaval. These class distinctions as well as the

deprivations of the socially disadvantaged areevident in the plot, settings, and characters ofJane Eyre.

The occupation of governess had a specialappeal for middle-class women during theVictorian era. At this time, a woman who wasnot financially supported by a husband or othermale relative had few ways to earn a living.While many women in the 1800s did work inmills and factories, the unmarried daughters ofmerchants, doctors, lawyers, and clergymensought more “suitable” employment that couldoffer a moderately respectable lifestyle. A gov-erness lived with the upper-middle-class orupper-class family who hired her to teach theirchildren. In addition to securing comfortablelodgings, she earned a modest salary.

Being a governess, however, had consider-able drawbacks. Although a governess main-tained a ladylike appearance and was oftenbetter educated than her employers, she wasnot treated as an equal. At the same time, hersocial status was above that of the servants,who often ridiculed the governess’s claims to gentility. Working long hours and beingexpected to remain invisible during social gath-erings, governesses had little social contactwith adults, male or female. They had difficultyreceiving visits in their employers’ homes and kept in touch with friends mainly through

correspondence. Thus the life of a governesswas extremely lonely. As Brontë herself com-mented, “A private governess has no exis-tence, is not considered as a living andrational being except as connected with thewearisome duties she has to fulfil.”

The financial situation of a governess was also precarious. The wages of first-timegovernesses were not much higher than thoseof a housekeeper or lady’s maid. While theirwages rose over time, governesses, unlike servants, were expected to purchase their own clothes and pay for their own travel. Thus,they were often left with only pocket moneyand had little extra to save.

In addition, the working life of a governesswas generally short. Families favored gov-ernesses in their mid- to late-twenties. Thisfact, coupled with the oversupply of womenseeking posts, made it harder for governessesto find work after age thirty, and many facedretirement by the age of forty. To stave off animpoverished old age, a disproportionate num-ber of governesses ended up living in mentalasylums, the cheapest lodgings they couldfind, or old-age homes designed specifically forthese working women.

Did You Know?

Jane Eyre -:- Vocabulary Word Definition Affable

Apathy

Blasphemous

Bequeath

Chagrin

Charlatan

Coquette

Debauchery

Despotic

Effervescence

Elicit

Exigent

Foreboding

Gregarious

Influx

Perfidious

Pertinacity

Quell

Resplendent

Servile

Solicitous

Trite

Upbraid

Vignette

Zeal

Jane Eyre -:- Vocabulary

TEACHER’S EDITION Word Definition Affable Friendly, courteous, amiable

Apathy A lack of concern or feeling; indifference

Blasphemous Irreverent, profane

Bequeath To hand down, to give or leave in a will

Chagrin Vexation through humiliation, hurt pride or

disappointment

Charlatan One who claims to know something but does

not

Coquette A woman who flirts with men without sincere

affection

Debauchery Moral corruption

Despotic Ruling oppressively and absolutely, tyrannical

Effervescence Showing high spirits

Elicit To bring about a response; to evoke

Exigent Urgent, requiring immediate attention

Foreboding Premonition of evil; an ominous omen

Gregarious Sociable and outgoing

Influx A flow or coming in

Perfidious Calculated to deceive; deceitful; treacherous

Pertinacity Stubborn persistence to act or refusing to yield

to an opinion or belief

Quell To quiet; to put down a disturbance

Resplendent Brilliant, shinning

Servile Overly submissive

Solicitous Worried, concerned

Trite Overused, commonplace, hackneyed

Upbraid To scold harshly, to reproach

Vignette A short, descriptive literary sketch or scene

from a movie

Zeal Enthusiasm, fervor

Jane Eyre: Quarterly Review (December 1848)

By Elizabeth Rigby

We have said that this was the picture of a natural heart. This, to our view, is the great

and crying mischief of the book. Jane Eyre is throughout the personification of an

unregenerate and undisciplined spirit, the more dangerous to exhibit from that prestige of

principle and self-control which is liable to dazzle the eye too much for it to observe the

inefficient and unsound foundation on which it rests. It is true Jane does right, and exerts

great moral strength, but it is the strength of a mere heathen mind which is a law unto

itself. No Christian grace is perceptible upon her. She has inherited in fullest measure the

worst sin of our fallen nature—the sin of pride. Jane Eyre is proud, and therefore she is

ungrateful too. It pleased God to make her an orphan, friendless, and penniless—yet she

thanks nobody, and least of all Him, for the food and raiment, the friends, companions,

and instructors of her helpless youth—for the care and education vouchsafed to her till

she was capable in mind as fitted in years to provide for herself. On the contrary, she

looks upon all that has been done for her not only as her undoubted right, but as falling

far short of it. The doctrine of humility is not more foreign to her mind than it is

repudiated by her heart. It is by her own talents, virtues, and courage that she is made to

attain the summit of human happiness, and, as far as Jane Eyre's own statement is

concerned, no one would think that she owed anything either to God above or to man

below. Jane had lived there for eight years with 110 girls and fifteen teachers. Why had

she formed no friendships among them? Other orphans have left the same and similar

institutions, furnished with friends for life, and puzzled with homes to choose from. How

comes it that Jane had acquired neither? Among that number of associates there was

surely some exceptions to what she so presumptuously stigmatises as 'the society of

inferior minds.' Of course, it suited the author's end to represent the heroine as utterly

destitute of the common means of assistance, in order to exhibit both her trials and her

powers of self-support—the whole book rests on this assumption—but it is one which,

under the circumstances, is very unnatural and very unjust.

Jane Eyre: A Controversial Heroine

Directions: Using chapters 1-8, find at least four quotes to SUPPORT Rigby’s claim

and an additional four quotes REFUTE Rigby’s claim. This will result in a total of

eight quotes. Next to each quote include the chapter and page number.

SUPPORT of Rigby’s Claim REFUTE of Rigby’s Claim

The Four Areas of Character Analysis

Physical/Biological Defines gender, age, size, coloration and general appearance

• Age – be as specific as possible

• Gender

• Health – from excellent to sickly, including how one’s health may or may not effect his/her appearance.

• Particular physical characteristics that makes the character distinctive

• Ethnic origin – race, coloring of skin and hair

• Physical Stature/Figure – perfect, average, tall/short, thin/fat

• Physical Activity - dynamic, active, sedentary, listless, coach potato, confined to a wheel-chair, etc

• Face – handsome, good looks, common, homely, ugly

Social Defines economic status, profession or trade, religion, family relationships

• Class Situation – aristocracy, upper, upper middle, middle, lower middle, lower, beggar

• Economic Situation – rich, independent, salaried, day labor, dependent

• Social Situation/Social Role - how is the character related to the other characters in the book?

• Relationship to the World around him/her – How does the character fit into his/her social situation? Is the character

popular? Does he/she have friends? Is he/she a loner? Etc. How does the character interact with the other characters - is the

character: a leader, a helper, a follower, submissive, a slave?

• Occupation – list the character’s specific job or trade

• Group Affiliation – Does the character belong to or identify with a specific group or team? (example – a minority

group, a club, a sports team, a political group, etc)

• Political affiliation

• Religious affiliation

Psychological/Emotional Reveals habitual responses, desires, motivations, like and dislikes – the inner

workings of the mind. Reveals how the characters think (psychological) and what they feel (emotional).

• Psychological State – what does the character think about his/herself and the world around them? Is the character:

open-minded objective, subjective, unselfish, selfish, paranoid?

• Emotional State – what does the character feel about his/herself and the world around them? Does the character feel:

accepted, rejected, oppressed, etc?

• Emotional Depth - are the character’s relationships: life-long, lasting, moderate, passing, momentary?

• Emotional Control – no temper, slow temper, even temper, quick temper, a loose cannon

• Desires or goals – what does the character want?

• Loves – what, or who, does the character value?

• Weaknesses – what, if anything, is a potential psychological or emotional weakness, on the part of the character, that

can interfere with the character obtaining his/her desire?

• Prejudices – what, if anything, does the character feel prejudicial about?

Moral/Ethical Reveals what the characters are willing to do (moral beliefs) to get what they want and what

characters actually do (ethical behavior) when faced with making a difficult choice. belief, and therefore such actions are

not to be seen as immoral or unethical within the context of the play.

• Moral beliefs – an individual’s or society’s beliefs in what is right and wrong in terms of behavior.

• Is the character able to determine right from wrong and to make decisions based upon that knowledge?

• Determine the individual character’s morals, based on what his/her conscience suggests is right and wrong, rather than

on what the law or society dictates.

• Determine the morals of the world of the play in general: the principles of right and wrong judged by the standards of

the average person or society at large, and how those principles govern standards of behavior. Does the character hold

beliefs in contradiction to those of their society?

• Ethical behavior – how an individual or society conducts themselves according to their morals.

• How does a character’s moral beliefs affect his/her conduct? For example, is a character unable to act due to a

moral/ethical dilemma?

Godey’s Lady’s Book Philadelphia, March 1850

"Women often complain that men are unjust towards their sex, in withholding from them higher mental culture, and in not allowing them full access to the sciences, thus Keeping them down to mere household duties, and to the government of the domestic circle. It is, however, unjust that man, on this account, should be the subject of complaint. For has he not placed his wife in the highest and holiest position she can occupy when he places her at the head of his domestic relations, and intrusts to her the government of his household? When a man is harassed by external duties and relations, when anxiously employed in procuring the means of subsistence, and when he even takes part in the government of the state – in all these conditions of life he is dependent on circumstances, and can scarcely be said to govern anything, but is often reduced to the necessity of acting from motives of policy, when he would gladly act from his own rational convictions – to conceal his real principles when he would delight to act frankly and openly; and even to act out the suggestions of fallacy and falsehood, when he would gladly act from sincerity and uprightness. To all this the man, in his external life in the world, is subject, and at the same time rarely attains the end for which he labors, but loses that harmony with himself, in which, nevertheless, the true ends and the true enjoyment of life consist. Whereas, the prudent woman reigns in her family circle, making happiness and every virtue possible, and spreading harmony and peace throughout her domain. What is the highest happiness of man, but to carry out what he knows to be right and good, and to have full control over the means to this end? And where are our dearest and inmost ends in life, but in the household? Where do we find our ever-returning and indispensable wants satisfied, but in the beloved spot where we rise up and lie down? What regular activity is required to carry out this ever-returning order of things. To how few men is it granted to return regularly like a star, and to preside both over the day and the night! But the woman who arranges her household, forms her domestic plans, watches over the economy of her house, and wisely dispenses her means, spreads harmony, love, and peace throughout the circle, and makes her husband, whom she loves, a happy prince over that happiest domain. Her attention gathers all the knowledge she requires, and her a activity knows how to employ it. She is dependent on nothing, save the love and attachment of her husband, for whom she procures true independence – that which is internal and domestic. That which his labor has acquired, he sees properly secured and employed, Thus, in a spirit of true independence, he can devote his energies to great objects – and become to the state (by promoting its prosperity) what his wife is to the household over which she presides."

Ideals of Womanhood in Victorian Britain

By Lynn Abrams

The icon

During the reign of Queen Victoria, a woman's place was in the home, as domesticity and motherhood

were considered by society at large to be a sufficient emotional fulfilment for females. These

constructs kept women far away from the public sphere in most ways, but during the 19th century

charitable missions did begin to extend the female role of service, and Victorian feminism emerged as

a potent political force.

The transformation of Britain into an industrial nation had profound consequences for the ways in

which women were to be idealised in Victorian times. New kinds of work and new kinds of urban

living prompted a change in the ways in which appropriate male and female roles were perceived. In

particular, the notion of separate spheres - woman in the private sphere of the home and hearth, man in

the public sphere of business, politics and sociability - came to influence the choices and experiences

of all women, at home, at work, in the streets.

' ... Victoria became an icon of late-19th-century middle-class femininity and domesticity. '

The Victorian era, 1837-1901, is characterised as the domestic age par excellence, epitomised by

Queen Victoria, who came to represent a kind of femininity which was centred on the family,

motherhood and respectability. Accompanied by her beloved husband Albert, and surrounded by her

many children in the sumptuous but homely surroundings of Balmoral Castle, Victoria became an icon

of late-19th-century middle-class femininity and domesticity.

Indeed, Victoria came to be seen as the very model of marital stability and domestic virtue. Her

marriage to Albert represented the ideal of marital harmony. She was described as 'the mother of the

nation', and she came to embody the idea of home as a cosy, domestic space. When Albert died in 1861

she retreated to her home and family in preference to public political engagements.


By Lynn Abrams

The ideal woman

Victorian husband and wife

Apart from the queen - who was the ideal Victorian woman? She may have resembled Mrs Frances Goodby, the

wife of the Reverend J Goodby of Ashby-de-la-Zouch in Leicestershire, of whom it was said at her death that

she carried out her duties as mistress of a small family with 'piety, patience, frugality and industry'. Moreover,

'... her ardent and unceasing flow of spirits, extreme activity and diligence, her punctuality, uprightness and

remarkable frugality, combined with a firm reliance on God ... carried her through the severest times of pressure,

both with credit and respectability ...' (The General Baptist Repository and Missionary Observer, 1840).

Mrs Goodby exemplified the good and virtuous woman whose life revolved around the domestic sphere of the

home and family. She was pious, respectable and busy - no life of leisure for her. Her diligence and evident

constant devotion to her husband, as well as to her God, identifies Frances Goodby as an example to other

women. She accepted her place in the sexual hierarchy. Her role was that of helpmeet and domestic manager.

'... domesticity was trumpeted as a female domain.'

By the time that the industrial era was well advanced in Britain, the ideology that assigned the private sphere to

the woman and the public sphere of business, commerce and politics to the man had been widely dispersed. In

popular advice literature and domestic novels, as well as in the advertisement columns of magazines and

newspapers, domesticity was trumpeted as a female domain.

The increasing physical separation of the home and the workplace, for many amongst the professional and

commercial classes, meant that these women lost touch with production, and came to fashion an identity solely

within the domestic sphere. It was through their duties within the home that women were offered a moral duty,

towards their families, especially their husbands, and towards society as a whole.

However, as the example of Frances Goodby shows, the ideal woman at this time was not the weak, passive

creature of romantic fiction. Rather she was a busy, able and upright figure who drew strength from her moral

superiority and whose virtue was manifested in the service of others.

Thus the notion of separate spheres - as lived in the industrial period - was not a blind adherence to a set of

imposed values. Rather it was a way of living and working based on evangelical beliefs about the importance of

the family, the constancy of marriage and woman's innate moral goodness.


By Lynn Abrams

At home

'Punch' cartoon, 1858: 'A very pretty church, but the door is certainly very narrow!'

The home was regarded as a haven from the busy and chaotic public world of politics and business,

and from the grubby world of the factory. Those who could afford to, created cosy domestic interiors

with plush fabrics, heavy curtains and fussy furnishings which effectively cocooned the inhabitants

from the world outside. The middle-class household contained concrete expressions of domesticity in

the form of servants, homely décor, comfortable furnishings, home entertainment, and clothing.

'The female body was dressed to emphasise a woman's separation from the world of work.'

Women's clothes began to mirror women's function. In the 19th century women's fashions became

more sexual - the hips, buttocks and breasts were exaggerated with crinolines, hoopskirts and corsets

which nipped in the waist and thrust out the breasts. The female body was dressed to emphasise a

woman's separation from the world of work. By wearing dresses that resembled their interior

furnishings, women became walking symbols of their social function - wife, mother, domestic

manager.

The fashion for constricting corsets and large skirts served to underline not only a woman's prime

function, but also the physical constraints on her activities. It was difficult to move freely wearing

corsets that made it hard to breathe, and heavy fabrics that impeded movement. No wonder that those

women who could afford to keep up with the latest fashions were prone to fainting, headaches and

what was termed 'hysteria'.


By Lynn Abrams

Household management

Victorian woman darning in her home

Domesticity also entailed pressures to conform to other new standards. Numerous publications told

women how to be good wives and household managers.

Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management was first published in 1861, and remained a bestseller

for over 50 years. It contained advice on how to become the perfect housewife, and how to create a

domestic interior that provided a welcoming haven for the man of the house. In 1890 The Christian

Miscellany and Family Visitor (a religious magazine) wrote in its 'Hints for Home Life' column:

'She [the housewife] is the architect of home, and it depends on her skill, her foresight, her soft

arranging touches whether it shall be the "lodestar to all hearts", or whether it shall be a house from

which husband and children are glad to escape either to the street, the theatre, or the tavern.'

'Most middle-class households had just one servant... '

But of course maintaining a middle-class household in the 19th century involved hard physical labour,

most of it carried out by women. All the major tasks involved fetching and boiling water. Washing and

ironing clothes was strenuous work. Floors were washed and scrubbed with sand. Food was prepared

at home.

In addition, few families had flushing toilets before the end of the century and, although ready-made

clothing became available in the middle of the century, underclothes were still made by hand and bed-

linen was hemmed and repaired at home. So, if it could be afforded, servants were hired to carry out

these domestic tasks.

It is a fallacy that most middle-class women were able to afford sufficient servants to allow them to

spend their lives in idle leisure. Most middle-class households had just one servant - sufficient to give

the woman of the house a certain status, but insufficient to allow her to spend days doing embroidery

and playing the piano.


By Lynn Abrams

The ideology

Victorian women indoors

If we approach 19th-century middle-class domestic life from the perspective of those living it, it

becomes clear that women actively moulded a culture that served their own interests. The domestic

sphere was a cultural expression of the female world. Their fashions, etiquette, domestic furnishings,

social engagements, religious devotion and charitable activity all served to delineate a universe within

which women could demonstrate their power.

It is only in prescriptive literature that the bourgeois woman, who idly spent her days exercising her

creative talents, socialising with other women and supervising the servants, can be found. In reality

most middle-class women were active both within and outside the home.

'This created a supply of cheap labour in the form of married women ...'

So far the ideal Victorian women has been portrayed as a member of the middle classes, but the

ideology of domesticity was also powerful amongst the working classes. Working-class men began to

demand the privileges of domesticity for their wives, while protecting their own jobs and rates of pay.

At the same time working-class women were beginning to demand these privileges for themselves, in

order to protect their status within the home. In practice, though, domesticity meant something rather

different for these women. Homework, that is paid work undertaken in the home, was regarded as

compatible with marriage and children, so working-class women found themselves working at badly

paid jobs in their own homes, while still maintaining the fiction that women's only duties lay within the

domestic sphere.

Thus domestic industry was able to expand during the 19th century, given a boost by the ideology of

domesticity. This created a supply of cheap labour in the form of married women, who earned the

additional income that enabled the family to survive.


By Lynn Abrams

Wife and mother

Victorian nursery maid with children

At the heart of the domestic ideal was the mother and her children. Since early in the 19th century the

role of mother had been idealised. Motherhood was no longer simply a reproductive function, but was

imbued with symbolic meaning. Domesticity and motherhood were portrayed as sufficient emotional

fulfilment for women and many middle-class women regarded motherhood and domestic life as a

'sweet vocation', a substitute for women's productive role.

'... the childless single woman was a figure to be pitied.'

Women of the middle classes spent more time with their children than their predecessors. They were

more likely to breast-feed, to play with and educate their children, and to incorporate them in the day-

to-day life of the home. Middle-class women who, by mid century, were giving birth 'confined' within

the home, now achieved true womanhood if they responded emotionally to their infants and bonded

with them through breast-feeding and constant attendance. Motherhood was seen as an affirmation of

their identity.

Marriage signified a woman's maturity and respectability, but motherhood was confirmation that she

had entered the world of womanly virtue and female fulfilment. For a woman not to become a mother

meant she was liable to be labelled inadequate, a failure or in some way abnormal. Motherhood was

expected of a married woman and the childless single woman was a figure to be pitied. She was often

encouraged to find work caring for children - as a governess or a nursery maid - presumably to

compensate her for her loss.


By Lynn Abrams

Social responsibility

A Victorian mother, pushing a pram

The message that motherhood was woman's highest achievement, albeit within marriage, never

weakened through the course of the century. Indeed, it was in this period that motherhood was

idealised as the zenith of a woman's emotional and spiritual fulfilment. At the same time, however,

motherhood was becoming a social responsibility, a duty to the state and thus a full-time job, which

could not easily be combined with paid work. And mothering became something that was no longer

natural but which had to be learned.

In the new industrial cities such as Manchester, Bradford and Glasgow, infant mortality rates were

high. Responsibility for the appalling death rate amongst infants was roundly placed on the shoulders

of mothers. Middle-class philanthropists, government inspectors and medical men united in their

condemnation of the infant-care methods of poor women. Infant deaths, it was believed, could be

prevented if poor mothers breast-fed their babies and were taught baby care.

'... the ideal of true motherhood demanded women be constantly present for their children ...'

In reality, the high infant mortality rate in the industrial cities was just as much to do with poor

sanitation, dirty water, overcrowding and the pervasiveness of disease, but these were more difficult

problems to solve. Yet the ideal of true motherhood demanded women be constantly present for their

children - it implied a commitment to domesticity and was therefore seen as incompatible with the

demands of the labour market. Working-class mothers were therefore more likely to be labelled

irresponsible and neglectful, when in truth they were struggling to combine the demands of childcare

and putting a meal on the table.


By Lynn Abrams

Woman's mission

'Punch' cartoon, 1894: Victorian women took their own brand of morality into the homes of the poor

Middle-class women of the Victorian era did leave their homes - and not just to socialise but to visit

the homes of the poor. These women used their position of privilege to export expertise in domestic

affairs to those regarded as in need of advice, so they might attain the same high standards of

household management. The power that middle-class women had achieved in the home was now used

by them in order to gain access to another world characterised by, as they saw it, poverty, drink, vice

and ignorance.

'They could lecture working-class women on cleanliness ... '

At the same time, entering this world provided the lady philanthropist with a little excitement, maybe

even danger, and a means to self-discovery. Moreover, these women's unshakeable belief in their own

domestic morality not only informed the form of charity they chose to sponsor - mother and baby

homes, kindergartens, temperance campaigns and health and hygiene reform - but also those persons

deemed worthy of help and the conditions demanded for the receipt of charity.

So they provided aid to mothers and infants in the name of improving infant and maternal mortality

rates, while barring illegitimate children from their crèches. They could lecture working-class women

on cleanliness in homes resembling slums, while they relied on servants to keep their own homes up to

the required standard.

Food

Ideals of Womanhood in

Victorian Britian

The icon

Household management

The ideology

At home

The ideal woman

Wife and Mother

Social Responsibility

Woman’s mission

Jane’s Relationship Writes Write a one-two page typed explanation for each relationship in the novel when prompted to do so.

1: Jane's relationship with Mrs Reed Mrs. Reed is Jane's aunt. She despises her and allows her own children to bully Jane. Later we see how all three

Reed children grow up to be miserable and unpopular. When Jane's wealthy uncle, John Eyre, writes (from

Madeira) with the aim of adopting Jane, Mrs. Reed writes back to inform him that Jane is dead. Dying, Mrs. Reed

asks for, and receives, Jane's forgiveness.

Subject/implications/moral and philosophical context

Describe the nature of this relationship. Why does Mrs. Reed so dislike Jane? (Mrs. Reed explains this in

Chapter 21). Comment on Jane's forgiveness of Mrs. Reed, as she dies.

Mrs. Reed tries to harm Jane by depriving her of her inheritance. Explain how she succeeds at first, but

ultimately fails in this attempt.

How does Mrs. Reed, without intending it, help Jane to become strong and independent?

Style/structure/narrative craft

Mrs. Reed disappears from the novel when Jane goes to Lowood School, but reappears briefly, when she

is dying. Why is her reappearance important to the structure of the story?

Effects of language/emotive, ironic, figurative effect/patterns and details

Comment on Brontë's use of dialogue to show this relationship.

What is the effect of the final sentence of Chapter 21?

2: Jane's relationship with Helen Burns Helen is a girl some three years older than Jane, and becomes her first, and best, friend at Lowood School. Helen

is patient under suffering, and teaches Jane to be less excitable. She sees the best in others, even teachers who

dislike her. She is almost too good for this world. As she dies of typhus she is sure that she is going to be with

God. Jane leaves the reader, also, in no doubt of this.


Explain how Jane finds her first real friend in Helen, who is very different from her.

What does Jane learn from her friendship with Helen?

How does Helen feel about dying? Why does she face death with such confidence?


How does Charlotte Brontë arouse the reader's admiration for Helen?


How are Helen's character and beliefs shown in her speech?

What is the meaning of the last paragraph of Chapter 9? Why should Helen's grave receive a proper

memorial only fifteen years after her death?

3: Jane's relationship with St. John Rivers St. John (pronounced Sínjun) Rivers is a clergyman who gives Jane shelter when she flees from Thornfield. Later

Jane finds that he is her cousin. He is a good and sincere man who plans to go abroad as a missionary. He

proposes to Jane, but she declines his offer. In 1847 the idea of marrying a handsome and courageous man and

supporting him in his vocation would have been attractive to many readers. St. John and his sisters (Diana and

Mary) become Jane's best friends, and he helps her recover her fortune. Jane takes only a quarter of the

inheritance and gives the rest to St. John, Diana and Mary. The Rivers family can be contrasted with the Reeds,

and St. John, hard on himself but kind to others, with the hypocritical Mr. Brocklehurst.


Explain the nature of Jane's relationship with St. John. Why would he be attractive to many women? Why

does Jane decide to reject his offer of marriage?

In what ways does Jane's relationship with St. John resemble that with Helen Burns?


How does Jane present St. John to the reader? Why does she end the novel with an account of his

achievements? In what ways does he deserve this honour?


In the final part of the novel, Jane refers to other books to describe St. John. These include The Pilgrim's

Progress and St. Paul's letters from the New Testament of the Bible. What is the effect of these

references?

4: Jane's relationship with Mr. Rochester This relationship dominates the novel, as it becomes the most important thing in Jane's life. At first Jane finds

Rochester rather rude and insensitive, but it is her ability to stand up to him that earns his love. He hopes to

secure her in a bigamous marriage. Although the modern reader is sympathetic to Rochester who was tricked, as a

young man, into marrying a lunatic, the 19th century reader would have no doubt that Jane does the right thing in

leaving him - to be his mistress is not an option. The fire that widows him also disables him. He has to learn to

depend on Jane. And as an heiress, she does not even depend on his fortune any more.


Try to trace the different stages of Jane's relationship with Rochester. This is a big subject, so be selective.

Why does he prefer her to the conventional beauty of Blanche Ingram?


How does Jane influence the reader's response to Mr. Rochester?

Comment on the mystery surrounding Rochester's wife. How is this presented in the story?

Comment on Jane's remarks to the reader about her relationship with Rochester.


Explore the way in which Brontë presents the themes of sight and blindness, sanity and madness.

How does Brontë use dialogue to show the various stages of Jane's relationship with Rochester?

Comment on the ideas of the natural and the supernatural in the presentation of this relationship.

CP English IV

Jane Eyre Reading Quiz -:- Chapters 1-12

1. What archetype is Jane at the start of the novel and why?

2. What is symbolic about the color of the room Jane is sent to for punishment?

3. Who is Miss Bessie and how does she treat Jane?

4. “I could not answer the ceaseless inward question—why I thus suffered now, at the distance of—I will not say

how many years, I see it clearly.” This quote shows what about the type of narration being used?

5. What is the name of the school Jane is sent away to?

6. What do all of the girls at the school have in common? Why is this ironic for Jane?

7. What does Mrs. Temple do when the porridge is burned?

8. What is the name of Jane’s only friend?

9. Explain the following quote: “Such is the imperfect nature of man—such spots are there on the disk of the

clearest planet; and eyes like Miss Scatcherd’s can only see those minute defects, and are blind to the full

brightness of the orb.” (1 point)

10. Jane starts a new chapter in her life by working at Thornfield in what occupation?

11. Why does Jane identify so well with Adela Varens?

12. How does Jane help a stranger in need at the end of chapter 12?

Match each description to the characters below.

Miss Bessie Mrs. Reed John Reed Georgiana Reed

Mr. Rochester Mr. Lloyd Mrs. Miller

13. “With her long curls and her blue eyes, and such a sweet color… just as if she were painted!”

14. “___ was more ordinary; ruddy in complexion… hurried in fait and action, like one who always had a

multiplicity of tasks on hand.”

15. “An apothecary, sometimes called in by Mrs. Reed when the servants were ailing…”

16. “A school boy of 14 years old… large and stout for his age… heavy limbs and large extremities.”

17. “A slim young woman, with black hair, dark eyes, very nice features… but she had a capricious and hasty

temper… still I preferred her to any one else at Gateshead Hall.”

18. “She was a woman of robust frame, square-shouldered and strong limbed… Her household and tenantry were

thoroughly under her control.”

19. “You feel it when he speaks to you; you cannot be always sure whether he is in jest or earnest… you don’t

thoroughly understand him… he is a very good master.”

CP English IV


ANSWER KEY

1. Outcast because she doesn’t fit into the Reed family OR scapegoat because she is blamed for

everything John Reed does wrong.

2. Red is symbolic of anger, death, fire, etc. which matches Jane’s demeanor while at Gateshead Hall.

3. Miss Bessie is the Reed’s servant; she is compassionate and kind to Jane

4. The narrator is reflecting on the past and has a new perspective on things now.

5. Lowood School

6. They are all orphans. This is ironic because Jane still technically has family.

7. She orders new porridge for the girls, even though she knows Mr. Brocklehurst will be angry.

8. Helen Burns

9. Can only see the bad in others, which makes them blind (2 points)

10. Governess

11. They both don’t have parents

12. Jane helps a man who has fallen off his horse.

13. Georgiana Reed

14. Mrs. Miller

15. Mr. Lloyd

16. John Reed

17. Miss Bessie

18. Mrs. Reed

19. Mr. Rochester

CP English IV


1. How does Jane feel about Rochester’s lack of manners?

2. When Jane tells Rochester she doesn’t think he is handsome, how does she explain her response?

3. What does Rochester mean when he says, “You neophyte, that have not passed the porch of life, and

are absolutely unacquainted with its mysteries”?

4. How does Jane save Rochester’s life for the second time?

5. “She was dressed in pure white; an amber-colored (yellow) scarf was passed over her shoulder and

across her breast…” How is the color symbolism of Blanche’s clothing reflective of her personality?

6. In order to keep her emotions in check, Jane decides to draw portraits which two people?

7. How is Grace different from the other servants?

8. What literary archetype does Jane BEST embody for this reading section?

9. When Blanche says she doesn’t want her future husband to be very handsome, what is the ulterior

motive for her statement?

10. What does the fortune teller tell Blanche that makes her so upset?

11. Who is the fortune teller?

12. What happens to Mr. Mason when he goes to the 3rd floor?

13. Why does Jane return to Gateshead Hall?

14. What does Mrs. Reed reveal as the real reason for despising Jane?

15. In addition to wanting to adopt her, the letter from Jane’s uncle reveals what?

CP English IV


ANSWER KEY

1. She is comfortable with the lack of manners because she doesn’t know how to be elegant or graceful

herself.

2. Jane tells him she doesn’t think he is handsome, but he has an attractive confidence and demeanor.

3. He tells Jane she is young and inexperienced.

4. Jane throws water on him when his bedroom is set on fire.

5. Her white dress is an outward guise of innocence, but the gold scarf across her heart shows her true

love for money.

6. Herself and Blanche for comparison

7. Grace is an outcast—she stays on the 3rd floor and makes more money

8. Star-crossed lover

9. She doesn’t want him to be better looking than her. She is saying this more for Rochester’s benefit.

10. She tells Blanche something about Rochester’s money

11. Mr. Rochester

12. He is bitten

13. Mrs. Reed is dying and asks for her to come

14. She was jealous of the love and attention Mr. Reed gave Jane

15. Jane’s uncle wants to leave her his fortune and adopt her

Jane Eyre

Final Test Study Guide

Part I : Literary Devices

This section contains 10 multiple-choice questions asking you to identify the

type of literary device in a provided line from the novel. You must choose

from simile, metaphor, personification and imagery for questions #1-5, and

alliteration, onomatopoeia, parallelism and hyperbole for questions #6-10.

Part II : Vocabulary

Study the provided vocabulary words throughout the literature unit instead of

waiting until the last minute to cram it all in. Create flashcards with the word

on one side and the definition on the other, and practice using the words in a

sentence to help you remember. There are 25 matching questions worth ½

point each.

Part I I I : Literary Archetypes

You will be given five scenes from the novel for which you must identify the

literary archetype (hero, outcast, scapegoat, or star-crossed lover) Jane BEST

represents.

Part IV: Character Identification

This section provides you with a list of 20 characters from the novel. For each

character, you must select the character description that fits them. If you read

the novel in its entirety, you will do just fine!

Part V: Free Response

This section of the test will assess your ability to analyze the literature and time

period. You will be asked to write a well-structured response with specific

references and quotes from the novel for support.

Jane Eyre

Final Test

Do NOT write on this test! Record your answers on the separate answer document.

Jane Eyre Final Test

PART ILiterary Devices: Write the letter of the correct answer for each question.

1. “Superstition was with me, but it was not yet her

hour for complete victory,” is an example of

which literary device?

a. Simile

b. Metaphor

c. Personification

d. Imagery

2. “The bitter wind blew over a range of snowy

mountains to the north,” is an example of which

literary device?

a. Simile

b. Metaphor

c. Personification

d. Imagery

3. “The kind whisper went to my heart like a

dagger,” is an example of which literary device?

a. Simile

b. Metaphor

c. Personification

d. Imagery

4. “My solitary room had no fears,” is an example

of which literary device?

a. Simile

b. Metaphor

c. Personification

d. Imagery

5. “Remorse is the poison of life,” is an example of

which literary device?

a. Simile

b. Metaphor

c. Personification

d. Imagery

6. “The horse grew nearer as I heard the tramp,

tramp of its hooves,” is an example of which

literary device?

a. Alliteration

b. Onomatopoeia

c. Parallelism

d. Hyperbole

7. “Such scrubbing, such brushing, such washing of

pictures I never beheld,” is an example of which

literary device?

a. Alliteration

b. Onomatopoeia

c. Parallelism

d. Hyperbole

8. “The fire shown full on his face,” is an example

of which literary device?

a. Alliteration

b. Onomatopoeia

c. Parallelism

d. Hyperbole

9. “My heart beat think—my head grew hot,” is an

example of which literary device?

a. Alliteration

b. Onomatopoeia

c. Parallelism

d. Hyperbole

10. “In the wilderness the wild wind whirls away,” is

an example of which literary device?

a. Alliteration

b. Onomatopoeia

c. Parallelism

d. Hyperbole


PART IIVocabulary: Match each vocabulary term with the correct definition.

11. Affable a. brilliant, shinning

12. Apathy b. one who claims to know something but does not

13. Blasphemous c. moral corruption

14. Bequeath d. a short literary sketch or scene from a movie

15. Chagrin e. a lack of concern or feeling; indifference

16. Charlatan f. to bring about a resolve; to evoke

17. Coquette g. a flow or coming in

18. Debauchery h. to hand down; to give or leave in a will

19. Despotic i. to scold harshly, to reproach

20. Effervescent j. premonition of evil; an ominous omen

21. Elicit k. a woman who flirts with men without sincere affection

22. Exigent l. stubborn persistence; refusing to yield

23. Foreboding m. urgent, requiring immediate attention

24. Gregarious n. worried, concerned

25. Influx o. friendly, courteous, amiable

26. Perfidious p. overly submissive

27. Pertinacity q. showing high spirits

28. Quell r. overused, commonplace, hackneyed

29. Resplendent s. irreverent, profane

30. Servile t. enthusiasm, fervor

31. Solicitous u. vexation by humiliation, hurt pride, or disappointment

32. Trite v. sociable and outgoing

33. Upbraid w. to quiet or put down a disturbance

34. Vignette x. ruling oppressively and absolutely; tyrannical

35. Zeal y. calculated to deceive; deceitful; treacherous


PART IIILiterary Archetypes: Match the letter of the BEST literary archetype for each situation.

a. Hero b. Scapegoat c. Outcast d. Star-Crossed Lover

36. Jane realizes Blanche Ingram is a much more socially acceptable match for Rochester.

37. Mr. Brocklehurst makes Jane sit on a stool in front of the school for breaking a chalkboard.

38. When Mrs. Reed asks for her, Jane agrees to go visit her before Mrs. Reed dies.

39. Mrs. Reed always takes her son John’s word over Jane’s.

40. Jane leaves Rochester once she finds out he is still married.

PARTIV:CharacterDescriptions(20points)Matcheachnamewiththedescriptionthatbestfitstheir character.

A. JaneEyre B.Adele C.Mrs.Reed D.JohnReed E.Mr.Brocklehurst

F.GracePoole G.Blanche H.Mr.MasonI.Mrs.Fairfax J.Mr.Rochester

K.St.John L.Helen M.Georgiana N.MissTemple O.CeleneVarens

P.Eliza Q.Bessie R.Bertha S.RosamondOliverT.JohnEyre

41. Mr.Rochester’sward

42. Jane’scousin;amissionary

43. HousekeeperatThornfield

44. ServantwhocaresforBertha

45. OwnsThornfieldHallandlovesJane

46. ManagerandtreasurerofLowood

47. Bertha’sbrother

48. BenefactressoftheMortonschool

49. JanethinksRochesterwillmarryher

50. ServantatGateshead

51. Jane’suncle’swidowwhohascustodyofJane

52. YoungerdaughterofMrs.Reed

53. OldestdaughterofMrs.Reed

54. Jane’sspecialfriendatLowood

55. Jane’sUncle

56. Rochester’sinsanewife

57. OrphangirlwholivesatGateswood,Lowood&Thornfield

58. OneofRochester’smistresses

59. Jane’steacherandrolemodelandLowood

60. Losesfamilyfortuneandkillshimself


Name:_________________________________________________________Test#:________Date:____________

CharacterID

41. ________

42. ________

43. ________

44. ________

45. ________

46. ________

47. ________

48. ________49. ________

50. ________

51. _______

52. _______

53. _______

54. _______

55. _______

56. _______

57. _______

58. _______

59. _______

60. _______

Vocabulary(1/2pointeach)

11. ________12. ________13. ________14. ________15. ________16. ________17. ________18. ________19. ________20. ________21. ________22. ________23. ________24. ________25. ________26. ________27. ________28. ________29. ________30. ________31. ________32. ________33. ________34. ________35. ________

TotalScore+_____60

LiteraryDevices

1. ________

2. ________

3. ________

4. ________

5. ________

6. ________

7. ________

8. ________

9. ________

10. ________

Archetypes

36. ________

37. ________

38. ________

39. ________

40. ________

PARTV:FreeResponse(12.5points)ThenovelJaneEyreisworld-renownbecauseBronteportraysanatypicalVictorianhero.Onthebackpage,explainwhyBrontemadeJanethecharactersheis,andhowthiscoincidesorconflictswiththeerainwhichshewrote.Useyourknowledgeofthetimeperiodandspecificreferencesandquotesfromthenoveltosupportyourclaims.

+____12.5


Answer Document

LiteraryDevices

1. ___C____

2. ___D____

3. ___A____

4. ___C____

5. ___B____

6. ___B____

7. ___C____

8. ___A____

9. ___C____

10. ___A____

Archetypes

36. ___D____

37. ___C____

38. ___A____

39. ___B____

40. ___A____

CharacterID

41. ___B____

42. ___K____

43. ___I____

44. ___F____

45. ___J____

46. ___E____

47. ___H____48. ___S____

49. ___G____

50. ___Q____

51. ___C___

52. ___M___

53. ___P___

54. ___L___

55. ___T___

56. ___R___

57. ___A___

58. ___O___

59. ___N___

60. ___D___

Vocabulary(1/2pointeach)

11. ___O____12. ___E____13. ___S____14. ___H____15. ___U____16. ___B____17. ___K____18. ___C____19. ___X____20. ___Q____21. ___F____22. ___M____23. ___J____24. ___V____25. ___G____26. ___Y____27. ___L____28. ___W___29. ___A____30. ___P____31. ___N____32. ___R____33. ___I____34. ___D____35. ___T____


Answer Key

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