Book Review - Jane Eyre

I thoroughly enjoyed this Gothic novel. Bronte fleshes out her characters well. I give this one a 4.5/5. It lost a half-star because I got fed up with some of the overly melodramatic parts here and there. I know everyone has read it so I'm going to instead analyze the book instead of giving you a plot summary. What do you guys think? I'm going to be lazy with this book report and re-post an essay I wrote for my AP Literature class which my teacher loved...




 After the jump....

***

The quest and journey must be the most ubiquitous literary motif ever. Although each book gives more or less focus to the main character's journey, Jane Eyre makes the journey the center of the novel. Jane's transformation from poor, insecure governess to self-assured heiress constitutes most of the book.

Although literary journeys can be about many things, Jane's journey is most definitely about self-discovery. She simply endeavors to follow her internal compass through life's difficulties. Although it may not be very obvious at first glance, Jane Eyre is a quest story, complete with dangers, escapes, skills, and a final battle. She goes to different places both physically and spiritually.

Her quest is to simply survive, to grow, to sustain herself and her convictions. Initially, she struggles with living in the Reed household, fighting both the Reed family and her own internal passions. She freely admits that she was immature but also frankly illustrates the malevolence of the Reeds. But Jane is too fearful to ever stand up for herself. When finally Mrs. Reed calls her a liar and spreads rumors about her, she forcefully accuses Mrs. Reed of being unkind and untruthful. This early experience gives Jane a life-long ability to be completely frank, with both herself and with others. Her spiritual journey is thus symbolized with her physical journey to the orphans' school

Here, she faces the legalism and prejudice of the teachers while finding a mentor in Helen. Here, Jane learns the value of patience and prudence. She realizes that she must temper her honesty and forthrightness by with-holding her feelings from others when necessary and carefully choosing how to present herself to others. Again, this new-found maturity is marked with her physical journey to Thornfield as an independent governess. Thus, in each of Jane's situations, she learns skills that will prove helpful to her in her final battle, similar to any quest story.

The final situation is, of course, her involvement with Mr. Rochester. Here, her emotions are once again pitted against her prudence and moral character. Mr. Rochester, although a benevolent character, asks her to betray her moral compass to marry him. Jane again conquers her emotions and flees the danger by leaving Thornfield. Again, her spiritual maturity is marked with a physical migration. Thus, when Jane finally returns to marry Rochester, she does so on her own terms. Just like any quest story, Jane has evolved from her initial passionate and insecure personality. She has learned to temper her passions with wisdom and moral uprightness. She has been tried and tested in the crucible of adversity, and come out pure as gold.