I am woman....hear me roar.....
9 years ago
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Two parts
Many readers of Jane Eyre feel that the story is composed of two distinct parts, different in tone and purpose. The first part (chapters 1-11_ concerns her childhood at Gateshead and her life at Lowood; the second part is the remainder of the story. Is creating such a division justified? Is there a genuine difference of tone and purpose between the two sections as they have been described? Some critics and readers have suggested that the first part of Jane Eyre is more arresting because it is more directly autobiographical. Do you find this to be true?
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3 comments:
I can see the distinction between the two parts but mainly because in the first part she is so young and she is trying to find a place for herself in the world and is still creating who she will be.
In the second part she is a grown woman that knows who she is but is still unsure of where she belongs. She is searching for love in the same way she did as a young girl but it is slightly different.. I think now she wants love from a man and as a child wanted love from any kind of parental figure.
I actually felt like reading Jane Eyre was like reading 4 or 5 different books. I loved the first 100 pages and drank them up quickly.
Then I felt like everything changed when she reached Thornfield. A lot of it seemed too similar to everything else I have read from the time period. The parties with the upper class, even the mansion had no specific identity in my mind. It looked like every other mansion I had pictured in similar stories. I found a lot of it too predictable and wished she would just hurry and tell us that Mr. Rochester was already married to the locked up crazy lady upstairs so we could move on. I just felt like I'd read that plot before. It took me days to get through some of those chapters.
But I loved that Rochester loved her, really, really loved her for who she was.
I loved the parts when she went back to Gateshead at her aunts bidding, and was again engaged in the story.
Then I thought the chapters with St. John were just annoying. I understood what Bronte was trying to do by making him so unlikeable, giving Jane a choice between love and safety. I appreciate her motives but I did again wish we could just get on with it.
Then of course I loved the end. I was left feeling torn about how I felt a few times, but overall I enjoyed the book. Jane was so well written that I was invested in her, so I kept plugging away.
The whole book was a story of Jane Eyre, of why she was the way she was and what she wanted. As a child she so wanted to be loved and treated right but could not find it at Gateshead with Aunt Reed. At Lowood there were many that cared but even at first she had to be wrongly accused by Mr. Brocklehurst. She had good friends in Miss Temple and Helen Burns but again sadness came to her when she lost Helen. She became stronger when things changed for the good at Lowood and went from student to teacher. Then on to Thornfield for a new adventure that she sorely wanted. There she finds worth and acceptance from Adele and Mrs. Fairfax but again loathing from the uppercrust visitors. But by now I think she is strong enough that she ignores the slights and knows her self-worth. What she had to go through after leaving Thronfield was devastating and her strength of character through all she had gone through before helped her to keep going when it would have been easier to lie down and die. Then came fortune which she lovingly shared and an offer of loveless marriage by St. John and the surrender of her identity, which she had fought to hold on to all of her life. Her feelings of rebellion stir again. She had the strength to leave that situation when she heard the call and rushed to find out what had happened to Mr. Rochester. To finally be reunited with her true love in fidelity and true happiness was a precious reward to her. All the experiences before got her to this point so I think each part of the story was important. Things didn't come easy for Jane but finally she received her happiness!
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