"Jane Eyre"

Higher Specialist Study
“Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Bronte

“Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Bronte is a powerful and passionate story about a young woman’s search for independence and a chance to find true happiness. Her relationship with her master, Edward Rochester is central to the story. Their passionate love for each other is `effectively shown by Bronte’s use of beauty. Neither Jane nor Rochester are physically attractive. This is crucial to the story because it allows the reader to become completely absorbed in the characters emotional and internal feelings. It truly allows the reader to understand the deep, passionate love that these people have for each other without differing to their physical beauty. It also raises the theme that internal beauty is more important than external. Bronte effectively achieves this by her use of characterisation, plot and settings.

Jane Eyre is an incredibly kind character who has a strong sense of duty and pride. However, Jane herself is not physically attractive. She describes herself as “poor, obscure, plain and little.” She has a beautiful heart though which allows her to look beyond the physical beauty and see inside a person’s soul. As the book is written entirely through her perspective Bronte captures the pure love that Jane has for Rochester. We can see her immediate reactions when she sees him: I did not think I should tremble this way when I saw him- or lose my voice or power of motion in his presence.” Bronte manages to show the depth of Jane’s love for her master. As he is not handsome, we are never under the illusion that Jane is attracted to him because of his looks. It is his kindness, passion and soul that attracts her and makes their love even stronger. A perfect example of this is when she is commenting about his physical appearance: “were not beautiful according to rule, but they were more than beautiful to me: they were full of interest that quite mastered me.” Here, Jane is able to find the beauty in Rochester that others would never notice. This also shows how perfect Rochester and Jane are together. Her reaction to her own external beauty also changes when Rochester proposes to her. The happiness she feels inside is reflected in her face: “it was no longer plain: There was hope in its aspect and life in its colour.” Her complete happiness is shown in her rise in self esteem. Another beautiful trait of Jane’s is that never changes herself. She resists Rochester’s attempts to glamorise her insisting “jewels for Jane Eyre sounds unnatural and strange.” Jane’s turning point in the story is her decision to flee Thornfield. An important part of Jane’s internal beauty is her passion. We are shown her powerful struggles with her passion and conscience. When Jane tells Rochester of her decision to leave the powerful struggle is shown so effectively that the reader truly believes Jane will abandon her moral convictions and run away with him: “physically, I felt, at that moment, powerless.” However Jane stays true to herself and leaves. This is another sign of Jane’s beautiful nature. She is strong willed and is influenced by no-one. “Jane Eyre” effectively shows the life changing journey of this young woman. Bronte uses beauty to show the passion of Jane’s heart and her innermost thoughts and feelings. Jane is the most perfect example of showing that inner beauty is more important than external.

The other main character in “Jane Eyre” is the dark and mysterious Edward Fairfax Rochester. His character changes throughout out the novel which also increases the reader’s appreciation for the text. When Jane first meets him he appears to be vain, asking her if she thinks he is attractive. He is a broken and lonely man and it is through his pure love for Jane that he returns to the man he once was. However, even when they are engaged, Rochester doesn’t fully understand the true beauty of Jane’s heart. He still focuses on the physical side to her by trying to make her look more attractive. He believes that spoiling her will increase her love for him because he himself is not physically attractive. Despite Jane’s resistance “he would yet see me glittering like a parterre.” He believes he has the power to change Jane. Rochester’s actions towards Jane and Bertha can be condemned but Bronte uses his passionate love for Jane to redeem himself. His explanation for his actions allows the reader to fully understand how much he loves Jane and how much he risked to have her: “Every atom of your flesh is as dear to me as my own.” In an ironic twist, it is only when Rochester loses his sight that he can fully see the beauty that is inside Jane. He can’t believe that Jane would still care for him and would want to marry him: “A crippled man, twenty years older than you whom you will have to wait on.” Rochester is a perfect example that beauty does not bring you happiness. His first wife had great external beauty but she was deceitful, insane and brought him tremendous hardship. It is only when he meets Jane that he realises what true happiness can bring. He is a better and more contended man disabled because he now sees the true merits and beauty of his love. The reader’s appreciation of the novel is greatly increased because it shows the internal transformation of a man who managed to look past what he saw on the outside and to feel the beauty of people on the inside.

The plot in this novel also explores the idea of beauty by introducing characters who have external beauty but who are cruel. Blanche Ingram is a rival of Jane’s for Rochester’s affections. She is the complete opposite of our heroine. She is stunningly beautiful: “The noble bust, the sloping shoulders, the graceful neck were all there.” However she has no internal beauty, being spiteful and arrogant. She is used by Bronte to show one of Rochester’s faults- his love of external beauty. We are led to believe that Rochester has fallen in love with Blanche, while all the time it was only Jane he truly loves. Miss Ingram also shows Rochester’s arrogance as he believes he can prove that Jane loves him. At this point in the novel we are seeing the beginning of a change in Rochester but it also shows that he is not yet Jane’s equal in internal beauty. He fully redeems himself in his action towards the Thornfield fire. It showed his lack of selfishness and his loss of arrogance. When Jane leaves Thornfield she also grows as a stronger person. Her time with the River’s family allows her to grow in independence and confidence therefore when she returns to Rochester she is now his match is power and passion. Bronte uses Jane’s departure from Thornfield to further the internal characteristics of our lovers. Their internal beauty is now equal and they are able to appreciate and love each other more.

Another technique that Bronte uses to personify the theme of beauty is the settings of “Jane Eyre”. Jane’s feelings about Thornfield and Moor House show another characteristic of her beautiful nature. Thornfield Hall is described by Jane as a “gentleman’s manor.” However for such a young age, Jane is not fazed or intimidated by living in such grand surroundings. This shows her maturity and confidence. It is only until the arrival of Mr Rochester however that Jane feels any warm appreciation of the house. When he leaves she feels sadness towards the place: “vague suggestions kept wondering across my brain of reasons why I should quite Thornfield.” This is a crucial point in the story because it is the first sign of Jane’s feelings towards Rochester. It also shows that the inside of the house is more important the its external appearance. Thornfield Hall may be grand and attractive but the inhabitants are unhappy. The point is further highlighted by Jane’s attitudes towards Moor House. Another characteristic of Jane’s beautiful nature is that she doesn’t care about style or riches. She is comfortable in her new home. This is shown when she says “a charm both potent and permanent.” This quote shows she enjoys the simpler pleasures in life and she can’t be bought by riches and jewels- another beautiful characteristic.

Charlotte Bronte has successfully convinced the reader of Jane and Rochester’s love by her use of beauty. We do not pay attention to their physical appearance but are drawn and become fully connected with their internal feelings. The lack of external beauty in our lovers is extremely important because it leaves their raw emotions completely exposed. Bronte also manages to create an inspirational role model in her heroine. She shows that in being true to yourself, happiness can be achieved. She didn’t have to be stunningly beautiful to capture his heart and it is all the more satisfying when she can finally say “Reader, I married him.”

By Katie Nicol 5M3