Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Jane from an early age developed a strong sense of identity and independence. With this true knowledge of self, Jane was able to face all turmoils in her life. No matter how new, and confusing the situation, she did what she, and only she believed was best. "I am no bird, and no net ensnares me; I am a free human being with an independent will." (Bronte ch.23) This attitude however causes her to run away from Mr. Rochester after she learns of bertha, for she realized how ready she was to be completely devoted to him in marriage, which scared her. She had spent so much of her life fending for herself, and not accustomed to happiness, that she couldn't believe Mr. Rochester's love was to good to be true. There had to be something wrong. This thought is over turned however in the end for Jane realizes true happiness can be possible. That love is possible. She follows her heart, but still remains independent, and therefore finds true happiness in the end.

"why is jane happy in the end"

jane eyre never experienced love in her life till she gets mr. rochester to know better; neither as a jung child in as a part of her aunts family, nor in the school for the girls, nor as a teacher at lowood. She never learned what it means to be happy, she never saw happienes, so she says: " i was then happy: at least in my way " (Brontë , pg #3), but when she falls in love with mr. rochester, she suddenly doesn't feel compeltly alone anylonger. she realizes as he says: "it would not be wicked to love me." (Brontë, pg#341),that she will never be alone, there is always somebody she can trust, which she never had experienced befor.

Reply to post- Forrest

Jane’s Survival


Jane is a very intricate young woman who from the very start of her life wasn’t blessed with good looks or charm, but something even better, strong will and fiery passion. She faces many problems throughout her childhood that would drive many crazy and yet seems to come out of it better than anyone else. When she was a child she was disliked by her caregiver Mrs. Reed, but Jane still strove to make Mrs. Reed happy. Jane watched with a bitter envy while Eliza, John, and Georgiana “clustered round their mother in the drawing room... and with her darlings about her looked perfectly happy” (Bronte, 1) this was where her fire was born, that need for love. As she grows older she starts to lose that need and becomes more and more independent. Jane becomes a person that is not reliant upon anyone, but herself which allows her to fend for herself in the world she knows nothing about. When Rochester wants to give her material objects of love she rejects them, she “never can bear being dressed like a doll by Mr. Rochester” (Bronte, 289) because she doesn’t want those objects that would make her who she is not. The reader becomes attached to Jane due to her turmoil and when Mr. Rochester and her are getting married the heart lifts and drops again, but even yet, jane keeps strong and in the end the reader is contented to find she gets her love, the only thing she wished for.

-Sancho

"How Does Jane Survive?"

Jane Eyre's happiness at the end of her saga is a direct result of her hard work and knowledge of self. Unlike others, such as Blanch Ingram or Alele, she does not put on fake heirs in order to impress. In fact, she knows herself and her limits very well. As Jane clearly states to the reader, "It is my way - it always was my way, by instinct - ever to meet the brief with brevity, the direct with plainness (Bronte, 374)." She is aware of how she works.
To say no factor of luck was involved in her fate would be unwise. However, of more help to her than fate was Jane's determination to DO: to be productive and constantly busy. She is an avid learner at school, and later in life when she lives with the sisters she continues to study German and read. If she is not learning she is teaching, drawing, cleaning, or any number of things to keep busy. To each day she "shares it into sections; to each section apportions a task: leaveing no stray unemployed quarter of an hour (Bronte, 253)." Not only is she productive, but she does what she deems necessary to do. Though she has limited knowledge of the world Jane applies for a job away from the life she is accustomed to, because she knows she must. She is willed that she "must struggle on: strive to live and bend to toil like the rest (Bronte, 352)."

Response to "How does Jane Survive"

Jane ends up happier than the other characters in the book due to the stark contrast of her life prior to marrying Rochester. Throughout her childhood, she was fraught with misery surrounding her stay with the Reeds and later, the death of Helen due to consumption. Because of this depressing upbringing, when the school switches hands to the kinder gentlemen, she is thrilled. She ends up with a "desire to excel in all, together with a great delight in pleasing my teachers." (Bronte, 63)Even a small upturn in her life causes her to be much happier, especially after the introduction of Rochester. She still receives affection from him even after she returns from her leave after learning about Bertha. Rochester states that even though she left him for a while, he "felt like she loved me, and truster that she would not leave me."(Bronte, 334) She, once again, fell for Rochester, and happily so, concluding the book on a positive note in Jane's life.

response to "How does Jane survive" -Danielle

Jane ends up happy because she never got to experience genuine happiness. Even from the beginning of life, Jane was not treated with love respect or even as Mrs. Reed's own child. Lowood did not offer happiness either, in her first week, Jane was introduced as a girl who "the evil one had already found a servant and agent in her." (Bronte, 64) After her name was cleared, Jane eventually because a teacher at Lowood, but was not happy nor unhappy, but needed a change of stetting. Jane took up a job as a governess, was paid, treated well, and eventually fell in love with Mr. Rochester, her boss. Through out her life, Jane had never reached true and constant happiness. At the end of the novel Jane was happy because she had never really been able to achieve the amount of happiness that she could reach when married to Mr. Rochester.

Response to "How Does Jane Survive?"

Jane Eyre's character portrays a determined young woman, who yearns for an education and fair treatment. She had been abandoned by all parent figures since birth: her parents died when she was born, her aunt rejected her, and at her school, she is shunned by teachers and the head master. At the age of nineteen she escapes from her past to start a new life as a governess with Mrs. Fairfax, who Jane believes to be "..a model of elderly English respectability.", (Bronte. 91). Jane strove for respect her whole life and she believed she would have the rights any woman in the 1800's could have, at Thornfield. Similiar to Jane, most characters in Jane Eyre have balanced lives, containing hardships and triumphs throughout. For example, Rochester describes his marriage to Jane "I found her[Antoinette] nature wholly alien to me ... I tried to devour my repentance and disgust in secret.." (Bronte, 330). This marriage is his downfall, but Rochester's love for Jane is his victory. Jane Eyre survives because the present happiness she feels with Rochester compensates for her doomed childhood and adolescent years.

Response: "How Does Jane Survive?"

Jane Eyre is a women who is willing to excel at everything that is thrown at her, even when knowing the hardships that are to come. "I was conscious that a moment's mutiny had already rendered me liable to strange penalties, and, like any other rebel slave, I felt resolved, in my desperation, to go all lengths." (Bronte, 6) Jane continues to move on with her life and do the best she can to go as far as she can with her life, while other characters in the novel tend to give up the hope the need for a happy ending. Jane also is a good natured and kind character throughout the book. Most of the characters, such as the ones who tortured Jane in her earlier life, ended up having a bad end in the novel. One of these characters is John Reed, who commits suicide halfway through the book. "Why, you see, Miss Eyre, it is not a common mishap: his life has been very wild: these last three years he gave himself up to strange ways, and his death was shocking." (Bronte, 237)

Why Is Jane About To Survive?

Jane is able to survive simply because she has a desire to challenge herself and to be happy with what she does. When at Lowood, Jane soon excels and grows tiresome of the mundane routine. "I desired liberty; for liberty I gasped; for liberty I uttered a prayer." (Bronte 86) She then frees herself from Lowood and thrusts herself into the world and ends up at the Thronfield. There she is put to work as a governess which is a highly regarded profession for a woman. When a love affair develops between Jane and her master, Mr. Rochester, Jane never compromises herself. Only upon a rare occasions does Jane give into the power Mr. Rochester has on her. "He stood between me and every thought of religion, as an eclipse intervenes between man and the broad sun. I could not, in those days, see God for his creature of whom I had made an idol." (Bronte 279) Even when she transitions into life with St. John Rivers, she keeps herself strong. Rivers says "But I apprised you that I was a hard mean, difficult to persuade." In response, Jane says "And I am a hard woman- impossible to put off." (Bronte 390)

Reply to "How Does Jane Survive?" - Megan

Jane Eyre is able to remain happy because she knows what she wants and is willing to go after it. Even from a young age, she knows that she "should indeed like to go to school" (Bronte 27) and when she gets there she wants and tries "to make so many friends, to earn respect, and win affection" (Bronte 89). When she tires of school and decides she wants "a new place, in a new house, amongst new faces, under new circumstances" (Bronte 116), she quickly pursues that by advertising as a governess. And when she receives a small fortune from her uncle, she is adamant that she will share it and forces St. John to "write to [his] sisters and tell them of the fortune that has accrued to them" (Bronte 547). In contrast, other characters in the book are either unaware of what they want or unwilling to pursue it. For example, St. John refuses to acknowledge that he loves Miss Oliver, even though Jane knows he "suffer[s] in the conflict" and is "wasting away" (Bronte 530) because of it.

Monday, August 30, 2010

8/30/10-Reply to "How Does Jane Survive?"

Jane is able to overcome difficulties in her life because she possesses a strong sense of self. Her sense of self is accompanied by her strong principles, which influence her choices, such as her decision not to be Rochester’s mistress when Bertha was discovered to be his wife. Jane knows that she has more self-worth than to be just Rochester’s mistress. Not only does she want to be Rochester’s “one-and-only”, she also believes that while Bertha is alive, loving Mr. Rochester would be considered adultery, and therefore, morally wrong. This balance of sense of self and moral fiber allows Jane to be assertive and speak her mind. As Rochester was trying to win her back, she “felt an inward power; a sense of influence which supported [her]” (Bronte 326). This inward power allowed her to declare her independence and successfully leave Rochester. This assertiveness is what makes Jane move forward in the novel. -Katie W.

Blog one: How Does Jane survive? -Ariana

"Jane Eyre" By Charlotte Bronte is a cinderella story. Jane explains to Mr Lloyd " John Reed knocked me down, and my aunt locked me in the red room." (Chapter 3, Page 32, The Illustrated Jane Eyre, Bronte Charlotte) Jane believes that If Mr. Reed have been alive he would have treated" her " kindly." (Chapter 2, Page 23, The Illustrated Jane Eyre, Bronte Charlotte) The reason Jane is victorious in the end is because it is pleasing for the reader to see the abused underdog come out on top. While Jane's abusive cousin John Reed ends up being spoiled and gambling away all his money. Jane is able to succesfully negotiate the turmoils in her life by running away, and later coming on to face them. As a child Jane tells Mrs. Reed she "will never come to see you when she is grown up." (Chapter 4, Page 47, Bronte Charlotte). When Jane is older and discovers Mr. Rochesters wife Bertha. Jane flees and later comes back to Thornfield. Jane feels regret for not telling him of her "intention" (Volume 3, Chapter ii, Page 534, Bronte Charlotte). Jane is noble for coming back, however her absence at thornfield annoyed me.

-Ariana

How Does Jane Survive?

How is Jane Eyre able to successfully negotiate the turmoils of her life? Why does she end up "happy" while so many others in the novel do not?*

* - You must incorporate quotes from the novel in order to support your response.