ENGL 8181: Victorian Afterlives
Dr. Sigler

Discussion Topics for Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre

As you read Jane Eyre, please look for questions, problems and recurring issues in the text. You might begin by considering, and looking for examples of, the following issues:

1.  Trace all references to change.  What are the characteristics of this novel that make it particularly Victorian?

2  Trace all references to bondage.  What is Brontë saying?

3.  Trace all references to binaries such as cold/hot, ice/fire.  What is the significance of this symbolism?

4.  In a recent adaptation of the novel for television, the story began with Jane's running into Rochester.  Are chapters 1-11 unnecessary? How does our understanding of Jane's childhood and child self contribute to our understanding of her as an adult?

5.  Consider the significance of specific houses and characters' relationships to them (Gateshead, Lowood, Thornfield, Ferndean, etc.), as well as the significance of homes and domesticity generally.

6.  In what ways, and for what reasons, is Jane portrayed as an outsider?

7.  Some movie adaptations all but eliminate the chapters with St. John, or at least the romance with him.  Are they essential?

8.  Consider Jane and Rochester's relationship: What do they have in common; How do they establish a relationship; Is their relationship plausible?

9.  Many critics have faulted Brontë for blinding and crippling Rochester.  Why do you think she did it?

10.  Even though Rochester is often described as physically unattractive and bullying, and Jane, as plain, the romance between the two is one of the greatest in literary history.   Why?

11.  Imperialism: Note references to other countries in chapter one and throughout the novel.  Do you find Brontë demonstrating a superior British attitude over Others?  To what extent are characters and/or situations in Jane Eyre affected, or created, by British imperialism and colonialism?

12.  "Reader, I married him...": Does Jane Eyre have a happy ending?  What does the novel conclude with the death of St. John rather than with Jane's and Rochester's marriage?

 

Look for examples of the following themes:

1. The dehumanizing consequences of Pride:  Characters in the novel who suffer from pride all treat Jane and other people as objects--the Reeds, Mr. Brocklehurst, The Ingrams, St. John--even Rochester is guilty of this at first.

2. The individual role of religion: Brontë seems to favor a very individual relationship w/ God: faith should be a private matter of conscience-- a fairly humanistic stance. She deplores hypocritical, self-serving religiosity (Brocklehurst, St. John).

3. Money vs. Morality: Jane Eyre attacks middle class passion for respectability via possession and displays of money.

4. Difficulties of Female integration into society: Jane's "coming-of-age" (this novel is essentially a bildungsroman) is dependent upon her learning to understand the world/society through learning to understand and accept herself.

5. "Status Incongruence": Jane Eyre explores the difficulties and perils of occupying social positions which are contradictory, unstable, contradictory or anxiety-producing.

6. Look for references to passion, dreams and the supernatural.

Charlotte Brontë (1816-1855)

American humorist Bret Harte (1836-1902) published a short parody of Jane Eyre called "Miss Mix BY CH--L--TTE BR--NTE," as part of a series of parodies of popular fiction that he called Condensed Novels (which also includes parodies of Dickens' A Christmas Carol and Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories). Read "Miss Mix" by clicking on the title (an analysis of this parody's critique of Jane Eyre could make a good essay topic).