Comparing Jane Eyre to Charlotte Bronte

Jane Eyre is a Bildungsroman

Bildungsroman: “most generally, the story of a single individual's growth and development within the context of a defined social order.”

“My tale draws to its close… I have now been married ten years” (Bronte 413).

Jane narrates her story ten years after her marriage with Rochester.

Charlotte Bronte uses the change in settings to move through the different

stages of Jane Eyre’s development.

“A new chapter is like a new scene in a play; and when I draw the curtain this, reader– you

must fancy you see a room in the George Inn at Millcote…”(Bronte 85).

Jane Eyre’s life parallels Charlotte Bronte’s life

Childhood of Jane and Charlotte

Jane Eyre• Jane was an orphan.

Her parents died of Typhus.

• She is under the care of her Aunt Reed who absolutes dislikes her and very harsh to her.

Charlotte Bronte• Charlotte Bronte’s

mother died of cancer when Charlotte was 5 years old.

• After her mother’s death, she was raised by her Aunt Branwell who was a stern and strict person.

Gateshead

Lowood Institution and Cowan Bridge School

The Lowood institution in which Jane Eyre is sent represents the Cowan Bridge school where Charlotte and her sisters were sent.

The establishment lacked food, good clothing, and overall terrible conditions caused infections to run rampant.

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Lowood Institution and Cowan Bridge School

Jane Eyre, after taking lessons at the Lowood also became the teacher there.

“Six years after the loss of her sisters, Charlotte set off for Roe Head School. In 1835, Charlotte became a teacher at Roe Head” (Meredith Birmingham). Both Jane Eyre and Charlotte Bronte had teaching jobs at the school where they were educated.

Helen and Charlotte Bronte’s sisters Maria and ElizabethHelen, Maria, and Elizabeth died of tuberculosis due to the poor conditions of the schools.The event of the death of Maria and Elizabeth is said to have

been the inspiration of death of Helen in the novel

“Semi-starvation and neglected colds had already predisposed most of the pupils to receive infection… Many already smitten went home only to die: some died at the school, and were buried quickly and quietly…” (Bronte 69).

Thornfield* Jane Eyre takes a governess position at Thornfield hall, instruction Adele.* Charlotte Bronte had the governess profession for a while.

“In 1838, Charlotte left Roe Head School. In 1839 she accepted a position as governess in the Sidgewick family, but left after three months and returned to Haworth. In 1841 she became governess in the White family, but left, once again, after nine months”(David Cody).

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John Reed and Branwell Bronte

John Reed• Only male child of the

Reed family• “He ruined his health

and his estate…He got into debt and into jail…”(Bronte 209).He committed suicide.

Branwell Bronte• Only male child for the

Bronte family• “He roamed the

streets of London, wasting his money on alcohol” (Meredith Birmingham).

• Died of Consumption

Rochester and Monsieur Heger

Rochester• Jane’s employer and was

already married (insane wife).

Monsieur Heger• Charlotte Bronte’s German

Teacher and was already married when Bronte met him.

Jane was in love with Rochester and Charlotte Bronte was in love with Monsieur Heger.

Charlotte depicts her relationship of unobtainable love through Jane Eyre’s situation of falling in love with her employer Mr. Rochester.

The Moor House [Marsh End] and Morton

Jane Eyre is taken into the Moor House by her cousins, the Rivers and has a teaching job at Morton. However, she was disappointed in the job because the students do not want to learn.

The Bronte sisters aimed to eventually start their own school but it was an “unsuccessful attempt… to start [the] school”(Haworth-village).

St. John and A.B. Nicholls

• St. John proposed to Jane Eyre and was rejected.

• Jane Eyre did not love St. John

• Jane Eyre admired St. John’s religious zeal but did not love him.

• A.B. Nicholls proposed to Charlotte Bronte and was rejected primarily

• Charlotte “may have pitied him, was in any case not in love with him”

• When married, “she admired him, still did not love him” (David Cody).

Feminist Ideals• Throughout the novel and her life Charlotte often

sought independence; indeed, writing was a means by which Charlotte could gain financial independence.

• Such independence is reflected in Jane, who defies the stereotypically dependent female role set out for her and becomes someone others (such as Rochester) may lean on.

BibliographyBronte, Charlotte, and Joyce Carol Oates. Jane Eyre. New York: Bantam Books, 1987. Print.

"Bronte Family: Biography." The Bronte Family. Meredith Birmingham, n.d. Web. 2 Nov. 2011. http://www.brontefamily.org/history.html

"Charlotte Bronte Biography."Haworth Village. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Nov. 2011. http://www.haworth-village.org.uk/brontes/charlotte/charlotte.asp

David, Cody. "Charlotte Bronte: A Brief Biography." The Victorian Web: An Overview. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Nov. 2011. http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/bronte/cbronte/brontbio.html