"Mr Rochester, I no more assign this fate to you than I grasp at it for myself. We were born to strive and endure - you as well as I: do so. You will forget me before I forget you."
Their bond remained unbreakable, as they never forgot one another.
Jane Eyre is undoubtedly Charlotte Brontë's magnum opus, representing the essence of Romanticism (yes, with a BIG R) and an enduring classic. It is a complex work that not only explores romance, but also encompasses the coming-of-age story of a young girl in Victorian times, a roman à clef, gothic tales, and like a fairytale, the narrative leaves one to ponder on what may first feel apparent. Through all the drama we traverse through, it is the passion and true romantic love shared by Edward Rochester and Jane that is at the heart and soul of this novel. The story is still so alive that it is hard to believe it was written almost 200 years ago, along with the symbols of that time -- the governesses, the country houses and the servants -- a very much bygone age that we look back onto, but the vitality of the times remains in the pages, it is still enchanting to this day. I envy all who will read this for the first time and with love in their heart, just as I did and certainly will do again.
Jane tells the story as her own autobiography but it is also partially Charlotte's biography. The school Lowood is based on her experience at The Clergy Daughters School, Jane's friend Helen is based on her sister Maria, and the treatment Jane received as a governess is from her own experience. Various small events in Charlotte's life were reconstructed and scattered throughout the book, like the firing of Mr Rochester's bed, much echoing Branwell. The greatness of a piece of literature must be commensurate with the depth of its inspirations and the adequacy of its means of communication. Now, as I had said earlier, the story of a woman in true love would make an interesting story, however, not great; the story of a woman's fight to express her own personality, and her own love could be fascinating, but yet it does not make something great. What makes Jane Eyre great are these things but also much more, it's a spiritually intense experience, the journey as powerful as King Lear's ordeal of purgation and at the same time ends as calm a lake at dawn.
The novel celebrates Jane's ambitions and determination in overcoming adversity and prejudice in the distinct Gothic atmosphere created both by the setting and Rochester's mad wife. The element of the supernatural introduces another layer of the story through dreams which foreshadow real events. As well as being a romantic Gothic heroine, there is also a progression in moral and spiritual terms. Jane's journey to find herself with a Christian attitude is a rare case among the women of today, through great perseverance, strong passions, imaginative human sympathies and affection, Jane finds her true love of human beings and longs for a wider experience of life. This is not only one to inspire millions of women, but for any who holds a slither of true affection. True and pure love is indeed the main theme of Jane Eyre, it was inevitably the central preoccupation of so passionate a temperament.
With the focus on growth to mature independence, and an equal partnership in love, Jane Eyre chooses to devote herself to the love of her life Mr Rochester independently and equally. The core of the novel reveals itself, the difficulties of a satisfactory relationship in love and consequently in marriage undoubtedly remain one of the greatest mysteries in life, not to mention, something to which I have devoted a great deal of thought in.
(Spoilers)
Jane Eyre begins her story as a ten-year-old orphan in the house of her aunt, the Reeds. Mrs Reed accuses her of lying and sends her to Lowood Institution, Jane gets to go out of the house to experience the wider world for the first time, this gave her a sense of independence and freedom in her own life no matter how harsh the condition she knew she would be in. After an unhappy adolescence there, she becomes a teacher and finds a job as the governess to Adèle, the ward of Mr Rochester. Jane falls in love with Rochester, but on their wedding day, she discovers that the mysterious mad woman in the attic is really Mr Rochester's wife. Despite their love and Rochester's pleas, Jane runs away and is later cared for by the Rivers family. She learns that she and Rivers are cousins and that she has inherited a considerable sum of money from her uncle. Reverend St. John Rivers asks her hand in marriage for her to accompany him in emigrating to India, as Jane was just about to accept, she hears Rochester's voice calling out to her. Jane sets out back to Thornfield Hall and finds it burnt down. Jane finds out about the events that occurred during her year away and tracks down Mr Rochester. Although he has been blinded and has lost a hand, but as Jane puts it herself famously, 'Reader, I married him.'
Love does not exist by itself in the novel, we see Jane struggling with her relationship with God. The image of God is obscured by that of Rochester for a brief period, but through all her sufferings, Jane never doubts divine mercy. When she left Thronfield and finds herself facing death on the moors, she commends Rochester and her own soul to God. The characters are not only distinct in personality but also reflect several varied attitudes towards faith; Mrs Reed's refusal to forgive, Mr Brocklehurst's cruel hypocrisy in school, Helen's gentle acceptance of fate, St. John's cold fanaticism and Eliza's rigid Catholicism, all censured in various forms, fierce, gentle or covert. Jane avoids hatred and vengeance while fighting back against adversity, even as a child this was observed when she came to regret her outburst against Mrs Reed very soon after. Back to the main theme of love, Jane saw marriage as based on romantic love, the rarest kind and rarer by the second. Her pure passion reveals itself to be trembling and flushing, she is apprehensive about the strength of her own feelings, she constantly rebuffs Rochester, refutes to be treated to jewels and riches, and refuses to become his mistress. When they marry in the end, she is fulfilled as 'bones of his bone and flesh of his flesh'. Like Jane, Rochester is also on a journey as he grows in stature throughout the book. He grows through a different type of suffering; with all his hopes of happiness, and then his physical strength, he struggles painfully towards gentleness and calm. When he reunites with Jane, he is sincere in the regret of his attempted bigamy. He is mellowed and chastened and has found a new strength in his submission to God's will. This being said and I believe this to be the original intention, I think Charlotte wrote with too much coarseness and crudity, especially towards the end of the book. It makes me question femininity which evidentially did not change from the victorian times to now. But what is more interesting is the willingness, desire, and passion in Jane's character. It is the fact that she is at war with the accepted order of things that characterises her modern self. While women take such a sense for granted in the modern day, one has to understand that this was, as Brontë's contemporaries would point out, radical and luxurious in her day. The heroin's refusal to submit to her social destiny fleshes out the passion which drives her to keep going, it is the strength of a mere heathen mind which is the law unto itself. Any sense of authority has been overthrown, and rebellions have been cultivated. Jane's resistance is not one that is the empty rebellion of nihilism or self-absorption which we often see on the news of today. Rather her quest for her true self peels back the stiff layers of conventionality in order to discover sterling morality, faith, and most importantly, love. As Brontë puts it in the preface:'Conventionality is not morality. Self-righteousness is not religion. To attack the first is not to assail the last ... These things and deeds are diametrically opposed: they are as distinct as vice from virtue.' This is where we see Jane's characteristics as a reflection of Brontë's, a woman who lived in such a time, to be silent and created a new mould for the self, a stunt not often seen in the feminists of modern-day as they shrivel away in their own misery.
The depiction of love in Jane Eyre, the craving for love, the wildebeest which was released in Jane's heart, is shown to be controlled and disciplined. She shows her diligence even when Mr Rochester encourages Ingram's hopes to arouse jealousy. In spite of the fire which burns her heart, Jane finds it impossible to be jealous, because of her faith and because she knows herself. Later, Jane is horrified by St. John's belief that love is not necessary to marriage, but instead a sacrilege, a duty in the service of God. St. John's ruthless force makes Jane waver, his moral pressure places 'an iron shroud', and his determination and stony rebuffs of her friendly reconciliation all lead to Jane being on the verge of surrendering when Mr Rochester saves her with a cry. They later find that they each hearted the despairing cry of the other, perhaps it is true that lovers' hearts are inseparable.