Jane Eyre , chapter 12

LELE

Extract 2 : Jane Eyre chapter 12

Wide Sargasso Sea Extract from Part 3 

Jane

Chronological plan with the published date of books

PB: how does rewriting J.E enable contemporary authors to present women and renew an old story?

Intro: in the mid-late 19th century also called the Victorian Age, we were in the Industrial Revolution, workers were in factories in bad conditions of work, people were dehumanised and they like to dream of a better world. In 1846 a charter even been written, a list of changes wanted by English people, the Chartism failed. Moreover, women would to be recognised and Jane Eyre has been written in this context. In 1847 Charlotte Brontë wrote her artwork with many goals and mainly to give more honour to women, to show that they can be proud to do many things by themselves, the notion of Bildungsroman for example characterise this idea. After that, a current will follow the work done and holds out some rewriting in the same idea but also highly different.  

I/ a well-known story, Jane Eyre

1. The original book

First of all, let’s talk about Jane Eyre, the book itself. J E takes part of the Romantic Movement, the book is, on the one hand, a bit dark and melancholy and, on the other hand, express a deep love between the two main characters. This is extremely interesting because this is an unconventional love, between an aristocrat and a domestic working for him. Rochester and Jane Eyre live a passionate love, however, they will be separated by the Jane great will power, an important aspect of Jane Eyre.

1. Equality of Sex

Then, in this artwork we can distinguish a will to say that women need to be considered as able as men, from an extract of the chapter 12, it says: «women are supposed to be very calm generally, but women feel just as men feel”. The author wants to say that are not as different as men may think it. She wants a greater recognition of women.

II/ a rewriting faithful by women

1. The character of Antoinette

Wide Sargasso Sea is a Jean Rhys effort to rewrite the story of Jane Eyre by the Bertha’s point of view. Also called Antoinette at the beginning, Bertha is a mad woman married to Rochester and locked in a Thornfield tower. In fact this woman had a tempestuous childhood and she almost had to raise herself alone. By those aspects we can say that she is really close to Jane’s mind, except that she’s mad. Like Bertha, Jane had a tough childhood which led her to be a very independent woman, even if Bertha needs to have someone to watch over her.

Bertha has troubles understanding that she is in England, she thinks she is yet at home in the Caribbean. I quote “When we went to England, I said; you fool, she said, this is England.”

1. The role of women in both books

By those characters, authors want to show us that women can be independent or intelligent, enough to think about the future or to turn things to their advantage, for example.

They advance the plot in many ways because these women are the main characters of their own story, thus they are hinges characters who make the biggest decisions and allow the events to occur.

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