Reading journal - Jane Eyre (17-21)

In this section, especially in Chapter 17, it has become clearly that we will be reading about the relationship between Jane and Rochester soon. The narrative focuses on them and what is between them, and the plots of Blanche and Bertha add tension. Throughout the guests are visiting Thornfield, Jane becomes convinced that Mr. Rochester will be marring Blanche soon. But more than the romantic plot, Jane’s status, in comparison to Rochester’s or Blanche’s, is really stressed. We can look at Jane as a governess who is not seen as an ‘equal’ to people like Mr. Rochester. Chapter 17, when Jane is forced to sit in the room during Rochester’s party, may be seen as a manifestation of uncomfortable position of a governess. Jane experiences is called ‘incubi’ by Blanche and her mother when they discuss the nature of governess.
The romantic plot in being introduced at this stage of story. Especially when Mr. Rochester nearly calls Jane ‘my love’. Probably it is the key-thing to presume how the story will develop. But we notice two obstacles on the way to Jane and Rochester’s relationship – Blanche and the plot of Bertha which can be seen as a dark, gothic one. In this plot Rochester struggles with his own past, with the fact of being married and with the way in which he treats his wife. However, the point may not be whether or not he loves Jane but whether or not he is able to act against his feelings. Bertha may be seen as a symbol of dangerous, dark secrets. This gothic plot suggest that we will be reading about one’s death or madness rather than about Jane’s or whoever’s wedding.
When Mr. Rochester allows Jane to see Mr. Masons wounds, this may be seen as a moment in which he allows her to go into his life and secrets. And when he tells the story about his life, it suggests that it is a great risk for Jane to fall in love and build a relationship with him. However, she is still not aware of all those things and has only some puzzles of the picture: Mr. Mason’s unexplained wounds, like the earlier mysterious fire in Rochester’s bedroom, strange story of ‘youth error’.

Reading journal - Jane Eyre (11-16)

In these chapters we are in the third period of Jane’s life. She arrives to Thornfield to be a governess. This type of development, presenting characters’s growth and evaluation through several phases of life, in several places, we can recognise as a Bildungsroman. It is very well-known German literary genre from the seventeenth century, which occurs in English literature in the middle of the nineteenth century as well.
Many people highlight the feministic sound of Jane Eyre but in my opinion social equality issues are much more stressed. Jane may be better educated, may fit in an aristocratic society better than many of the ‘rich and above the others’. But still, she is penniless governess who is in many ways treated as a servant. In this case, her life gets complicated as soon as she realised she has feelings to Mr Rochester. Even though she can experience a partial social equality, because she is a governess, she is treated as a servant as well. It is not well-seen for servant to have feelings to that kind of man. Again, we can feel her emotions and appreciate contemporary social situation – today it is not good or bad if a waitress gets marry with a millionaire, it is totally up to them. Jane has not as many luck to enjoy and share her feelings. But who can stop the heart feeling? Finally I have the straight answer. Nobody can.

Jane Eyre, chapters 5-10

Chapters 5 to 10 are leading us through the all Jane’s experience at Lowood. We can see about nine years of her life with so many events.
She is introduced to the school as a liar by Mr Brocklehurst, then declared to be innocent by Miss Temple. She is experiencing a hard times because of her friend’s Helen illness and death. She is doing her best at school as well and coming back to Lowood as a teacher.
The theme which is well presented is religion. We can see Mr Brocklehurst who may be seen as a religious hypocrite – he wants to show everyone that he is more religious than the others, he puts himself above the others but the only thing he cares about is his wealthy family and making sure that everyone can see him above themselves. Helen embodies the Christian ideas of love and forgiveness. She does not preach and show her religiousness to the others, she just believes. She may be sure about what will happened after the death and she is not afraid of that. Although any of the form satisfied Jane, the contrast between them is pretty well presented. The way Bronte writes about the religion makes me think ‘Ok, so what I believe in? Where I am in all of these issues?’
In this section, again, we can distinguish a very wide range of emotions. We can get into Jane’s mind when she was named a liar, we can feel what she feels. In my opinion there’s no point in giving the reader a detailed description of a place. It is enough to make the reader imagine where the character is. Writing about emotions gets you involved in what is going on in the situation. It gives you a possibility to think, to compare the behaviour, to compare the emotions. We are all humans but we feel and behave in so many different ways. While reading, we can even judge whether the character has done something in a good or bad way, we can think what we would do, we can see what leads to that behaviour. But still, it is only the fiction J And now I am surprised to say that we came back to the question we started with – what makes a good literature? And still there is no straight answer. We – or rather the author – have to put all these elements together and see if it works. If you are impressed – it does.

Reading journal - Jane Eyre (1-4)

Bronte introduces the story of Jane Eyre with a negative sentence about having no possibility of taking a walk that day. However, next paragraph starts with positive reflection on that – Jane does not want to take a walk at all. These pair of sentences may have been about anything we like but they show us that there is not only one point of view, not only one way, moreover, we can always think about things in many different ways.
The beginning brings not so many actions taken but concentrates on the emotions, on developing the feeling of the story. We meet at Gateshead a young girl, Jane, with the History of British birds, excluded from the little society of the family Reed. She has not deserved at all to be treated like that. She is like an alien in front of humans who do not want to understand her but make her feel isolated. Her aunt, Mrs Reed, does not treat Jane as a member of the family – what she has promised her husband, uncle Reed, before he died – she, with pretty big help of her children, just leads her to feel unimportant, unneeded and finally isolated. The ‘red room’, which Jane is sent as a punishment to, can be seen as a prison what may emphasize the undeserved treating Jane as an enemy and excluding from the family.
All of that might have resulted in the imagination which Jane had. During her time in the ‘red room’ she could not resist the impression that her uncle Reed, who brought her into his house after her parents’ death, is present in the room with her. She was thinking that he might have come to punish his wife for not keeping a promise. After that night she wakes up in her bedroom in the care of Bessie and Mr Lloyd, who is the one who will suggest Jane’s aunt to send the girl away to school. Not so long after that Jane will broadens her knowledge of her family, by overhearing the conversation between Bessie and Miss Abbott.
Finally, about two months later, Jane is introduced to Mr Brocklehurst who runs the girls’ school in Lowood. In the conversation with him Jane mentiones that she finds psalms uninteresting. To deepen this bad impression, her aunt awares that she might be likely to lie. This accusation was painful for Jane and she felt really hurt by her aunt.
Let me say it again. She has not deserved such a treating at all. She is only the child who needs love and somebody’s interest. Is that too much?