Lavender's AP Lit Class Blog
Friday, October 11, 2013
Jane Eyre first impressions
I like jane eyre so far, charlotte bronte is a very good writer. I've been trying to find connections between this book and the transcendentalist ideals, and i'm a bit confused about the fact that this book is considered to be a part of the transcendjentalist movement. It's mentioned nature a few times, but other than that I don't really see the connection. To me, it's just an interesting story about Jane's expieriences. There is a lot of commentary on feminism, and the confines of women in those days, which I find interesting. Mr. Rochester is a very confusing character at times, I can't decide whether I like him or not. He's not a very nice person, although ometimes he's nice to Jane. He puts his neds before everyone else; he's not very considerate. Jane and Mr. Rochester's relationship is interesting because they treat eachother as equals. Mr. Rochester has made a practice of treating everyone as his inferior, but Jane doesn't let him do this to her. She is actually empowered when she's with him.
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Celestine,
ReplyDeleteGreat post! You are right to point out that Bronte preceded the American Transcendentalists by a bit, and so their ideas don't always overlap seamlessly (a lot of these literary 'movements' get labels slapped on them retrospectively, and more out of an interest of grouping rather than understanding them). I'm interested, though, in your observations about feminism (good ones, I think) and am curious whether you see it as a gender specific extension of the Emersonian celebration of Self-Reliance.
I think when it comes to the relationship between Mr. Rochester and Jane they aren't extreme romantics, and they aren't necessarily into the lovey dovey woo-ing of one another. They are both very practical people, and I think one thing that draws Mr. Rochester to Jane is the fact that she is very independent and doesn't constantly rely on him for things. They are both very capable, but like to be capable in one another's company.
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