Brief Biography of Charlotte Bronte Born in 1816

Brief Biography of Charlotte Bronte • Born in 1816, the third daughter of the Rev. Patrick Brontë and his wife Maria. • In 1820, moved to Haworth. In 1824, enrolled as pupils at the Clergy Daughter's School at Cowan Bridge. • In 1831, became a pupil at the school at Roe Head.

• Accepted a position as governess in the Sidgewick family(1838) and in the White family(1841) • Decided to open their own school. • In 1842, went to Brussels. • In 1847, Jane Eyre was published, under the pseudonyms of Currer Bell.

• In 1854 Charlotte, expecting a child, caught pneumonia. After a lengthy and painful illness, she died. • Her books are The Professor (1846/1857) Jane Eyre (1847) Shirley (1849) Villette (1853)

Reception of Jane Eyre • When it was published in October, 1847, Jane Eyre attracted much attention, and the novel became an almost instant commercial success.

• Jane Eyre was reviewed in some of Britain's leading newspapers and literary journals. The Edinburgh Review pronounced it "a book of singular fascination. " The critic for the London Times newspaper called it "a remarkable production" and noted that the story "stand[s] boldly out from the mass. “ The Westminster Review noted that the book's characters were astonishingly lifelike. Fraser's Magazine helped to spur sales by encouraging readers to "lose not a day in sending for it. "

• Contrary to this general praise, a handful of reviewers professed to be shocked by the passions expressed in the novel. A writer in the Christian Remembrancer regarded the book as an attack on Christianity and an example of "moral Jacobinism. " Elizabeth Rigby (Lady Eastlake) denounced it in her unsigned notice in the Quarterly Review, calling it "pre-eminently an anti-Christian composition" and an attack on the English class system.

• However, unknown to Bronte and to the public, the book received the ultimate Victorian seal of approval: Queen Victoria privately referred to Jane Eyre as "that intensely interesting novel" and read it to Prince Albert.

Many Aspects of Jane Eyre 1) The Story of a Woman's Coming of Age • It is accomplished through several important psychological stages. The story begins with Jane's first home, the Reeds' Gateshead, where Jane learns to stand up for herself when she is wrongfully accused of being a liar and a bad child. • The Lowood School where Jane gains an education and "becomes a lady"

• Jane then moves on to a new life at Thornfield, whose name suggests some degree of the troubles she will endure there • The Rivers family at Moor House • Finally, Jane chooses to return to Mr. Rochester, at a new place, Ferndean, hidden deep in the woods. Ferndean represents a separation from the rest of society.

2) The issue of female independence • Much of the strength of Jane's character comes directly from Bronte who was able to voice a lot of her own thoughts and feelings concerning the life of women in the nineteenth century.

• Ex 1) Jane Eyre demands a field of action for women and rebels a against an outdated conception of female psychology. “She climbs to the top of the castle tower and gives free reign to her feeling of confinement. Then I longed for a power of vision which might overpass that limit; which might reach the busy world, towns, regions full of life. . . I desired more of practical experience”

• Ex 2) Then the protestation becomes more general. “Millions are condemned to a stiller doom that mine, and millions are in silent revolt against there lot. . . women are supposed to be very calm generally: but women feel just as men feel; they need exercise for their faculties. ”

3) Governess • In the nineteenth century women had far less personal freedom, and there were few options available for them to support themselves. Jane's work as a governess represents one of the only respectable ways in which a woman could employ herself if she lacked personal wealth. Even so, governesses were typically treated only a little better than servants.

• E. Rigby in The Quarterly Review. The gentlemen regarded me as a "tabooed woman". . . the ladies too made it plain that they thought me a "bore". The servants "detested me". Her state appears to her as “sedentary, solitary, confined joyless, toilsome”.

4) Jane and Bertha Another fascinating aspect of Jane Eyre is Mr. Rochester's mad wife, Bertha. Some critics, including Sandra Gilbert, interpret Bertha as a double of Jane — representing her "dark side" in psychological terms

Bertha appears or is heard laughing at times that mark developments in the relationship between Jane and Mr. Rochester. She even acts out at least one of Jane's unconscious wishes when she comes into Jane's room on the night before Jane's wedding and rips up the wedding veil That Jane felt uncomfortable about wearing.