The Gothic Elements in Jane Eyre
abstract:jane eyre is considered as a realistic novel with romanticism. the author charlotte bronte built a new woman fighting for the independence and equality in a patriarchal society in the novel. however, another very important factor that makes jane eyre a great work is the gothic elements in jane eyre. the article briefly discuss the gothic features through analyzing veral extracts in the novel.
key words:jane eyre; the gothic elements; charlotte bronte
1 a brief introduction of the gothic novels
the word “gothic去黑头的最好方法” came from the name of a germanic tribe. goth was famous for their barbaric and brave character. later, the word “goth” was ud to name a kind of architecture style in medieval age, which was featured by pointed arches, heavy walls, dark rooms, terrible paths, etc. under the influence of some philosophers in renaissance, the word “gothic” was ud to mean wild, barbarous, crude, mystery, dark times, medieval, etc. in the
middle of 18th century, the word began to be ud to describe a new kind of novel. by the 1790s, the gothic novels had been established formally as a literature genre and developed into a literary trend in england as well as other countries in europe and american. thus the 1790s was called the “gothic decade” in history.转款委托书
the early gothic novels were usually t in the past times, most often the medieval times and in foreign countries, particularly the countries of southern europe. the stories took place in temples, castles, prisons and so on. the themes mainly disclod the evil and dark side of human beings by describing the fight for heirdom and the hostility of families. the plots contained unreal, supernatural, violent and terrible elements. (liu 12-16) however, charlotte bronte does not just imitate the gothic tradition; instead, she us this form innovatively to describe the romantic story occurring in her times.
董永与七仙女的故事
2 a brief introduction of jane eyre and its author
charlotte’s works are all about the struggle of an individual consciousness towards lf-realization, about some lonely and neglected young women with a fierce longing for love,
understanding and a full, happy life. in her mind, man’s life is compod of perpetual battle between sin and virtue, good and evil. all her heroines’ highest joy aris from some sacrifice of lf or some human weakness overcome. she is a writer of realism combined with romanticism. on one hand, she prents a vivid realism picture of the english society by exposing the cruelty, hypocrisy and other evils of the upper class, and by showing the miry and suffering of the poor. on the other hand, her writings are marked throughout by an intensity of vision and passion. jane eyre: it is noted for its sharp criticism of the existing society. the success of the novel is also due to its introduction to the english novel the first governess heroine. the vivid description of her inten feelings and her thought and inner conflicts brings her to the heart of the audience.
jane eyre ranks as one of the greatest and most perennially popular works of english fiction. although the poor but plucky heroine is outwardly of plain appearance, she posss an indomitable spirit, a sharp wit and great courage. she is forced to battle against the exigencies of a cruel guardian, a harsh employer and a rigid social order. all o
f which circumscribe her life and position when she becomes governess to the daughter of the mysterious, sardonic and attractive mr. rochester. however, there is great kindness and warmth in this epic love story, which is t against the magnificent backdrop of the yorkshire moors.
jane eyre was published in 1847, and this great work brought fame to charlotte bronte making her known by the world. jane eyre is in the form of a fictional autobiography, with some authentic personal experiences, especially in the earlier chapters. this novel brings up the question of women’s independence and the equality between men and women through the life experience of the heroine, jane. the story is told in the first person, and the narrator’s personality is not just a window through which the events are en, but it also defines the quality of the events.
the author charlotte bronte extracted a full measure of suspen and horror from the conventional machinery of gothic and surpasd it. but what makes you impresd is the supernatural things and the dark sides of human beings, which are the typical features of
gothic. although she us this gothic technique to dramatize the story and express her emotions perfectly, yet she goes further than the gothic tradition. becau of the, jane eyre shows the unique and everlasting artistic fascination in the world literature for a long time.
3 the gothic elements in jane eyre
the gothic novels were very influential at charlotte bronte’s time and they“besides influencing romantic poets, but also 〔influence〕the bronte sisters and other novelists in 19th century.”(cecil 44) from the below we can e the gothic elements in jane eyre.
the plots in jane eyre disclo the gothic elements. the heroine, jane eyre, lived together with her aunt after the death of her parents. she was tortured and suffered a lot there, but she was lf-independent and rebellious. later she was nt to a boarding school where she received education, while in fact that school was something like a prison especially for keeping orphans. eight years later, she was employed to st. field as a governess. before long, she fell in love with the owner of st. field, mr. rochester. at the moment when
they were holing a wedding ceremony in church, truth was told by the brother of rochester’s wife, who was mad becau of inheritance and was confined to the attic of st. field. on the other hand, she thought they were coming from rather different family and living background, and they couldn’t marry. so she went away regardless of rochester’s love. she was later saved by st. john, who was a priest and decided to devote himlf to religion. st. john hoped jane could marry him and went far away together with him to help tho who needed help. however, jane refud since she still couldn耳朵旁’t forget rochester. with the love towards rochester she returned to st. field finding everything was fired to the ground. rochester’win7系统升级s wife t fire to the whole fazenda with herlf death in the fire. rochester not only lost everything in the big fire, but also became blind and lost one arm. while jane still loved him and finally they got married. the whole process of the heroine’s growth was focud on veral plots. and in each plot the gloomy, horror atmosphere and some supernatural things happened. for example in chapter 20, there is a description: 文化背景“i had forgotten to draw my curtain …good god! what a cry!压岁言…a sharp, shrilly sound that ran from the end to end of thornfield hall…” (bronte 194) *
