upon its release in 1847 Jane Eyre was instantly recognized as a masterpiece of English literature the novel is both a critique and a celebration of Victorian society and remains as engaging and entertaining as ever meant to wound you this wonderful you've landed him as a daughter that ate of his bread drank of his cup lay in this possum had by some mistake slaughtered of the shambles he could not rule his bloody blunder more than I now rule mine will you ever forgive me [Music] Rita I forgave him at the moment and on the spot there
were such deep remorse in his eye such true pity in his tone and such manly energy in his manner and besides there was such unchanged love in his whole look and mean I forgave him all yet not in words not outwardly only at my heart's core oh Jenna is a marvelous novel it's one of those most powerful and influential novels in the whole of English literature it leaves a lasting impact I think on anybody who has read it and it had a tremendous effect on the world the literary world that came after it its author
Charlotte Bronte was born on the 21st of April 1816 to the Reverend Patrick Bronte and his wife Maria she was their third daughter and the next four years would see the birth of two more daughters Emily Jane and Anne as well as a son branwell when Charlotte was four years old the family moved from Shropshire to hawith a small Mill Town in West Yorkshire where the Reverend Bronte held a permanent position in the local Parish we have to remember that Charlotte Bronte herself with only five when her mother died she herself said later that she
had no memory of her mother instead Charlotte grew up in a household of sisters and one brother it was her siblings who were terribly important to her and the household was ruled and I think ruled is probably the right word by a father who was quite distant from them who found it difficult to express love the other major influence on her life and a parental role was her aunt who came to live with them after her mother's death or came actually shortly before her mother died but in her earliest years Charlotte was surrounded by sickness
by illness by the spirit of death and I think you can see that brooding and gloomy atmosphere very forcibly in the first part of Jane Eyre and also perhaps the search for an identity as an orphan Charlotte's early life was a time of some sadness her mother died in 1821 and Charlotte and Emily along with their older sisters Maria and Elizabeth were sent to cowanbridge clergy daughter's school the harsh conditions of this institution are reflected in Charlotte's description of low wood in Jane Eyre foreign was insufficient to protect us from the severe cold we had
no boots the snow got into our shoes and melted there our ungloved hands became numbed and covered with chill blains as were our feet then the scanty supply of food was distressing with the Keen appetites of growing children we had scarcely sufficient to keep alive a delicate invalid their time at Cohen Bridge was brought to an end by an epidemic of tuberculosis which swept through the school causing the deaths of Maria and Elizabeth at home once more Charlotte and her siblings were cared for by their mothers and married sister Miss Elizabeth branwell and their education
was overseen by their father the Reverend Bronte had been born into a poor laboring family in County Down Ireland and only by his own determined efforts had he been able to overcome these early disadvantages he succeeded in graduating from Cambridge University and entering the Church of England he was therefore acutely aware of the value of education and he encouraged his children to make full use of the library at Haworth parsonage with little else to amuse them the Bronte children read widely and in the mid-1820s they began to take an interest in writing for themselves they
created long romantic sagas set in imaginary kingdoms Charlotte and branwell's fantasy world was called angria and Emily and Anne's was gondal they continued to add to these tales for over 10 years Charlotte and all her sisters were voracious readers they learned to read very early they had a lot of books at home and they had access to private libraries in stately homes near where they lived they couldn't stop reading and the impact of what they read is very present in Jane Eyre the writer who is often stated as being the most influential is Lord Byron
he and you see the byronic hero in in Rochester uh The Man of Action the man of passion the man who carries with him Dark Secrets um the man who is impulsive whom you can never really fathom uh who where there are touches of evil in the background it is that that has the most enduring influence on Jane Eyre Charlotte returned briefly to rohhead as a teacher in 1835 and in 1839 she went to work as a governess firstly to the white family and subsequently to the sidgwicks these experiences were far from enjoyable and her
dislike of teaching is mentioned frequently in her letters and journals of those years also during this period Charlotte received and refused two proposals of marriage it was not until Charlotte and Emily went to study at the puncture in Brussels in 1842 that Charlotte fell hopelessly in love unfortunately it was with Constantine the school's proprietor who was happily married and he did not in any way reciprocate Charlotte's feelings Charlotte's first realistic novel The Professor was however not a success it was rejected by Publishers when it was completed in 1846 and only appeared in print after Charlotte's
death her second novel Jane Eyre which appeared in 1847 was greeted with great enthusiasm by both Publishers and the reading public alike now established as a successful writer albeit initially under the vaguely masculine pseudonym of curabel Charlotte was able to dedicate herself to literature she published Shirley a story set amidst Luddite riots and Industrial unease in 1849 and villette her most autobiographical work in 1853 in 1854 a proposal of marriage came from Arthur Bell Nichols her father's assistant although Charlotte's feelings for the Reverend Nichols lacked the intensity of those she'd had for Monsieur Hager she
accepted his proposal we do not know whether Charlotte would have continued to write great novels after her marriage or whether she would simply have settled down to her duties as a curate's wife Charlotte Bronte died of dehydration as a result of pneumonia In 1855 one year after her marriage she was 39 years old and pregnant with her first child she's buried at the howeth parsonage her most famous novel Jane Eyre clearly reflects many aspects of Charlotte's own life the hardships endured at lowood school Jane's experiences as a governess her love for a man who is
already married but to what extent is Jane Eyre an autobiographical novel some elements of Jane Eyre are no doubt autobiographical the terrible conditions at lowerwood Echo the conditions at Cowan Bridge the outbreak of typhus fever recalls the fever which killed Mariah and Elizabeth Bronte John Reed's drunken excessors are no doubt based on branwell's even the character of Jane herself small and plain sounds a bit like Charlotte and maybe when Jane says that she wishes she were more aesthetically pleasing that may well be Charlotte's own sentiment the novel begins with the young Jane living in the
house of her unpleasant relations the reeds Jane's Uncle Mr Reed appears to have been a kind man who undertook to care for his orphaned niece as his own following his death however his wife's resentment of Jane becomes apparent Jane can do no right whilst Mrs Reed's own spoiled selfish children can do no wrong her aunt sends her to lowood school on the understanding that Jane will remain there even during vacation times lowerwood is initially a terrible and frightening place the food is poor the clothing is inadequate and the whole establishment is run by the hypocritical
Mr brocklehurst who Advocates these privations for the pupils while at the same time providing silk dresses and other luxuries for his wife and daughters although brocklehurst is unpleasant to the other girls in the school he seems to take a particular dislike to Jane whom he attempts to Brand a liar in front of the other pupils [Music] fortunately lowood has some compensations Jane makes friends with a long-suffering and Pious older girl Helen Burns whom critics believe to be modeled upon Charlotte's own elder sister Maria Jane also meets Miss Temple a kind and compassionate teacher who is
able to appreciate Jane for her good qualities an epidemic of fever breaks out in the school after which brocklehurst loses his power and conditions improve Jane remains at the school as a teacher until Miss Temple leaves to get married and Jane begins to wish for greater stimulation than the school can provide she advertises her Services as a governess and is offered a position at thornfield Hall her charge is a French girl called adelvarins a Dale is spoiled and willful but she is also sweet and well-meaning Jane's experiences of governessing and of teaching in general seem
to be better than Charlotte bronte's own Jane Eyre is a novel that is about repression and it's about a free spirit it's about somebody trying to escape institutions so the experiences at lowwood school are some of the harshest and angriest experiences of the novel uh jaina objects violently to being regimented she objects to ways in which men repress women at school whether they are teachers or whether they are little girls she objects to the fact that the children all have to have their hair cut in the same way she objects to the punishment she objects
to the hypocrisy that she sees in the Victorian educational system that masquerades under the guise of being a charitable Institution thus far Jane has only come into contact with her pupil the servants and the housekeeper Mrs Fairfax the Master of the House Edward Rochester is away on business when Rochester returns he and Jane are clearly attracted to each other although Jane is not aware of the depth of her feelings she believes he is drawn to the haughty Blanche Ingram whose social status is much near his own foreign yes sir where do you come from from
lowood school ah a charitable Institution how long were you there eight years eight years you must be tenacious of life I would have thought half that time in a place like that would have done up any Constitution no wonder you have rather an other world to look about you I marveled when you've got that sort of face when you came upon me in Hay Lane last night I thought unaccountably of fairy stories and I was about to demand whether you had Bewitched my horses I'm not sure yet where are your parents I have none foreign
do you remember them no I thought not do you have any other sort of kinsfolk uncles and art no none that I can remember go home I have none where'd your brother and sisters live I have no brothers and sisters recommended you to come here I advertised and Mrs Fairfax answered my advertisement class was very important in the 19th century both in fact and in fiction Charlotte was quite familiar with work the working classes and the middle classes though she had more difficulty um with the upper classes with whom she wasn't particularly familiar [Music] you
have lived the life of a nun no doubt you are well drilled in religious forms the brocklehurst who I understand direct lowood is a person is he not and I'm sure you girls worship Him as a Convent full of religious would worship their director oh no you are very cool now had a novice not worshiper director that sounds Blasphemous I disliked Mr Brooklyn and I was not alone in the feeling he is a harsh man at once pompous and meddling he cut off our hair his foot economy sake bought us bad thread and needles with
which we could hardly sow and we'll suck the head front of his offending starved us when he had sole superintendents at the provision Department before the committee was appointed board asked us and with evening readings from books of his own indicting about sudden deaths and judgments which made us afraid to go to bed [Music] whilst she has been living at thornfield Jane has occasionally heard a woman's strange manic laughter coming from the upper reaches of the house she assumes that a servant with a taste for strong drink is the source when a fire almost breaks
out in Rochester's bed chamber he himself confirms Jane's suspicion however various other events occur which gradually revealed to Jane as well as to the reader that there is something more peculiar going on in the house than just the drunken excesses of a maid who is that who's there [Music] who is that [Music] a stranger Mr Mason arrives at the house and is mysteriously wounded during the night before Jane has time to discover more she receives a message that her Aunt Reed is dying and returns to her childhood home Mrs Reed shows No Remorse at the
way she has treated Jane over the years but she does reveal that Jane has a rich relative John air whose existence she had previously kept secret Mrs Reed dies and Jane returns to thornfield where Rochester proposes to her Jane accepts although we sense that she may have some misgivings about the match then two days before her wedding Jane finds her bridal veil torn to shreds and on the day of her marriage a man appears and announces that Rochester already has a wife her name is Bertha and because she is insane she is kept locked in
the Attic Grace Poole is her keeper although because of her fondness for alcohol not the most effective of jailers it is birther not Grace who has been heard laughing and who has occasionally escaped to wound Mason her own brother and Destroy Jane's Veil although Rochester insists that he was trapped into his first marriage Jane is horrified at the deception which has taken place Jane Eyre is composed of a series of Unforgettable Tableau really little Cameo scenes the wedding scene is one of these because the whole point about a wedding scene is that's normally the moment
at which the Victorian novel ends you only have to think of early affections things like Jane Austen's novels for example they end with marriage what happens in Jane Eyre is that you actually get what would you would expect to be the closure of that novel halfway through the book and it changes the direction of Jane's life does anyone hear present know any just cause or impediment why these two persons here may not lawfully be joined together in holy matrimony the marriage cannot go on I declare the existence of an impediment proceed I cannot proceed the
marriage is quite broken off I am in a condition to prove my allegation an insuperable impediment to this marriage exists what is the nature of this impediment can it not be overcome hardly I have called it insuperable and I speak it physically simply consists in the existence of a previous marriage Mr Rochester has a wife now living who are you my name is Briggs the solicitor from London and you would thrust upon me a wife I would remind you of your lady's existence sir which the law recognizes if you do not favor me with an
account of her of a name her parentage the place of her abode so I affirm and can prove that on the 20th of October 15 years ago Edward Fairfax Rochester of thornfield Hall and a fern Dean Manor in England was married to my sister Bertha antoinetta Mason daughter of Jonas Mason Merchant and of antoinetta his wife a Creole in Spanish Town Jamaica the record of the marriage can be found in the register of that church copy of it is now in my possession signed Richard mace that if a genuine document may prove that I have
been married but it does not prove that the woman mentioned therein is my wife is still living she was living three months ago do you know that I have a witness to the fact it was testimony even you sir will scarcely controvert to hell [Music] my hopes were all dead I looked on my cherished wishes yesterday so blooming and glowing they lay stuck chilled livid corpses that could never revive Mr Rochester was not to me what he had been or he was not what I had thought him I would not ascribe Vice to him I
would not say he had betrayed me but the attribute of stainless truth was gone from his idea she leaves thornfield having lost all her money she finds herself destitute and homeless fortunately she is taken in by a clergyman the somewhat taciturn Sinjin rivers and his two sisters Mary and Diana primary way in which religion is portrayed in the novel is through figures who actually professed religious beliefs Charlotte however doesn't give us these three figures as people to emulate and they all come through all the sticky ends Helen dies of consumption in Jane's arms Sinjin Rivers
is dispatched to India to be a missionary still unmarried and the implication is that he won't have long to live and Mr brocklehurst has perhaps the most ignominious end for one of his despotic temperament he's replaced by a committee Rivers is able to find Jane work in the girls school where she is quite content it is soon revealed however that the rivers are Jane's cousins and that the rich Uncle mentioned by Mrs Reed on her deathbed has died leaving his fortune in equal parts to them and to Jane the poor orphan is now a woman
of means Sinjin Rivers intends to go to India as a missionary he is romantically involved with a young Society woman Rosalind Oliver Rosalind however does not possess the qualities which rivers believes are necessary for a missionary's wife Jane on the other hand does he proposes marriage Jane who is aware that he does not love her refuses jaina is passionate about Rochester um there's the scene where he proposes to her on mid-summeries in the garden at thornfield Hall is I think if you read it as a careful reader and are alert to the hidden signals one
of the most passionately erotic scenes in Victorian literature however Jane refuses to live with Rochester as his mistress she refuses to be seduced by him she goes against her inner feelings of longing and she overcomes desire in order to conform to what she believes is right and I think there is a sense in which her duty is to be seen at this point not merely as conforming to Christian duty but actually a sense of her personal Integrity it's a real questioning of the clashing desires that are within Jane some time passes and Jane begins to
think that perhaps she was wrong to refuse River's proposal she is at the point of agreeing to this Loveless marriage when she hears Rochester's voice calling to her she returns to thornfield where she finds the house and Bertha have been destroyed in a fire Rochester is now blinded and disabled but he is free to marry give me the water mirror what's the matter that is you Mary is it not Mary is in the kitchen will you have a little more water sir I spilled half of what was in the glass I said I said oh
who speaks great God what delusion has come over me what's sweet madness has sees me no delusion no Madness your mind sir is too strong for delusion your health is too sound for Frenzy is it over your voice oh I cannot see but I must feel or else my heart will stop and my brain will burst whoever whatever but be perceptible to the touch I cannot go on living these are fingers a small fine fingers so there must be more of it Jane sit shape this is a size and this is her voice she is
all here her heart too God bless you sir I am glad to be so near you again my dear master I have found you out I am come back to you In the Flesh my living Jake you touch me sir you hold me and fast enough I am not cold like a corpse nor vacant like air am I finally rude darling sirens these features just blessed after all my misery it is a dream the dream that I have had died when I've clasped to my boss as I do now and felt that she loved me
trusted that she would never leave me which I never will sir from this day thank you does the novel have a happy ending Charlotte probably wished us to believe that it did and indeed some Modern critics choose to interpret it as a Triumph of female determination and fortitude others however have a different View I don't think that Jane Eyre can really be regarded as an early feminist drill model certainly she's the heroine of her story and for the most part she's independent but this is an enforced Independence she doesn't choose to Rebel she's made to
by circumstances when Rochester for example decides that he wants to deck her out in Fine Jewelry she rejects his gifts but this isn't out of a feminist principle she doesn't feel that by taking gifts from a rich man she'll be sacrificing her her identity as a human being or her equality in 1847 there was no equality between men and women it was an ideology of separate spheres I think that Jane herself is a strong role model in part because she refuses to conform to other Victorian role models of women what we find in Jane Eyre
is that Jane herself is measured against and rejects a whole range of Victorian stereotypes of femininity but words reader I married him are perhaps the most famous in the whole novel [Music] foreign
