Causes Of Hysteria In Jane Eyre

265 Words2 Pages

Although Jane displays qualities which lead us to believing that she is becoming more independent, her hysteria causes us to see a lack of agency within her character. Ultimately, her hysteria causes her to return to the domestic sphere, which can be critiqued by analyst Carmel L. Morse. Towards the end of the story, Jane makes the decision to call her father and ask for his help: "But, which is to the point, she got to the telephone and called up her father in the city" (57). By relying on the male figure for help, this is an act of agency. "A coal fire was lighted in Jane 's grate, and in a low chair before it, with her nose swollen feel with her forehead, sat Jane, holding on her lap Mary O 'Shaughnessy 's baby [...]" (57). One could be

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