Control In Jane Eyre

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In an era when man rules all, when he is in control, she is submissive. She is under his demand. She cannot be free. She is a bird in his snare. Jane Eyre, in Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, is a Victorian era heroine. She does not let any man snare her and dictate her life. From her earlier days at Lowood Institution, to Thornfield, the Manor House, and Ferndean, she leads a life astray from the ways of the patriarchal society, because of her past experiences in the red room at Gateshead Hall. The red room psychologically traps Jane and is an obstacle that she must overcome to escape her snare. As Jane progresses through life - escaping the snare - Bronte shows women that anyone, even Jane, a small and plain woman, can stand up to men and escape the cage the world has enclosed her in. As a young orphan girl, Jane has always been despised by her aunt, Mrs. Reed, because of her differences. In fact, …show more content…

She gains knowledge, a control over her emotions, a sense of her morals and religion, family, and financial independence. Having gathered all her pieces, Jane molds the strange girl from the red room’s mirror into a free woman. She becomes an independent woman and escapes the psychological snare of the red room and its successors: “[she] is no bird; and no net ensnares [her]: [she] [is] a free human being with an independent will” (volume 2 page 18). Hence, she goes to Ferndean and marries her love, Mr. Rochester. She marries him because she is independent and the two can now be equals - Jane “is [her] husband’s life as fully as he is [hers]” (volume 3 page 281) and they both complete one another. She had left Thornfield with her heart bleeding because she knew that marrying Rochester, while still trying to discover herself, would imprison her forever. Though now she is pieced together and her love completes her as a

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