Monday, November 5, 2012
Jane Eyre: The End.
Bid a fond farewell to Jane by commenting on the final chapters of the book. What do you make of the ending? How did the final chapters shift your perspective of the early chapters of the book? As always, keep in mind the presiding question of the Bildungsroman unit: what has been Jane's intellectual, social, spiritual or artistic development?
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Jane finally finds her family and is given money and power only to turn tail and head back to Rochester. It seems that, given power, she chooses to give in to passion rather than passivity. she is able to do so because she has found out who she is and is no longer a slave to social norms nor to Rochester. now that she has power, she has status in society, she decides to ignore the standards of society. Until this point, Jane has tried to balance passion with passivity. the people she meets affect her view of society and of the world. St. John is passionless and Jane sees herself doomed to a life of service to God when her passions are for a life in society. in the end, she decide to do as she like, but prudently so.
ReplyDeleteJane Eyre surprised me as book. To be perfectly honest, I thought it was going to be another boring book that we had to read for English. It turned out that I became more and more interested as the chapters went on. I began to have real feelings for Jane and her crazy life she was making for herself. I became angry with Rochester and became fully involved with the book. The ending chapters only furthered my interest in the book. I thought Jane grew as a character morally a lot in the last few chapters. She really learned how to live on her own but follow her heart, not go with what everyone else wants for her. She went back to Rochester not knowing Bertha had died. She was willing to be with him whether or not she was living. She found true love and grew with the knowledge of it. She grew socially because she interacted with lots of other people and learned who to trust and who not to trust. I enjoyed watching her grow in both ways. As for intellectual growth, I saw that Jane only became wiser. She learned valuable life lessons about love, betrayal, poverty and family. She learned how important and beneficial family could be. Something she missed out on as a kid. I found the book as a whole a really interesting and intriguing way to start the beginning of this year and a great book to have under our belts.
ReplyDeleteJane Eyre has been through a long journey in the past few years. The final segment of the novel fascinated me the most because I felt as if it was when Jane truly began to develop into herself. The final chapters of this novel pushed her to extremes, like begging for food and almost being pushed into yet another marriage, while they also portrayed a new side of Jane, one whom acts purely based on emotion. In the chapters leading up to these, Jane often thought before she acted. This can be especially seen when Jane chose to leave Rochester due to her beliefs rather than how she still felt about him. The final chapters allowed her to grow, especially in social stature, and also make the right decisions for herself by using nothing else then her guiding emotions. She chose to not marry John, although her head was easily influenced by his persuasiveness, because her heart was not in it. She also gave away equal shares of her inheritance because she truly believed in all her heart that it was the right thing to do, and never allowed her judgement to be polluted with selfish thoughts. Jane went back to Rochester with no other reasoning except that she missed him. Jane has begun to trust her heart, and not always rely on logic.
ReplyDeleteThe final chapters bring Jane Eyre happiness. Being reunited with Rochester is a symbolic moment of equality, something many people never believed she could achieve. I can not say that this ending surprised me, though. Throughout the entire book, Jane has revisted characters from the past. She always has at least two encounters with each person she has left in a negative way. She reconciled with her Aunt, came to tolerate her two female cousins, and got the letter in the end from John. It did not seem right if she was to never come across Rochester again, and I am glad she has. By being without him for so long, Jane was also able to discover who she was and achieve self actualization. Jane Eyre had a happy ending afterall.
First of all, why are all of the important male characters in Jane Eyre jerks? John Reed is a jerk, Mr. Brocklehurst is a complete jerk, and Rochester and St. John, while usually nice or helpful to Jane, can occasionally come across as jerks. And is it just me, or was the dialogue between Jane and Rochester when they were reunited at the end come off as so over-dramatic that it was corny (probably just me..I'm not good at this)? Anyway, the final chapters show a major shift in Jane from early chapters. In the early chapters, Jane was prone to temper, hidden from view, and unforgiving to those that have wronged her. In the final chapters she is more out in the open, calmer, and above all more forgiving, even to Rochester who tried to marry her even though his first wife was still alive and locked in the attic. The final chapters also have Jane come to peace with her struggle with her connection with God, as shown through the characters of Burns, Brocklehurst, and St. John Rivers and her interactions with them, along with events such as being stranded at White Cross while starved and desperate. I am sorry if I have said anything inaccurate or stupid, I am not good at this. Please do not hate me if I did.
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ReplyDeleteJane Eyre, like a number of books that I have read, differed largely from my initial presumption of it. When I reached the ending I realized that I had greatly misjudged the overarching direction of the book. The ending felt too neat to me, the story arcs wrapped up too cleanly. I had believed that Jane would return to Rochester only to fall into the same trap as Antoinette, since I assumed the connection between the plots of Jane Eyre and Wide Sargasso Sea to be much more direct than it actually is. I had conjectured that Jean Rhys was inspired by some dark ending in Jane Eyre to write a book in which a previous wife of Rochester experiences a similar fate. It is now clear that Wide Sargasso Sea is not so much a foreshadowing novel as it is an origin story for a character (Antoinette) who is given very little background in Jane Eyre. The concluding third of this book did not merely challenge my perspective of the whole work; it revealed the stark inaccuracy of my assumptions. I feel that Jane rises above all attempts to restrain her personality, and finds peace with religion, or perhaps acceptance of her own views without qualm. Jane has experienced a personal metamorphosis of sorts. The impertinent and irate Jane of early youth has become the self-sufficient, sophisticated Jane of young adulthood and beyond. She has been refined, but perhaps not reformed. It is fair to say that her understanding of people has been broadened, but I found that the writing style and language of the time clouded my view of Jane’s intelligence. Jane recounts her experiences eloquently and her thoughts seem more focused as the work progresses, but I am unsure if her apparently constant precociousness was intentional.
ReplyDeleteMy reaction to the book as a whole was mixed. I did appreciate Jane’s growth into an independent woman who now feels, as others have mentioned, capable of acting on her emotions, but I was puzzled with her social position at the book’s end. Jane gains financial and emotional control of her life, but she remains within the society that had once repressed her. She returns to Rochester in a very distinct position of social equality, but I had imagined that Bronte would end on a more radical note. The “happy ending,” though it grants Jane more power than she had previously possessed, still leaves her fitting perfectly into society. Jane marries Rochester, who recovers enough to see their newborn son. This conclusion just felt immensely saccharine and out of place when compared to the rest of the book. I followed Jane as a reader, observed her growth and suffered with her through her experiences. While it was rewarding to see Jane change, I just felt that the ending lacked the emotional heft or “punch” that most books of this level leave me with. I was hoping for something better for Jane, but this ending just felt too easy.
Personally, I felt that the final chapters showed Jane’s complete maturation as a wise young woman. Here, she sees that she needs Rochester after St. John constantly pesters her to marry him. She realizes her own selfish fears were preventing her from obtaining happiness with the one person she loved and decides to run back to him. To me, this shows her utilizes great wisdom, but shows a loss of independence from someone as manipulative as Rochester. What I liked about the ending was that Bronte was able to equalize Jane and Rochester; Jane with her riches and connections and Rochester with his disabilities and the loss of his estate. Now they can be together without worrying about social status or financial problems.
ReplyDeleteThe final chapters did what they were supposed to in the sense of wrapping up the storyline tightly and with a so-called happy ending. Jane gets what she wants, Rochester gets what he wants, everyone's happy. But that is not quite as important and the aspect that this is the final stage in the Bildungsroman idea of a piece of literature. This includes the epilogue, what we know of the characters after the conflict is resolved. And what we see is that Jane has completed her identity with being confident with who she is, now that she has personal financial stability, and that she considers herself equal enough to Rochester that she can in good conscience marry him. This ending is to make the reader happy for Jane, because she has triumphed and grown and has finally become everything she has dreamed of being.
ReplyDeleteJane was a very interesting character to see develop. There are many misconceived notions that surround her about being plain and an unexciting character but I thought this to be the complete opposite. The way she even communicated with others through her witty remarks that made turns in conversation, was enjoyable to read. This was a progression I saw to become more and more prominent towards the end of the novel. The actions she took in these last chapters truly portrayed the maturity that she had gained. She was able to reach a point of familiarity with herself that led her into making the decision of not following St. John into a loveless marriage, where she would not even be able to interact with society but instead, only serve God. She was also very decided on splitting up the money she had inherited evenly between herself and her newly found relatives. It showed possibly selflessness but could also have been the simplest way possible to reach a level similar to Rochester’s. The way Jane almost seems to be subdued to the social structure that is in place and how she ends up following it so closely, even though it is partly what kept her from being with Rochester in the first place, is slightly concerning. Although she has matured a great deal in other aspects, the mindset she holds on social status is not something that she is able to overlook. The ending of the novel was certainly not what I was expecting. I am certainly a fan of happy endings, but everything just seemed to tie together a little too perfectly. I was at least expecting one more tragic event to pop up making the ending a little less fortunate and somewhat heartwarming. However, I did admire the strength that it took for Jane to go back to Rochester. Her realization that he was who she wanted to be with I thought was the greatest example of the growth and progression she made in the last few chapters.
ReplyDeleteThe final chapters of the book to me represent an equaling of the scale. Jane and Rochester both get what they need to be with one another on equal ground, though parts of it are difficult for both of them. I am interested in the possible biblical analogy being made out of Janes time with her cousins, with the idea of being in purgatory. Jane is being given what she needs to get to "Heaven" aka Rochester. I am not yet sure whether this is intentional, but given the religious nature of St John, is seems very possible. This leads me to more questions about what exactly St. John would represent in such an analogy: temptation perhaps? Regardless, Janes time with her newly found family (especially her female cousins) are significant because they are the first accepting and affectionate women Jane has had in her life who Jane sees on a level equal to her own. (Mrs. Fairfax doesn't count because Kane definitely sees her as inferior at least mentally, if not in station). It seems to me that when Jane arrives back at Thornfield, and with Rochester, she has finally realized her full personality, desires, and rights as a human to be just as happy as anyone else.
ReplyDeleteThe novel as a whole was one of the most complex and intricate stories I have read while being able to thoroughly absorb its contents. I was captivated by Jane's struggle with her suppressors, hardships, and her development through out the many chapters. The final chapters re-antiquated me with the concepts which had drawn me in when I had begun reading. Although certain details threw me off, the ending as a whole did answer many questions. I was hoping for a little more in the very last chapter. I felt that after such a journey the very end would be more powerful. I believe the ending was justifiable but it could have been more powerful. I believe Jane's independence could have been more strongly demonstrated. The new details that I did not foresee drew me in. I believe the reveal of Bertha's connection to Wide Sargasso Sea tied everything together. The scene gave Jane a chance to show her self determination and independence however the interactions with Saint John retracted my new gained respect. Although the chapters involving Saint John were important detail wise, I believe the events were somewhat out of place. I was most deeply impacted by Bronte's clear demonstration of Jane's advancement in power. It was interesting and powerful to watch a young girl who was so severely suppressed by her surroundings grow to be a necessity to an individual who in the past used his power to control her.
ReplyDeleteThe final chapters of Jane Eyre seem to represent a sort of completion, or victory for Jane. She has overcome every impediment to her happiness through sheer determination and will power. This determination, combined with Jane's refusal to bow to the will of others - especially men - has remained a constant throughout the novel. The first instance of said determination is evident in the chapters in which Jane stands up to her aunt.This defiant side of Jane is seen repeatedly throughout the remainder of the novel, most notably in her refusal to concede to the initial demands of both Rochester and John.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the only major changes that Jane goes through in the final chapters, stem from her new found financial situation and overall "status upgrade". Because of her inheritance, Jane is able to see herself as not only intellectually, but financially equal to Rochester. Once Jane reaches a financial and social standing worthy, or at least comparable to that of Rochester, she allows herself to give in to long standing desires no longer impeded by her lesser social standing.In short, only after Jane satisfies the demands set by the social standards of her time, is she able to act as she truly desires.
The ending of Jane Eyre was almost predictable. I'm happy that Jane was finally able to express her desires and be with Rochester and that they can have each other, but it was kind of boring to me. Beginning with Jane's childhood, Jane has always defended herself in situations that threaten her morals or values, especially when her cousin bullied her in the first chapter and when she stands up to her aunt about her accusation of Jane being a lair. Throughout the novel, Jane has gone through challenges that have shaped who she is in the end and showed how she became increasingly independent throughout. My perspective didn't change as much from the beginning to the end. When she gives up her emotion and right to happiness in order to be on a socially/financially equality with Rochester shows how she has developed socially and intellectually.
ReplyDeleteI felt like the ending of Jane Eyre was pretty endless. Things were dragged out for too long, like when St. John proposed to Jane; what could have been accomplished in one paragraph spanned several pages.
ReplyDeleteWhen Jane learns about the death of her uncle and the huge amount of money she has inherited, she can’t fully appreciate the moment because she is alone. “My uncle I had heard was dead—my only relative; ever since being made aware of his existence, I had cherished the hope of one day seeing him: now, I never should. And then this money came only to me: not to me and a rejoicing family, but to my isolated self.”
The actual ending of the book, when Jane and Rochester reunite, was very unsatisfying in my opinion. Things were too simple and too “they all lived happily ever after (besides St. John because he’s dying.)” I would have been more content if the reunion of Jane and Rochester ended the book. Instead we were given Jane’s update ten years later.
I also didn’t understand how Rochester regained his vision, because I thought that one eye fell out and another was surgically removed. Either he regenerated a whole new eye or I misread.
In comparison to the rest of the book, in which everything happens at a reasonably slow and steady pace, I feel like the ending was sort of a rush-job where Bronte crammed a whole bunch of things in to neatly tie up all the story's loose ends. While I don't think it was a bad ending, It had a different feeling to it than the rest of the book, mainly because it was such a short time between her finding out she was rich, St. John proposing, Jane rejecting St. John, and Jane going back to Rochester to marry him. These parts were so integral to the story, and yet they happened so fast and were so close together it felt, at times, unnatural. But as a whole, the book followed a very natural progression of someone who grows, experiences life in both it's good and bad forms, and in the end learns and benefits from it. All the anger Jane had as a child toward the people who oppressed her that she said she'd never forgiver, she forgave. Her vow to never marry clearly didn't stick either. It was through these life lessons though that Jane was able to change and be able to realize that she could marry Rochester, and overall I thought Bronte did a great job developing her character.
ReplyDeleteWhile reading the last section of the novel, I felt as if it moved along quicker than the previous part of the story. While Jane continued to develop in the end, I thought that it was much more rushed. In the beginning and middle of the book, Bronte developed Jane’s character at a steady, yet slower pace, whereas in the end of the book I found the pace to be quickened significantly. Although I still enjoyed reading it, I found it harder to think about what was going on because the story moved around so much. Before, Bronte would focus on a couple specific things and gradually form the story around it. However, in this last portion, a lot more happened in the development of the story. All within a few chapters, Jane found out she inherited a large amount of money, St. John proposed to her and she declined, she went back to Mr. Rochester, and she ended up marrying him.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the book, I got a sense of what Jane was like, but in the end I felt as if she completely changed. Bronte developed her specific characteristics and continued to enhance them throughout the entire novel, then at the very end Jane suddenly became someone that I thought was unlike her original character. She used to not care as much about what class you were in, and when she left Mr. Rochester, she knew it was for her own good. Yet once she inherited the money, she seemed to notice class differences a lot more, and she also completely seemed to change her mind about staying away from Mr. Rochester. While I found this somewhat frustrating, I also thought it to be an interesting way to end the book. By the last chapter, Jane was a completely different person than the little girl in the first chapters. I thought her character was developed very well and got the impression that she finally knew exactly who she was and what she was supposed to do with her life.