The theme of isolation is greatly used in literature to help form characters and provide readers with an insight into crucial aspects of their identity. Isolation and alienation, two forms of torturous estrangement are very much experienced by the novel’s protagonists of ‘Jane Eyre’ and ‘The Scarlet Letter’, Jane Eyre and Hester Prynne respectively. Throughout the two novels it can be broadly debated whether the characters are presented as outsiders due to their internal characteristics, or whether it is society and other external forces which consequently contribute to their lonely and secluded characters.
From the very beginning of ‘Jane Eyre’, Bronte presents Jane as an outsider based on her characteristics, life and childhood. From Jane Eyre’s school life and education, her lonesome characteristics are visible to the reader. Jane’s conflict with Mr Brocklehurst is foreshadowed in chapter 4 when …show more content…
Mr Brocklehurst symbolises Jane’s hatred for some versions of original religion; he is a man with firm and inflexible beliefs; his teachings focus on sin and obedience rather than love and tolerance. His inhumanity can be reflected through the “carved mask” of his face, and we as readers are made aware that he will offer her little comfort or salvation when Jane declares that “the psalms are not interesting”. In addition to that, Mr Brocklehurst calls Jane “an interloper and an alien”, attempting to place Jane back into the inferior, outside position she occupied at Gateshed. While therefore, there are arguments to suggest that Mr Brocklehurst is an external influence contributing to Jane Eyre’s isolation, however, it can be suggested that Jane Eyre’s own
From the very beginning of ‘Jane Eyre’, Bronte presents Jane as an outsider based on her characteristics, life and childhood. From Jane Eyre’s school life and education, her lonesome characteristics are visible to the reader. Jane’s conflict with Mr Brocklehurst is foreshadowed in chapter 4 when …show more content…
Mr Brocklehurst symbolises Jane’s hatred for some versions of original religion; he is a man with firm and inflexible beliefs; his teachings focus on sin and obedience rather than love and tolerance. His inhumanity can be reflected through the “carved mask” of his face, and we as readers are made aware that he will offer her little comfort or salvation when Jane declares that “the psalms are not interesting”. In addition to that, Mr Brocklehurst calls Jane “an interloper and an alien”, attempting to place Jane back into the inferior, outside position she occupied at Gateshed. While therefore, there are arguments to suggest that Mr Brocklehurst is an external influence contributing to Jane Eyre’s isolation, however, it can be suggested that Jane Eyre’s own