In Charlotte Bronte’s, Jane Eyre, her unexamined, culturally conditioned definitions of ‘success’ and ‘happiness’; shape the narrative through their contradicting definitions. According to Bronte, women have the same capacity for success and Independence as men. However, her subconscious cultural belief that a woman’s success is to be married is a contradiction of her first definition of success. This results in a struggle between these two beliefs in Jane Eyre. Furthermore, the culture expectations of women deeply embedded in Bronte’s novel create a parallel between the story lines of Cinderella and Jane Eyre.
Bronte’s belief that a woman should have an equal standing with a man is exemplified in chapter 12. Reflecting on the subpar nature …show more content…
Although not every aspect of Cinderella is reflected in Jane Eyre the major characters of Cinderella and Prince Charming are embodied in the characters and relationship between Jane and Mr. Rochester. The basic story line of Cinderella correlates with key events that happen in Jane Eyre. This is due to her culture’s imperative that a woman must find a man and he must be her ‘prince charming.’ Both Jane and Cinderella meet a ‘prince’ and fall in love, both Cinderella and Jane run away; Cinderella to preserve her deception and Jane to reject Rochester’s deception. In Cinderella, the prince goes and seeks her, whereas in Jane Eyre, Jane seeks Rochester. The subtle changes in Jane’s character to that of Cinderella’s evident in her independent, self-reliant characteristics in comparison of the passivity of cinders. Here Bronte try’s to shape the story of Cinderella to suit her own explicit purposes and conscience belief of an independent woman, as evident in chapters 32-34 of the novel. Despite the difference in the characterisation of the titular characters, Jane Eyre continues to parallel Cinderella. In both Jane Eyre and Cinderdella the titular characters are reunited with their prince and they get married fulfilling Bronte’s cultural assumption. In Cinderella, the ‘prince’ recognises her and marries her. In Charles Perrault’s version he writes “she was conducted to the young prince, dressed as she was; he thought her more charming than ever, and, a few days after, married her.” On the other hand, Jane and Rochester both recognise each other and Jane states “reader I married him” (pg.517). Despite Jane display of independent characteristics through her explicit use of the personal pronoun ‘I’; her cultural assumption trumps her conscience beliefs; as indicated by her marrying her ‘prince’. The clear parallels between the two stories
Bronte’s belief that a woman should have an equal standing with a man is exemplified in chapter 12. Reflecting on the subpar nature …show more content…
Although not every aspect of Cinderella is reflected in Jane Eyre the major characters of Cinderella and Prince Charming are embodied in the characters and relationship between Jane and Mr. Rochester. The basic story line of Cinderella correlates with key events that happen in Jane Eyre. This is due to her culture’s imperative that a woman must find a man and he must be her ‘prince charming.’ Both Jane and Cinderella meet a ‘prince’ and fall in love, both Cinderella and Jane run away; Cinderella to preserve her deception and Jane to reject Rochester’s deception. In Cinderella, the prince goes and seeks her, whereas in Jane Eyre, Jane seeks Rochester. The subtle changes in Jane’s character to that of Cinderella’s evident in her independent, self-reliant characteristics in comparison of the passivity of cinders. Here Bronte try’s to shape the story of Cinderella to suit her own explicit purposes and conscience belief of an independent woman, as evident in chapters 32-34 of the novel. Despite the difference in the characterisation of the titular characters, Jane Eyre continues to parallel Cinderella. In both Jane Eyre and Cinderdella the titular characters are reunited with their prince and they get married fulfilling Bronte’s cultural assumption. In Cinderella, the ‘prince’ recognises her and marries her. In Charles Perrault’s version he writes “she was conducted to the young prince, dressed as she was; he thought her more charming than ever, and, a few days after, married her.” On the other hand, Jane and Rochester both recognise each other and Jane states “reader I married him” (pg.517). Despite Jane display of independent characteristics through her explicit use of the personal pronoun ‘I’; her cultural assumption trumps her conscience beliefs; as indicated by her marrying her ‘prince’. The clear parallels between the two stories