Examples Of Autonomy In Jane Eyre

Beyond the Search for Autonomy in Charlotte Brontë’s “Jane Eyre” Jane Eyre is a novel of self awareness. It is beyond Jane’s sagacity to feel dependent upon anyone. Jane craves to think and speak freely without judgement in a time fit to undermine her capabilities. Jane is a curious soul who seeks a purpose greater than what she has ever known. Because Jane Eyre has Romantic and Gothic elements, the attainment of freedom is complicated. Charlotte Brontë uses advanced diction and complex sentences to enhance Jane’s vivid imagination and thought process in the search for independence while revealing numerous restrictions upheld by nineteenth century ideas. Even as a child, Jane was oppressed. Her time spent at Gateshead Hall and Lowood educated her but she never experienced love or care in a healthy way. She sought more beyond her restricted boundaries. “I desired liberty; for liberty I gasped; for liberty I uttered a prayer; it seemed scattered on the wind then faintly blowing” (X.72). Jane is full of knowledge and …show more content…
Although Jane interacts with all levels of people, from servants to upper middle class to aristocrats, she still never fit it anywhere. When Mr. Rochester forces Jane to attend his party, all the other guests exclude her. When we learn why Mr. Rochester raises and educates Adèle as a way of trying to repent for his past, he confides in Jane which blurs the line between her being an equal and a servant. When Mrs. Fairfax witnessed Mr. Rochester and Jane embrace, she was amazed and felt inclined to give Jane a warning: “Try and keep Mr. Rochester at a distance: distrust yourself as well as him. Gentlemen in his station are not accustomed to marry their governesses” (XXIV. 227). Society meant to hinder Jane’s growth and it was only when she inherited her wealth that she was able to overcome her status and be deemed as