Compare And Contrast Fairy Tale In Jane Eyre

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I am certain that everyone can name numerous fairy tales. The most popular ones such as “Cinderella”, “Little Red Riding Hood”, and “Beauty and the Beast” are well known among the young and the elderly with a slight difference due to the various versions. The fairy tales that the elderly know are generally dark and disturbing while the most recent ones are happy and fantasy like. They attract more the little girls who want to be pretty princesses. In Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë does not seem to hint towards intentionally comparing her novel to any version of a fairy tale that you have heard of before. However, it is quite easy to find elements of her novel those are similar to “Bluebeard” and “Cinderella”. Brontë shows that Jane Eyre is a fairy …show more content…
There are different versions to this fantasy story, but they all have the same idea of a poor daughter who loses both her parents and has to deal with her evil step mother and evil step sisters. She over comes obstacles to get to the ball that all the unmarried women are invited to and leaves the ball at midnight. Eventually, she ends up with the prince. There are obvious similarities such as the evil step mother, two evil step sisters, the “fairy godmother” or seen as the nicer version of a mother figure for Jane Eyre, according to Clarke. The evil step-mother being Mrs. Reed: “Then Mrs. Reed subjoined—“Take her away to the red-room, and lock her in there” (Brontë 640). Mrs Reed knew that Jane was terrified of the red-room because it was the same room where Mr. Reed had died. Jane felt like the room was haunted by his spirit. The two evil step sisters are Jane’s cousins Eliza and Georgiana Reed who “evidently acting according to orders, spoke to me as little as possible” (Brontë 651). Also similar to the fairy tale, Jane had followed suit in the “Cinderella” story by becoming a maid: “For Bessie now frequently employed me as a sort of under-nurserymaid, to tide the room, dust the chairs” (Brontë 653). With such similarities, it is clear that Brontë made Jane Eyre to be a different version of the traditional “Cinderella” fable possibly to show the …show more content…
It also shows her boldness to do things that she believes in. Her independence also tries to rise to the surface; however it is pushed down relatively fast. When Jane is sent to the red room, Mrs. Reed threatens “you will now stay here an hour longer and it is only on condition of perfect submission and stillness that I shall liberate you then” (Brontë 644). This shows that Mrs. Reed wants to ensure that Jane understands she has to listen. Unfortunately, Jane was put in to the red room on false pretenses; she was using self defense against her cousin John Reed who had started the scuffle. We see that John could never get into trouble because even after the worse act possible, he still continues to be Mrs. Reed’s “own darling” (Brontë 642).
In conclusion, a fairy tale gone wrong is shown throughout the novel of Jane Eyre. It is shown by comparing the notion of “Bluebeard” and “Beauty and the Beast” to the character and lifestyle of Mr. Rochester of Thornefield. Comparing “Cinderella” to Jane Eyre as the character also establishes a connection. The fairy tale gone wrong is shown through the way Jane Eyre develops from the normality of society through her rebelliousness. Fairy tales are everywhere, even when we mature and grow up. We see parts of all sorts of fables throughout literature. All in all, fairy

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