Arienne Rich's article "Jane Eyre: The Temptations of a Motherless Woman" in the Norton Critical Edition of Jane Eyre is separated into chapters like in the book, but each chapter is about a different stage or time zone in Jane’s Life. Rich focus mostly on the stories them of Love versus Autonomy. Also, she focuses on the motif of substitute mothers. From reading Rich’s article you can observe Rich focusing on Bronte's biography, like biographical criticism. She considers how the text is like other Romance and gothic texts such as Persuasion, Middlemarch, and Jude the Obscure, Madame Bovary, Anna Karenina, The Portrait of a Lady, and Wuthering Heights (469).
Rich emphasizes Jane Eyre pursuit for love, but more so, her pursuit for a awareness of being appreciated, of fitting-in more so than romantic love. Therefore Jane says to Helen Burns, “to gain some real affection from you, or Miss Temple, or any other whom I truly love, I would willingly submit to have the bone of my arm broken, or to let a bull toss me, or to stand behind a kicking horse, and let it dash its hoof at my chest” (473). Jane seems to believe the only way to love is for …show more content…
“Marrying” Rochester while he is still married to Bertha would mean sacrificing Jane’s own integrity for the sake of emotional fulfillment. Instead, with St, John, Jane enjoys economic freedom and participates in meaningful and valuable work, but she loses emotional sustenance. Jane knows that marriage to St. John would [remain loveless].(480) Nevertheless, the occurrences of Jane’s visit with him are essential trials of Jane’s autonomy. Merely a step in proving her self-sufficiency to herself, allowing her to marry Rochester and not be disproportionately reliant on him as her “master.” The marriage can be one between equals. In a way this relates to queer studies where a woman is defying norms if she is equal or above that of her
Rich emphasizes Jane Eyre pursuit for love, but more so, her pursuit for a awareness of being appreciated, of fitting-in more so than romantic love. Therefore Jane says to Helen Burns, “to gain some real affection from you, or Miss Temple, or any other whom I truly love, I would willingly submit to have the bone of my arm broken, or to let a bull toss me, or to stand behind a kicking horse, and let it dash its hoof at my chest” (473). Jane seems to believe the only way to love is for …show more content…
“Marrying” Rochester while he is still married to Bertha would mean sacrificing Jane’s own integrity for the sake of emotional fulfillment. Instead, with St, John, Jane enjoys economic freedom and participates in meaningful and valuable work, but she loses emotional sustenance. Jane knows that marriage to St. John would [remain loveless].(480) Nevertheless, the occurrences of Jane’s visit with him are essential trials of Jane’s autonomy. Merely a step in proving her self-sufficiency to herself, allowing her to marry Rochester and not be disproportionately reliant on him as her “master.” The marriage can be one between equals. In a way this relates to queer studies where a woman is defying norms if she is equal or above that of her