Island In Silence

Jane VS. Bertha

[Note: They also had sth. in common: jealousy, victim of Rochester]

Rochester： relationship with Bertha

If Bertha is the colonized subject, then Rochester is the despotic master who literally keeps her captive.

St. John: wants Jane to join him as his wife on a missionary expedition to India--“bettering the race”

Jane  recognizes that although his discipline is too much for her, he will do extremely well in India, perhaps indicating that the Indians are in need of such a severe influence to keep them under control.

Jane: eventually comes into her inheritance from her uncle, the source of her wealth is Madeira, another slave society.

Jane acts in an honorable fashion by dividing her wealth with her cousins who saved her, but the means of her independence is undeniably due to the colonies.

• Victoria becomes queen of England 1837.She opposed women's right to vote and believed that women's submission was God's will.

• Others believed women were intellectually inferior. M.H. Abrams is especially helpful on this point:"A woman who tried to cultivate her intellect beyond drawing-room accomplishments was violating the order of Nature  and religious tradition. Woman was to be valued, instead, for other qualities considered to be esp. characteristic of her sex: tenderness of understanding, unworldliness and innocence,domestic affection, and in various degrees, submissiveness"

• Middle class women and upper middle class women suffered from boredom because they had no outlet for their energies.

• ¼ of England's female population in 1849 had jobs, either low-paying jobs, such as in factories or as domestics, or as governesses.

• Early critics of the novel had different opinions on Bronte's treatment of the woman question. Margaret Oliphant called the novel "a wild declaration of the Rights of Women in a new aspect"（在一个新的视角上对女权主义野性的宣言）, and Elizabeth Rigby attacked its "pervading tone of ungodly discontent"(渗透着不虔诚的不满).

Chapter 9-16

“I lived long ago with mama; but she is gone to the Holy Virgin. Mama used to teach me to dance and sing, and to say verses… Shall I let you hear me sing now?”

—— Adela met Jane for the first time,she thought her mother was dead

“It is in vain to say human being ought to be satisfied with tranquility(平静): they must have action; and they will make it if that cannot find it… nobody knows how many rebellions besides political rebellions ferment(骚动) in the masses of life which people earth.Women are supposed to be very calm generally: but women feel just as men feel.”

—— Jane's boredom before she decided advertise for herself to get a new job

“I have plenty of faults of my own… I have a past existence… I like to lay half of the blame on ill fortune and adverse circumstances… I might have been as good as you,—wiser,—al most as stainless. I envy your peace of mind, your clean conscience, your unpolluted memory.”

—— Mr. Rochester

“What have you done with me, witch,sorceress? Who is in the room besides you? Have you plotted to drown me?”

—— Mr. Rochester shouted at Jane after she saved his life from fire in his sleep

Chapter 16-20

“I always think it best to err on the safe side; a door is soon fastened, and it is as well to have a drawn bolt between one and any mischief(损害) that may be about. A deal of people, Miss, are for trusting all to Providence; but I say Providence will not dispense with the means,thought he often blesses them when they are used discreetly. And here she closed her harangue(长篇演说)… uttered with the demureness(严肃) of a Quakeress (贵格会教派女信徒).”

—— Grace Poole

“I have just one word to say of the whole tribe; they are a nuisance. Not that I ever suffered much from them; I took care to turn the table. What tricks Theodore and I used to play on our Miss Wilsons, and Mrs. Greys, and Madame Joubers!…”

—— Blanche's comment on governess

She bit me… She sucked the blood: she said she'd drain my heart.”

—— Mason

“My word is error.”

—— Mr. Rochester

Why “Jane Eyre”? —the meaning of this name：

• Bildungsroman=“novel of education”教育小说：the subject of this kind of novel is the development of the protagonist's mind and character in the passage from childhood and usually through a spiritual crisis into maturity and a recognition of his/her identity and role in the world. → “coming of age”个人成长                      （In short, Bildungsroman is  a novel whose principal subject is the moral, psychological, and intellectual development of a usually youthful main character. 以年轻主人公的道德心智发展为主题的小说 ）            
• Romance ( Gothic: the red room, uncle's ghost, dream, moon)
• Autobiography  自传体 (Pg.91)
• Social Protest novel 社会批判小说 ?
• Fairy tale—Cinderella ?

coming-of-age story/novel is memorable：

1. the character undergoes adventures and/or inner turmoil in his/her growth and development as a human being.
2. Some characters come to grips with (开始搏斗)the reality of cruelty in the world--with war, violence, death, racism, and hatred--while others deal with family, friends, or community issues.
3. here are top 9 Coming of Age novel:

• 2 basic elements
  

1. A Central Love Story: The main plot centers around two individuals falling in love and struggling to make the relationship work. A writer can include as many subplots as he/she wants as long as the love story is the main focus of the novel.
2. An Emotionally-Satisfying and Optimistic Ending: In a romance, the lovers who risk and struggle for each other and their relationship are rewarded with emotional justice and unconditional love.
         Romance novels may have any tone or style, be set in any place or time, and have varying levels of sensuality—ranging from sweet to extremely hot. These settings and distinctions of plot create specific subgenres within romance fiction.

key words of Romance :

• What is lost and found
• and then, and then……

•  2 formats

1. Series or "category" romances:  books issued under a common imprint/series name that are usually numbered sequentially and released at regular intervals, usually monthly, with the same number of releases each time. These books are most commonly published by Harlequin/Silhouette.
2. Single-title romances:  longer romances released individually and not as part of a numbered series. Single-title romances may be released in hard cover, trade paperback, or mass-market paperback sizes.

• Romance Literature Subgenres

因为不愿意暴露身分，所以我们用柯勒、艾利斯、阿克顿贝尔这些笔名来隐藏本名。这个因为良心不安而做出的暧昧抉择，是假设基督徒对于名为男性的思考是正面的。我们并不喜欢宣布我们是女人，因为——毫无疑问的，我们的著作和思想是不会被称为“女性的”——我们有了模糊的印象：女作家是应该对偏见袖手旁观的。我们注意到评论家有时是如何因为个性而抨击，有时则是用谄媚当作鼓励，这些并不是真正的评价。

Plot 情节:

• the author's arrangement of incidents in a story (戏剧/小说)的构思/布局 
• the organizing principle that controls the order of the events. 

 Different types of plot arrangement：

1. a chronological arrangement begins with what happens first, then second,and so on,until the last incident is related
2. stories begin at the end，then lead up to why or how events worked out as they did
3. stories begin in the middle of things— “in medias res”中间情节切入
4. flashback：a device that informs us about events that happened before the opening scene of work  倒叙，闪回: 一种文学或电影的表现手法，往往在一段按正常时间顺序记叙的叙事中插入一件以前发生过的事情

Given the 4 types of plot , which type is Jane Eyre?

Jane Eyre's arrangement of plot is kind of complicated, it is a combination of the 1st and 3rd type of plot.

• mainly a chronological arrangement : story begins with what happens first, then second,and so on,until the last incident is related.
• partially is narrated from the end: stories begin at the end，then lead up to why or how events worked out as they did. (“Ere long, …”Pg. 165 at the end of Chap. 16)

Characterization 角色塑造: