`i Am An Independent Woman Now`

Throughout the novel Bronte has Jane fight to break various different types of patriarchal bonds; although financial 'independence' has been acquired by its conclusion, as she specifically refers to with this statement, the sense of resolution which it offers can perhaps more accurately be ascribed to her achieving happiness through compromise rather than total independence. Her assertion 'to be your wife is, for me, to be as happy as I can be on earth' is met with the rather perspicacious response from Rochester 'because you delight in sacrifice.' Jane's five stage journey is applicable to the German concept of the bildungsroman, the idea that the protagonist gets taken 'on a literal metaphorical journey of discovery' undergoing 'psychological and social development' (Judy Simons). The five psychological stages Jane undergoes in Jane Eyre are perfectly mirrored by the five different settings in which she finds herself, which in turn convey the different types of patriarchal bonds she must overcome before reaching a final compromise. At Gateshead, we are introduced to John Reed, the first dominating male presence Jane encounters. His form of repression is predominantly to do with class and wealth. Jane Eyre has been viewed by many critics as a distinctly Chartist book for this reason: 'the tone of mind and thought which has fostered Chartism and rebellion is the same which has also written Jane Eyre' (Elizabeth Rigby). Rigby equates Bronte with 'Chartism' and 'rebellion' because the book was remarkably explicit for its time, commenting on rather than ignoring drastic social differences. John Reed does all he can to make her feel an inferior, from infancy Jane is constantly reminded 'you are a dependent'. His 'grotesque' physical features reflect the horrific, merciless nature that succeeds so completely in stifling the young Jane. Jane herself admits 'poverty for me was synonymous with degradation.' As Bronte has Jane break these class bonds by the conclusion through acquiring her inheritance, John Reed ironically ends up gambling away the Reed fortunes. By the end of the novel, John Reed has become a dependent. At Thornfield, Jane encounters Rochester. Although she does fall in love with his 'brooding' face, he is not yet her equal. The relationship between Jane and Rochester is sexually charged on account of its 'master-servant' characteristic; this visceral love is not accepted by Jane as it lacks the spiritual fulfilment she will feel she has achieved by the end of the novel. Rochester might appear to understand Jane more than anyone has done in the past, and this he does to some extent, yet he keeps hidden from her a vast and insurmountable secret; this underlying deception at Thornfield is mirrored in its corridor being likened to 'some Bluebeard's castle' and the gypsy disguise which Rochester assumes. Bertha, too, remains hidden behind 'two rows of small black doors, all shut' for the larger part of the novel. Just as Bertha has suffered under Rochester's patriarchal repression, her creole background serving only to enhance her gender and class "inferiority", so too now will Jane if she stays and marries Rochester. By the end of the novel Bertha who is, according to Gilbert and Gubar, 'Jane's truest and darkest double', dies in the fire; Rochester is symbolically emasculated by the loss of his eyesight and at Ferndean: 'apparently mutilated, he is paradoxically stronger than when he ruled Thornfield, for now, like Jane, he draws his powers from within himself, rather than inequity, disguise, deception' (Gilbert and Gubar). Although Rochester has been weakened and thus, in a sense, softened by this physical impediment, Jane still addresses him as 'master' and agrees to marry the man 'whom [she] will have to wait on.' Rochester never fully relinquishes his domineering role in their relationship, although this perhaps suits Jane just as much as it does Rochester. It is likewise ambiguous whether Bertha's death symbolises Jane's ultimate liberation from the bonds of patriarchal repression, or the death of her determined battle against them. Brocklehurst and St. John Rivers both represent different forms of religious repression. Linked by similar phallic descri ptions, Brocklehurst is a 'black column' and St. John a 'cold cumbrous column'. While Brocklehurst is used to express Bronte's fundamental distaste of the patriarchal and hypocritical Evangelical movement, inspired by her own experiences at Lowan Bridge under William Carus Wilson, St. John is a self-aggrandizing and inexorable Calvanist. Jane, in a very decided manner, runs away from the suffocating constraints of Lowood, Brocklehurst 'the black marble clergyman' and even Helen Burns as she ends up asking herself 'where is God? What is God?' However, such a strong psychological separation cannot be seen in her dealings with St. John. Although Jane rejects his marriage proposal, proclaiming 'I scorn your idea of love', and mockingly refers to him as 'the warrior Greatheart', her conclusive satirical outlook is testimony to her own consciousness of the sacrifices she has made to achieve happiness. It is implied that St. John maintains such religious fervour on account of an egotistical rather than pious nature. At Ferndean, Jane becomes for Rochester a maternal, Madonna-like figure, and one that has helped him with his 're-transformation from India-rubber back to flesh.' In this sense links can be drawn between Jane and St. John; they both use religion finally to achieve the 'inner mental serenity' which actually comes from fulfilling their temporal rather than transcendental satisfactions. Therefore while Jane achieves her own kind of satisfaction by embracing her love and by making sacrifices for Rochester, as opposed to St John's purely egotistical attainment of his, she is more ambivalent in her judgement towards him as their disposition's are essentially the same. At the end of Jane's journey, she has developed hugely from the small and frustrated girl whom she used to be, repressed by her own juvenility and the patriarchal bonds inflicted upon her. The spirit who cried out 'unjust! unjust!' has not even now been granted complete liberation, but has instead been settled by the compromise she has reached. In the remote and almost dream-like scape offered to us by Ferndean, Jane is able to separate herself from the rest of society as she also separates herself by becoming increasingly satirical. Financial independence has been acquired, patriarchal religious repression merely evaded, and hints of Rochester's own form of patriarchal repression remain characteristic to their personal relationship. This is the conclusion that has won Jane the greatest sense of happiness. Charlotte Bronte, in her preface, admiringly referred to her contemporary Thackerey as 'the social regenerator of the day', thus implying her own desire to 'restore rectitude to the warped system of things' in her writing. What Jane finds at the end of her story is not independence or a 'restored' social climate, but love and serenity of mind, just as Charlotte Bronte's own story ended in marriage to the curate Arthur Nicholls. It is therefore no surprise that Jane Eyre has, ultimately, been remembered as a love story.