AnAnalysisofSpiritualQualitiesinJaneEyre

【Abstract】Jane Eyre is a masterpiece of the famous English author Charlotte Bronte who lived in the nineteenth century. People generally think that Jane Eyre is the portrayal of Charlotte Bronte s whole life. It is really a fantastic work. It actually explains a topic that peoples value equals to their respect and love. In this novel， the hostess pursues the spirit of passion， fantasy， revolt and perseverance. She searches for the freedom of the life， the desire of happiness and the higher pursuit of the spirit. The author portrays a quite strong and brave hostess. It reflects a strong woman who dares to pursue her true love. Jane Eyre really sets a good example for women and is a good model for women forever.

【Key words】Jane Eyre； Charlotte Bronte； love； strong

【作者簡介】李潔瑩（1990- ），女，陜西西安人，碩士，西安科技大學高新學院專職教師，助教，研究方向：英語筆譯，從事大學英語教學工作。

Introduction

This is a novel full of the style of romanticism， and it is a realistic novel. This novel mainly portrays the love between Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester. The hostess is a pure and independent woman. She really suffers a lot. She has the stubborn character， and she is a woman who dares to pursue happiness. The novel uses the smooth way to describe the relationship between Jane and Mr. Rochester. Their love is based on mutual understanding and mutual respect， their love is great. Jane Eyre was an orphan who was born in a family of a poor clergyman. Her parents died when Jane was a baby. So Jane lived with her aunt. While her aunt was not friendly to Jane， she treated Jane badly， and sometimes scolded and hit Jane. What a poor girl ！ Later， her aunt sent Jane to Lowood. The life in Lowood was miserable. But after years of training， Jane improved a lot， she put advertisements outside in order to be the tutor of childrens . There she met Mr. Rochester and she found the one she loved most. Janes spirit was rewarding， and we should learn from her.

I. The author and Jane Eyre

Actually the author had the same experience as Jane Eyre， Charlotte was born in the northern part of England， she was born in a poor family， her mother passed away quite early， Jane was sent to a charity institution. Life there was hard， too. Later she became a tutor. At first， she wanted to set up a school， but she did not manage to . So later， she devoted to the road of writing. It is true we can find many similarities on both of them， the author actually writes her own experience. We can see that both of them are strong and brave. Maybe this is life， life cannot always be smooth. But only after we experience something， can we really write some marvelous things.

II. The spirit of Janes resistance

In the 1840s， it was the peak time that the English bourgeois democracy Movement and the Civil Movement took place. Although the English carried out the bourgeois democracy reform， the rights of women were far behind. Whether in politics aspect or economic aspect， women were mens subsidiaries. Even in education aspect， men and women were not equal. According to social customs， women acted a role as an angel. A woman should have a nice appearance. That should be the gift of god. If a woman could inherit something left by her ancestors， that was better. But for Jane， she did not have a good-looking appearance and even did not have the real parents love. She lived in a miserable environment， where there were wind and storm. But luckily she had an unyielding heart.

The resistance to Janes cousin-John Leeds

When Jane was ten， her parents were died because of disease， so she was sent to her aunts home. There Jane lived in a miserable environment. Her aunt and cousins hit and humiliated her. They brought her fear rather than care. Jane did not have a good-looking appearance， money nor love. The only thing she had was humiliation made by her aunt and cousins. In her cousins eyes， she was nothing. Maybe a child who has a strong will could not bear such humiliation. When John hurt her， she finally roar‘You are a cruel child. You look like a killer. You look like a Roman empire. The roar was the sound against freedom and class. Because of Janes miserable experience， she became stronger.

The resistance to Madam Reeds

In Gates head yard， Jane felt her aunt was disguised. Although Mrs. Reeds promised to take good care of Jane after Mr. Reeds death. After Mr. Reeds died， Mrs. Reeds did not treat Jane well. In Mrs. Reeds eyes， Jane looked like a ghost， from head to feet， from inside to outside， Jane made her annoyed. She said Jane was a liar. In Janes eyes， her aunt was like a witch. Jane had to care about her mood. Once Mrs. Reeds used an angry tune to criticize Jane， Jane was nervous， she knew her aunt did not believe in her and humiliated her， so she rebutted：‘I feel lucky I am not your relative， and I will never call you aunt in my life. I will never come to see you when I grow up. If someone asks me whether I like you or not， whether you treat me nice or not. I will say when I think of you， I feel annoyed. I will say you treat me as cool as ice.From the bottom of Janes heart， she did not like her aunt at all. What did it mean behind Janes sound？ It means Jane was brave， resistant and self-independent. It means Jane had unyielding spirit and self-respect.

The resistance to fate

After leaving Gates head， Jane felt her future was oblivious. To move forward or to submit？ Jane decided to fight and to move forward. She realized she had to be self-independent. While in the orphanage， her circumstances were not better than it was in Gates head. In the orphanage， she knew the coldness of the nurses and witnessed peoples death because of the disease. According to the cruel reality， and the unsteady fate. Giving up means to submit， persistence means hope. And again Jane determined to persist and fight， she decided to believe her future. She was filled with hope. Because of hope， she found a job for herself.

III. The spirit of Janes equality

Equality is just like balance. In essence， the poor and the rich， the men and the women are equal. Jane lived in the 19th century， the whole society was not equal， and the strong wind blew the balance .Between the rich and the poor， it inclined to the rich. Between the men and the women， it inclined to men. Jane never felt objected because she was a tutor. And she did not complain about herself as a servant. When she was cold-treated by Mr. Rochester， her words made Mr. Rochester find a quite different Jane. Jane did not have property and nice appearance. With the temptation of wealth， she still insisted equality and self-respect， this made Mr. Rochester vibrated. And Mr. Rochester regarded her as an equal talker in spirit. Actually when Jane felt she loved Mr. Rochester deeply， she dared to express her feeling， although she had low status， she believed all men were equal. A poor tutor dared to love a high-class person， it was just like a beggar loved a king. It is true that this was a big challenge for her. Even so， it means suffering humiliation， Jane insisted what she pursued. When Mr. Rochester tried to probe Janes feeling and pretended to marry a rich woman. Jane said ：” You think I am poor， I am low in spirit， I am not beautiful and low. Dont I have soul and heart？ You are wrong. My soul is the same as yours and my heart is like yours. We are equal before god. It is true we are equal. Jane did not express her love in a mild way， without sweet words， without begging.

In a word， she pursued for the combination of two equal hearts. Jane once said： ‘Why did you say these to me？ What is the relationship among her， you and me？ You think I am poor and have average looking. I vowed if god gave me wealth and a good-looking appearance， I will make you hard to leave me， just like I feel hard to leave you. But god did not arrange this. Our spirit is equal before god. This was a defense against the concept of spirit from her heart.

IV. The spirit of pursuing true love

Everyone has his purpose and dream. Maybe someone may sacrifice others interests because of his own profit. Jane also had her purpose and dream， but Jane had her own principle. Although Jane was not happy， in her heart， there was a happy seed. This seed would not turn bad because of reality. On the other hand， it grew in her heart and she found back the sunshine belonged to her.

In Jane and Rochesters wedding， Jane found Rochester was married before and his wife was a mad woman. Mr. Rochester was the victim， because he did not know the situation， it hurt their happiness. Jane knew the truth， but because of the morality and

principle， she did not want to destroy others family， she left quietly.

Jane treated love truly and concentrated， this showed her true and consist love to Mr. Rochester. When another man Saint John proposed to her， and asked her to be his assistant to do missionary work. Although John was a good man， she refused. For Jane， John loved god more than her. More importantly， Jane still loved Mr. Rochester. Because the love given by John was not complete. But after knowing Mr. Rochester had a legal wife， Jane refused Rochesters love. She wanted the real， complete love. And when Jane left Rochester， she did not abandon him. On the contrary， her love was concentrated. When Jane knew Rochesters house was destroyed by his legal wife， his eyes were blind because of the fire. She determined to return back to Rochesters house . And she decided to live with Rochester forever. The following words are a dialogue between Jane and Rochester： ‘Jane， will you marry me， a poor blind man with one hand， twenty years older than you？

‘Yes， sir.

‘Is it true？

‘Completely true.

From these words， we can see Jane pursues true love， but not materials and wealth. Jane dared to conquer difficulties. And she treated Rochester well， it was a kind of equal and helpful love. It is true that class， status and money is not important. The most precious thing is the true love. Janes love is the greatest.

V. The spirit of Janes strong will

In Gates head， Jane was actually like a Cinderella in the fairy tale， a small， strange and ugly girl without status. She was an alien， and a servant. All the things were pressed on her and they destroy her talent and her growth. But Janes heart was not destroyed by the fact. Her spirit became strong because of the hard life. Her will became determined. Her special circumstance cultivated her courage and insight. A ten-year-old child possessed the adults intelligence， and it was the intelligence makes her against the oppressor bravely.

The miserable experience in the school shows Janes strong and amazing will. Jane had just shake off aunts ill-treatment. Then she had to go to the boarding school， and had to suffer the hunger and coldness. Many orphans in the school were died because of disease. Jane had lived in the miserable environment with her strong will.

‘When we were hit without reasons， we should hit them in return. I am sure we should hit them with heavy force， give them a lesson， and then they will never hit us. This was a defense towards others and also it is a way to protect her own heart.

In the following words， Jane showed her special side： ‘You look calm， but you are just an orphan， why do you look so calm？

Jane said： ‘It comes from my brain， sir.

Rochester said： ‘It is thing I can see， on your shoulder？

Jane said： ‘It is true， sir.

Rochester said： ‘Do you have anything else in your mind

Jane said： ‘I think it possessed in every aspect， sir

The education she had got and her life experience made her possess an intelligent， brave and independent soul. In this point， she was no less than the master. And this character even made her master embarrassed.

VI. The spirit of Janes kindness and bravery

From the novel， we know Jane is really a kind woman. When she was a little girl， she suffered a lot， she lived in a miserable environment， but she did not complain of anything. It was true that one should not complain about her environment. When she was older， she had to go to the boarding school， at first the teacher always punished her， but she was strong， she never gave up life. Life was full of hope. So Jane worked hard and made great progress. Later she found a job as a tutor. There she fell in love with Mr. Rochester， after knowing Rochester has a wife， she decided to leave. Then because Jane knew Mr. Rochesters miserable experience， in fact， she still loved Rochester， she went back， and they finally lived a happy life. It is true Jane was really brave， she dared to pursue her love， and her kindness touched us deeply.

VII. Conclusion

Jane was an unfortunate person， she didnt have parents and money. She may be a small woman in mens heart. And she was not beautiful. But she had strong personality； this made her even worse， because she would not endure anything. She did not look like the famous leading actress， but she had her special personality. Maybe some of them see her disadvantages. Actually she did not think she was a small woman. She was not beautiful， but she should be loved by us. She also had the right judgment to her fate， her value， her status， her thought and even her personality. She dared to express her feeling to the man she loved. That is to say， she had firm belief on happiness and love. From Jane we could find the new image of woman. A self-respect， self-independent， and a confident woman who had a right purpose and kind personality. This was the trait of Jane Eyre. She was not only successful in terms of wealth and position， but more importantly， in terms of family and love. These two needs which have evaded Jane for so long were finally hers .Jane was a role model for women in the nineteenth century； she is also a role model for women today. Her spiritual quality shows that as long as there are hopes and dreams， nothing is impossible.

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