Critiche del libro Jane Eyre di Charlotte Brontë, Appunti di Cultura Inglese I

Scarica Critiche del libro Jane Eyre di Charlotte Brontë e più Appunti in PDF di Cultura Inglese I solo su Docsity! Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë – CRITICS Jane Eyre by Gilbert & Gubart (vedi anche documento) The novel was a great success, and immediately after the publication it became a best seller. The identity of the author was ambiguous and triggered the curiosity of the readers concerning the gender of the author. They analyzed the text in order to guess the identity of the author. The advocates of the female find the novel extremely knowledgeable about the lives of women (even if the judgement were very ash). When the identity was revealed it caused a great scandal among Victorian people concerning fear of the revolutionary contents of the novel. Matthew Arnold said that it contained nothing but anger and revenge, and undisciplined spirit. The same spirit that possessed that animated Chartism. The second edition by Charlotte was published in response to the reviews. The narrator and the story unconditionally were elements that disturbed the Victorian minds, most disturbing was Jane’s ambition to challenge the accepted role of the woman as the angel of the house without an identity and a personal history. Women according to this model served as the intermediary to the world of the devils, in between stands the woman as the monster, the witch, the femme fatale, uncontrollable in her sexual appetite, both dangerous and attractive for men. The mad woman is the image of Rochester’s wife, but she’s also Jane’s alter ego, embodying dissatisfaction. This stressed aspect of the novel for Charlotte Bronte’s contemporaries, both men or female, has been extoled by feminist The story by Richardson Pamela; or, virtue rewarded: there are some points in common with Jane Eyre. There’s a servant and a love story for example. The female anger is appreciated, the orphan condition of Jane was a common topic in 19th century fiction and it is regarded as symbolic in Christian terms. In the case of female writers, the additional elements of finding themselves without a social cultural tradition was their conditions. Pamela was a submitted kind of woman, she didn’t react and she resisted the avances of the man. Jane also resisted but the spirit is different, Jane has a fire inside and it comes out since she was a child. Ci sono delle analogie con Pamela, un romanzo epistolare in cui la narratrice scrive delle lettere e racconta la storia della tentata seduzione da parte del suo datore di lavoro (lei fa la serva presso questo libertino che cerca continuamente di sedurla). Lei che è una ragazza di sani principi morali, molto credente e ossequiosa dei valori della religione, resiste bravamente ai tentativi di seduzione. Addirittura, il signore la rapisce e la sequestra per un periodo ma lei anche durante questo periodo riesce a resistere. Alla fine, strappa la proposta di matrimonio e si sposa con quell’uomo, abbattendo anche le barriere sociali, perché lei comunque era solo una cameriera, mentre mr. B era di classe sociale più agiata. Quindi VIRTUE IS REWARDED (la virtù ricompensata). Anche Jane Eyre è una governante (anche se ha uno statuto più alto di una serva) ed è ufficialmente una “dipendente di Rochester (che la seduce e vuole sposarla addirittura illegalmente, perché lui è già sposato con un’altra). Lui la spinge ad una relazione adultera e quando si scopre la verità sulla moglie di Rochester che vive reclusa in una zona remota della casa, lui le propone addirittura di vivere come se fossero marito e moglie. Lei è tentata, ma alla fine sente la voce di Rochester che la chiama e parte senza che nessuno se ne accorga perdendosi nella natura. Gilbert e Gubar sottolineano l’elemento della ribellione, dietro Jane Eyre non vedono la storia alla Richardson, ma vedono la storia di una formazione, di uno sviluppo della personalità di Jane e quindi lo riportano ad un manuale del perfetto cristiano di stampo puritano “Pilgrim’s progress”: libro devozionale che loro vedono come riferimento culturale e letterario più importante per Jane Eyre ed è un tentativo di Bronte di mettere in questione ruoli, convenzioni, abitudini. Gilbert and Gubar also emphasize the narratives of enclosure and escape. Jane Eyre’s progress or bildung (as a bildungsroman) consists in the progress from one enclosed space to another enclosed space, from one house to another house. Everywoman has the role of the medieval; everymen overcomes obstacles of the society. Jane progress is the battle of everywoman to overcome the difficulties created by patriarchal society (oppression, hunger, emotional coldness) in order to realize her dream that is full development, independence and egalitarian marriage. The madman in the attic, is a book of the 19th century by Gilbert and Gubar, they made Jane Eyre an icon of the feminist movement of that period. We will see that today, family’s critics developed a different position, we will mention one important book that is very recent, that discusses this approach from different famous’ point of view. Presentazione Critica Gilbert & Gubart (Camilla/Angela/Irene) In her essay A dialogue of self and soul: plain Jane’s progress Sandra Gilbert gives readers a critical analysis of Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. She explains that the fact that Jane Eyre has a refusal to accept the format, customs and standards of society is something that disturbed Victorian critics. So, the thing that disturbed them was its rebellious feminism. Critics also thought that a Victorian woman who was independent, knowledgeable, mature and who took her own decisions was beyond imagination and seen as something unreal. Another thing that was strange for Victorians was the “Byronic pride and passion of Jane”, which was considered a sin for women, and not the “proud sexual energy of Rochester”. In other words, Jane’s confrontation with masculine sexuality horrified Victorian readers. So, Gilbert notes that Victorian critics also disliked the book because it challenged dominant social ideas about what women were expected to be. They saw the “heroine’s refusal to submit to her social destiny” has an offence. This is an illustration of the position of women during the Victorian era, and that social mobility was considered completely out of the question. Elizabeth Rigby commented that Jane’s autobiography was “anti-Christian” and all of this because of her rebellious feminism. So, Bronte uses Jane’s character as an instrument to affirm the fact that women are of equal status as men. All these points give us a vivid picture of the Victorian mindset and society, where rules and norms were established and anyone who overstepped (especially women) was seen as “revolutionary” both in the eyes of religion and society. Parallelisms between Bertha and Jane: Bertha Mason who is seen as a gothic feature by some critics can also be viewed as a counter reflection of Jane. Gilbert considers Bertha the embodiment or expression of Jane’s “hunger, rebellion, and rage”, as if Bertha is the example of what Jane would become if social convention, morality and duty were removed. The very description of where Betha is ‘kept’ – on the third floor, in a small dingy room can be compared to the repressed thoughts and emotions in the unconscious. On analysing Jane Eyre, one can conclude that Betha symbolizes the Victorian woman who is constrained and forcibly confined by society. To prove her point that Bertha is the “threatening avatar of Jane”/ ”criminal self” Gilbert draws parallels between them; firstly Jane’s feeling of rage and rebellion is often accompanied by Bertha’s “low, slow ha! Ha” and murmurs. Secondly, Rochester’s sexual confidences was followed by Betha burning his bed. Jane’s resentment at Rochester’s gypsy disguise was manifested by Betha’s scream and attack on Mason. Lastly, Jane’s fear of marriage and being dolled up followed Betha’s tearing the veil. Bertha is physically trapped like young Jane in the red room, Bertha’s appearance which is compared to a “goblin” can be compared to Rochester referring to Jane as a “fairy” and “elf”. Jane and Bertha are both companionless at Thornfield where “both keepers and prisoners are bound by the same chains.” In the end when Jane finds independence, Bertha who symbolises her repression dies, signifying the end of Jane’s anger and insecurity. Richard Chase remarks that Bertha is what “happens to a woman who tries to be the fleshly vessel of the masculine elan.” Many critics have suggested that Bertha is a monitory figure rather than a double for Jane. This means that the madwoman provides the governess with an example of how not to act, teaching her a lesson. (she does not only act for Jane, she does also act like Jane) Meeting with her real family > The travel to Marsh End also contributes greatly to Jane’s journey to independence. The Moor house offers Jane a new life, she greatly admires Diana and Mary, it is interesting that their names Diana, the Greek virgin huntress and moon Goddess and Mary is the mother of Christ. The Moor household are seen as the good cousins when compared to the Reeds. The other aspect that Gilbert discusses is the most important symbolism in the novel – fire and ice, which she uses to characterize Jane’s experiences. Firstly, in the opening scene the weather outside is described as cold and windy (symbolic of the outside world and her pilgrimage) while the room is warm with a fire much like Jane’s mind. Rochester represents Jane’s fire, while, St John is seen as ice. In the essay Round table by Eric Solomon St John Rivers is described to contain icy waters that puts out fire and destroys passion which is seen in his distant and cold tone and eyes. Alongside these new elements, Bronte also engineered a new type of male hero in Edward Rochester. As Jane is written as a plain female heroine with average looks, Rochester is her plain male hero counterpart. Although Bronte depicts Rochester as a severe, yet appealing hero, embodying the characteristics associated with a Byronic hero, but alters his characterization through repentance to create a new variation of the character: the repentant Byronic hero. The Byronic Hero, a character type based on Lord Byron’s characters, is typically identified by unflattering albeit alluring features and an arrogant although intelligent personality. This character is usually an anti-hero who has committed a great crime (in Rochester’s case, married Mason for materialistic gains and his many sexual encounters with various mistresses) for which he may feel guilt (idea of masculine sexual guilt). Famous Byronic heroes in literature include Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights and Edmond Dantes from The Count of Monte Cristo. Bronte uses this template of Byron’s to create the character of Mr. Rochester. Rochester’s “dark face, with stern features and a heavy brow”, aloofness, riches and typical English habits further portrays him as a typical Byronic hero. Jane Eyre – Class-ified, by Jina Politi (presentazione Giulia) Jina Politi's marxist feminist critique, "Jane Eyre Class-ified" (1982), argues that Brontë's novel reinforces structures of class and, correspondingly, patriarchal oppression. For Politi, Jane's refusals to be subordinate to Rochester are hollow because of Jane's complicity in a patriarchal system. Politi is perhaps over-eager to blame the text rather than to explore its genuine political complexity. But any reading of the class politics of Jane Eyre must be tempered by a detailed look at its political and emotional heart: the relationship and eventual marriage between Jane and Rochester. - Victorian society pillars reign above the English society. - Nineteenth century’ English beliefs concerning revolution were clear: revolution was an aberrant state in which irrationality of the French revolution reigns. - At this point of the novel, the concept behind the word “French” starts to be connected to the concept of being out of one’s self. - Charlotte Bronte explains this concept thanks to the figure of Mr. Rochester that is Jane’s double. She is like Jane but she doesn’t refuse the revolutionary ideology. - Adele=bastard from a French woman (symbol of sexuality, prostitution, atheism, degeneration, insanity) = is raised with the English education = she escapes from the will of revolution even if she is not congenial to this type of education and she is free too. - English mind refuses rebelliousness. - There are two different narrative modes: the first one is realistic were rebellion materializes and the second one is fantastic where the erotic fable and its sexual- ideological contents are organized. - Sexuality is interpreted as something wrong = it’s a taboo. - There is something like a social mirror where a rebel girl, seeing her reflection, sees something aberrant: she is the representation of revolt, realizing the practical necessity of disconnecting herself from her bodily image. - Mr. Rochester calls his wife “witch”, “fairy”, because she incarnates the pillars of revolution. - Upper-class Victorians couldn’t be called with these names because of their social position. - Jane paintings are a sign of confinement of female sexuality and its consequent fears and they can have two interpretations: male aggression, rape, virginal ring. Representation of maternity. - Jane Eyre is built on contradictions: reality when she is in the Charity Institute, then there’s atemporal fantasy mode. - Working class represent sexuality against bourgeois and upper class that represent integrity. - Jane Eyre constitutes a new English Woman stereotype: unattractive woman that has to be against the French coquette (civettuola). - Bourgeois ideology can only be proved valid if it is shown through a transcendent system of rewards. Jane, in fact, runs away from Mr. Rochester only to return to her paternal origins. - Divine Providence = Traditional theism holds that God is the creator of heaven and earth, and that all that occurs in the universe takes place under Divine Providence that is, under God's sovereign guidance and control. - Charlotte Bronte exposes her ideology in certain passages against patriarchal ideology during Victorian age. - Tidying and consolidating of class positions. È solo nei primi cinque capitoli che possiamo sentire la voce di Jane. Quando sarà incarcerata nell'Istituto di beneficenza, inizierà il processo subdolo di parlare di lei. Significativamente, è solo nei primi cinque capitoli che il lettore deve lavorare con due discorsi distinti (la piccola Jane e il narratore maturo). Mentre la storia continua, i due discorsi si fondono in uno. La scena iniziale in cui Jane è tenuta a distanza dal quadro familiare, composto dalla signora Reed e dai suoi odiosi figli, è un esempio di finzione delle relazioni sociali che caratterizzavano la società vittoriana. Jane, in quanto ragazza e orfana, vive la sua posizione di subordinazione, ma questa posizione è caratterizzata dall' ambiguità. Essendo i "Piccoli germogli", non può essere inserita nella classe operaia o essere considerata parte della classe della zia poiché è proprietà e una persona a carico. Lei esiste solo nella marginalità e questa marginalità è il posto del piccolo borghese, che prova imbarazzo nei confronti delle classi superiori. Jane non può essere considerata una di "loro" finché non acquisisce una disposizione più socievole e modi più vivaci e attraenti. Jane deve infilarsi in questo stereotipo prima che le venga concesso il permesso di unirsi alla prima persona plurale. Lei, sa che l'emulazione non è un passaporto per la classe superiore, quindi rifiuterà di emettere falsi segnali di classe, fino a quando il patrimonio che eredita le darà automaticamente il diritto di assumere gli stereotipi. La contraddizione sociale in cui è catturata Jane, il "tra classi", è articolata dal bambino quando il medico le presenta una scelta. Nella mente della bambina, l'alternativa alla sua condizione insopportabile in casa Reed è ancora più insopportabile: entrare nella classe operaia significa privazione della borghesia, delle comodità materiali e della possibilità di avanzamento sociale. La piccola Jane, quindi, è determinata a diventare un tipo di donna diverso da quelli che ha osservato alle porte del cottage, ed è solo quando è al sicuro da un simile destino che può sorvolare sui suoi sentimenti di classe con il commento ipocrita ' Non sono stato abbastanza eroico da comprare la libertà al prezzo della casta». Non è privo di significato che questo commento si esprima attraverso il linguaggio dello scambio del narratore maturo. Eppure Charlotte Brontë intendeva Jane come "eroica". Tuttavia, prima di venire a questa conoscenza mondana che impegna Jane in una complicità con la classe superiore, deve sperimentare l'estasi e l'orrore della rivoluzione. La rivoluzione è accelerata in Jane Eyre attraverso la consapevolezza che la classe dirigente decide quali limiti imporre alla parola. Trasgredire questi limiti, svincolarsi dai controlli, significa passare dal naturale all'innaturale, dalla sanità mentale alla follia, a meno che tu non possa parlare piacevolmente», ordina la signora Reed, «rimani in silenzio (p.39). Non è un caso che dopo l'ordine di zittire Jane venga messa dallo scrittore nel grembo materno del finestrino e in compagnia di libri. La lettura non apre alla bambina le porte del mondo dei sogni, ma la prepara a nascere fuori dal finestrino e alla rivoluzione. Significativamente, l'inizio del romanzo è costituito dal momento di rivolta realizzato nel confronto tra la ragazza-bambina e il ragazzo prepotente. La relazione sociale di dominazione/subordinazione si esprime ancora attraverso le imposizioni applicate dalla classe dirigente alla parola: "Cosa vuoi?" Chiesi con goffa diffidenza: "Say, What do you want Master Reed'", trasformazioni significative nel corso della narrazione. Non scomparirà come promette il momento rivoluzionario, né continuerà ad essere pronunciato con i toni conseguenti alla repressione dell'insurrezione che indicano che il bisogno di rivolta e il desiderio di liberazione sono ancora vivi nella coscienza di chi parla. Il termine Maestro sarà preservato e il tono della sua pronuncia cambierà gradualmente nel registro della dolcezza e della sottomissione sessuale, Book: The politics of story in Victorian fiction Analyzed part: Charlotte Brontë and the dynamics of paternalism Rosemarie Bodenheimer was born in 1846 in Washington D.C. but her parents were from Germany. They left Germany in 1933 and moved to the US where she was born and she studied literature. In her book she analyses the theme of paternalism in Charlotte Brontë’s novel Shirley. It’s important to know what this story is about: it was published in 1849 by Charlotte under the pseudonym Currer Bell, but it was not well received by the public; but Bodenheimer has a different opinion because she thinks that it’s a very important Bildunroman that we should study. It is a social novel set between 1811-1820 in Yorkshire. It presents a contrast between two women: Caroline Helstone and Shirley Keeldar. They are very different but the point here is that Charlotte shows us how women can be freed from male figures’ paternalism. The other main character is Robert Moore: he’s a mill owner, he’s negligent and harsh. His mill is in debts so he has to find the money to save it and his family. Caroline is Robert’s cousin but she has a romantic attachment to him but at first Robert doesn’t imagine that the things are going in that way. Shirley is very different from Caroline because she’s an independent heiress, she lives with her governess because her parents died. Her life and those of Robert and Caroline intertwine. We can read this story as a modern instance of suffering, injurance or resistance to t..? as the result, Charlotte Brontë says at the very beginning that it is not a story of romance. We can see a little bit of incoherence in this novel and maybe it is the reason people don’t receive this book in a good way. This aspect can be explained by saying that Charlotte Brontë refused to show harmony because there was no harmony in her times, so no resolution; she could not represent something not real, because she wanted to represent her society. After this unconventionality that could be seen as incoherence, comparing the ending with the rest of the novel, the final is critic conventional because the novel ends with two marriages: Robert finally marries Caroline and Shirley marries Louis. Going more in detail in Bodenheimer’s analysis, we can see that she analyzes the idea of paternalism because it is central to Charlotte Brontë’s imagination of society, human relations, etc; it is central to her work. Bodenheimer starts with the contrast with another important author of that time, who is Francis Drallos (?). They had two very different positions, Charlotte didn’t agree with him because he transformed industrial and social problems in material for gothic horror while she shows us something that is not true in the sense that she showed an idealized generosity between the generous masters and the working class but the reality is very fast from being perfect. So, Charlotte Brontë had a different position but they had something in common: they both rely on the structure of paternalism and they feel this heard to understand and then point out how the mechanism works, how the relationships between paternalism and women’s actions is in the society. So, we can say that the core of the problem that Brontë shows us in Shirley is the failure of paternalism which provokes rebellion in the working class and passivity in middle class’ women. Of course, they are legitimate reactions but they cannot really achieve anything because the problem is another one, which is the paternalist inactivity, the powerful part doesn’t act: the men of the factories, the men of the families, the men of the villages, they had the power but they did not use it, there was a non-use of power. This paternalist inactivity brings a double failure: social order is not maintained, and the working class’ conditions are not better, and the suffering is not reduced. So, Charlotte says that “we had to a knowledge that the powerful part exists, we cannot ignore it, but it must act”. After that, she asks herself how this part should act and how the others (the ones that do not have this power) should respond, in order to create a good relationship that works and in order to create social bonds of trust. …………………..? So, it’s important to see how Charlotte Brontë faces with the theme of paternalism also in other stories. Another important point to underline is the concept of family as a fundamental social structure. For Brontë paternalism is something that should be overcome or is it something positive? She sees paternalism in general as something negative but power is something that must be used for her. So, for her men that have power have to use it but this does not mean that they can restrict women or condition women’s actions. It’s important that it is defined as a social novel. Social novel is another way of calling this group of works, this set of novels that show social problems in England, mainly the problems created by the Industrial revolution and development, the Industrialization. But, so, why such a novel by a well- known writer did not fit in the canon presented in Raimond Williams’ chapter of Industrial novel with the other works? Because as we can see, the action has a lot to do with machine, production, working class’ reaction to a systemic unemployment created by the introduction of machines; so, we have to think about it. Another thing to add is that both Jane Austen and Charlotte Brontë were political conservative, they were very conservative in terms of their political vision, so it’s true that paternalism is something that is almost assumed in their vision of the world. We will see that paternalism, in Mary Barton for example, is one of the paradigms for society, for the improvement of social relations during a period of crisis: there is one important work, mentioned by Catherine Gallagher in her book dedicated to the Industrial novels, sees one possible solution for the condition of England in a good family relation, so apply the good family relation to the world of Industrial production. The idea is that if Industrial owners like Robert Moore carry the mentality of the good father into social relations, there will be no problems; but it is very ideological because one of the problems is the possibility of thinking in different ways, so to overcome paternalism but you can do that just with different kinds of vision of the world, of the society, of personal relations. Book: Charlotte Brontë by Penny Boumelha Chapter dedicated to Jane Eyre The chapter starts with the avoidance of hell with Jane speaking with Mr. Brocklehurst that tells an anecdote, like a psalm, but despite the manipulation skill of Mr. Brocklehurst, Jane still thinks about religion as a waste of time and boring. In fact, there is a distinction between Rochester’s family and Jane Eyre because the one thinks about religion like a story made of witches and devils, while Jane thinks about it like something full of angels and pious children. The narration and the narrator are the same person which is Jane, and there is a shift in the character because Jane starts being a rebellious orphan child but then she becomes a lady, finding satisfaction in education and work. This transition is a real problem for the story because we don’t have any information about this change. Becoming a lady, she also becomes a victim of the patriarchal system, and through that we can see the social status and the civil condition of the author. So, the exchange of sudden ideology is a very problem: on the one hand, we can read about the link between social class and race, but also about feminism in terms of identity, independence and equality in marriage; on the other hand, the narration focuses on textual marginalization of certain classes and races, so Jane is viewed as a lost aristocrat, from a marginalized rebellion to a growing socialization. Jane lives a division between her and the rest of the world, she’s not one of us, she’s a dependent until he receives a large heritance and manages to live on equal conditions with the “gentlemen’s children”. Jane Eyre is a Victorian novel that deals with the theme of inheritance but with the attached negations and refusals, then restored in the end of the book. Jane Eyre also talks about heritage, in fact there are a lot of information about heritage because, before receiving a huge heritage, Jane was a poor girl, she didn’t belong to anything, she had no money, she lives in a house that isn’t hers. After this huge heritage she became like a kind girl. This novel has a realistic point of view, in fact there are a lot of different girls in the story, like Bessie, the servant, Grace Poole, a working class’ woman who keeps the secrets of female delinquency, and Bertha Mason, Rochester’s wife that represents the gentry class and that has also a very important heritage from Jamaica, because her parents were colonist landowner; but this is a secret and we can understand it because Bertha has a lot of skeletons in her closet. It is thought to be her the reason of the well-being of Rochester, because Mason’s family was considered as the “good race”. Jane’s uncle is connected to Mason too because he has links in military sector, clergy and imperial culture of St. John river. In the text we can find a lot of references about slavery, more or less 20 references, starting from the ancient Rome, and also the slavery of the paid work as a governance dependent to a mistress; but any of these girls has the same behavior of Jane about the patriarchal system, in fact Jane Eyre thinks as a Quaker, because the Quakers were the first to fight against slavery, and she considers herself like them. All this brings us to the central theme of the novel: the cheerful preaching of freedom and happiness of few people on the sufferings and restrictions of many people, and we can see it in the episode of the typhoid epidemic in Lowood. Jane Eyre has all the pleasures of a paradigmatic female novel. It is a novel canonically known as Bildungsroman, a set of low and para-literary forms, associated with women as readers and writers like in the gothic novels, in the ballads, in the romantic fictions, governess novels and spiritual autobiographies, all incorporated in the Bildungsroman. The point that criticism attacks is the female occlusion in the patriarchal culture of 1800s on the white woman of the middle class. Although this, in this chapter we can see how Jane Eyre tries to test and check the limits of a society centered on women, the mother-centered society, determined by the relations of internamente da un contrasto che sente in sé. Quando torna da Rochester, Jane fa quello che viene poi chiamato un “diability marriage”, cioè si mette in un ruolo di infermiera: si mette in un ruolo di servizio, sempre previsto per le donne del periodo (le mediatrici con il mondo dei morti perché rivestivano queste funzioni dell’infermiera, di quella che accudiva il malato fino al momento finale, etc), quindi rientra in uno schema di figura femminile assolutamente convenzionale. È un matrimonio in cui si realizza anche nella cura del malato. Quando torna a Thornfield da Rochester, Jane è completamente diversa, se prima era inferiore ora è indipendente anche dal punto di vista economico. Fino a che non arriva da St. John e dai suoi parenti ricchi, lei non sa di essere di buona famiglia. Questo anche è un altro tema ricorrente della produzione inglese, ed è ciò che porta il romanzo in uno schema “di fiaba” invece che realista: Jane infatti è di sangue buono, anche se non lo pensava. Tutto il romanzo è fatto di contrasti e fondato sulla dignità degli spiriti: Jane rivendica continuamente una dignità di persona umana indipendentemente dal rango sociale. L’istituzione patriarcale l’ha comunque messa nelle condizioni di lavorare e quindi di essere indipendente. MA… se lei avesse optato per l’altra possibilità, di rimanere lì con Rochester, come sarebbe finita? Che sviluppo avrebbe? Lo sviluppo non raccontato ma detto, in storie così, è sempre rappresentato in termini negativi. E chi ne fa le spese di queste storie sono i figli (orfani, abbandonati, etc). La classica storia di abbandono alla nazione viene sempre rappresentata come un problema per chi rimane (esempio emblematico: Oliver Twist). La storia di Jane, quindi, se fosse rimasta, non avrebbe compreso il matrimonio ma un tour romantico con Rochester. La narrazione è in prima persona e il focus è il momento delle scelte, che accadono anche indipendentemente dalla sua volontà. Nel racconto viene data anche molta importanza ai momenti di crisi del soggetto, in cui quest’ultimo deve fare una scelta. Il problema che Jane non dice ma che c’è è il fatto che Rochester, quando le fa quella proposta, se messa nel contesto sociale e situazionale di quel periodo è una proposta abbastanza irresponsabile perché non vede quali sono le conseguenze sulla reputazione/figura pubblica di lei. Lei sarebbe stata macchiata per sempre se avesse accettato. Inoltre, se fossero tornati dal viaggio, poi, ci saremmo dovuti chiedere: “Ma Rochester, dopo aver soddisfatto i suoi piaceri, sarebbe stato ancora innamorato di lei o sarebbe passato a nuove conoscenze?”. È lecito pensare quindi che Jane avesse anche questo dubbio in mente. Ricordiamoci che Rochester è il nome del famoso libertino del ‘600, grande scrittore di poesie. Si dice molto spesso che i romanzi vittoriani, soprattutto femminili, sono riscritture di Jane Austen (quindi, di tutti i romanzi precedenti che hanno un certo tipo di tradizione letteraria seguita dalle varie scrittrici). In questo quadro qui, vista l’importanza dei nomi in Jane Eyre, c’è un personaggio in Emma che è alluso nell’uso dei nomi che Brontë fa: Fairfax, che si chiamava Jane (in Emma); ma le somiglianze con il romanzo di Jane Austen stanno anche nella differenza di età tra l’uomo e la donna protagonisti dei due romanzi (intorno ai 12/14 anni di differenza), sebbene ci sia un’evidente differenza tra Knightley e Rochester (Rochester is less reliable than Knightley). Di conseguenza, questo scaturisce anche una reazione differente/diffidenza diversa nelle rispettive donne: Emma sa che su Knightley può sempre contare perché è la rappresentazione del valore umano, mentre Rochester non è molto affidabile (e lo scopriamo anche alla fine, quando si svela il suo segreto). Perché, vista la fine del romanzo, Jane Eyre si intitola così e non “Jane Rochester”? Ha scelto di portare il nome da nubile e non quello da lady perché così, nonostante si sia sposata, fa capire al pubblico che rimane lei stessa e non è più succube del patriarcato. La sua persona non dipende dal marito. Rimane quindi in lei un qualcosa di quell’”inner fire” che si porta dietro col nome “Eyre”, quella parte di lei che non cede. Quindi, porta quel nome perché lei è riuscita a trovare innanzitutto sé stessa, indipendentemente dall’uomo che ha affianco  per capire questo dobbiamo prestare attenzione a quello che lei racconta a Rochester della sua avventura e di ciò che le è successo dopo essere partita da Thornfield; bisogna fare attenzione a quello che dice, ma anche a quello che non dice, alle informazioni che sottrae, a quelle che invece usa per farli pagare quello che aveva fatto e fargli scaturire magari anche un po’ di gelosia. È importante anche il momento in cui lei inizia a scrivere, proprio quando lui ricomincia a vedere: ciò potrebbe significare che lei ritorna in una situazione di oggetto osservato da uno sguardo maschile che voleva incastrarla in un certo stereotipo di donna. Inoltre, sono molto importante le parole con le quali si conclude il romanzo che sono quelle del cugino St. John. Lì c’è la questione se le sta facendo il verso, se è ironica quando lo chiama utilizzando un linguaggio molto sarcastico. Se l’ultima parola viene concessa a St. John, all’apocalisse, che richiama l’ultimo personaggio che richiama la storia della Bibbia (San Giovanni), che significato dobbiamo attribuire a questo fatto e alla storia di Jane Eyre?