Scarica The bronte sisters and Jane Eyre e più Temi in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! THE BRONTË SISTERS Charlotte (1816-55), Emily (1818-48) and Anne (1820-49) were the daughters of an Anglican clergymen of Irish origin, who had a big influence on their artistic inclination. They spent most of their lives in isolation in Yorkshire (northern England). Their father, who was very strict, was in charge of their education — they were mainly self-educated. They began to write chronicles of imaginary countries at a really young age; they published a collection of Poems by Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell in 1846. Like many female writers they had to use pseudonyms to publish their novels: Currer Bell (Charlotte) wrote Jane Eyre in 1847, Shirley (1849) and Villette (1853), Ellis Bell (Emily) wrote Wuthering Heights, and Acton Bell (Anne) wrote Agnes Grey. Emily and Anne died in 1848 and 1849. Charlotte traveled a lot; she moved to Brussels for a short period of time, where she fell in love with a married man. She then decided to go back to England, where she tried to set up a school, but her project failed. She married Reverend Arthur Bell Nicholls in 1854 and died in 1855. JANE EYRE Plot →Jane is an orphan; she is raised at Gateshead by her aunt Mrs Reed, who treats her unfairly and never shows her love. She is eventually sent away to Lowood school, a very strict school where she is barely given enough food to survive and clothes. She will meet her first friend here (Helen Burns), who will die of plague. When she grows up, she becomes a teacher at Lowood, following the example of Mrs. Temple. She then decides to accept a job at Thornfield Hall as a governess, where she meets Adèle, Mrs Fairfax and Mr. Rochester, the owner of the house. At first Jane doesn’t show interest in Rochester, but she eventually falls in love with him. Her stay at Thornfield is disturbed by weird noises and strange events that seem to be related to Mrs Poole’s presence. Meanwhile, Rochester proposes to Jane and she accepts to marry him; however, two nights before the wedding a woman appears at her bed and rips her veil apart. She will soon discover that woman to be Bertha Mason, Mr. Rochester’s wife from the West Indies. She is described as a mad woman living in the attic, and Grace Poole is the servant who looks after her. Rochester begs Jane to stay with him, but she leaves the town. After days begging for food and water on the streets, she finds a house: the Moor House. This will become her home for a short period of time; she discovers that the owners of the house are her cousins, and she becomes the teacher at a school in the town nearby. When St John Rivers proposes to her (not out of love but because he wanted somebody to take with him on his missions) she refuses, and goes back to Thornfield Hall. She finds the house destroyed and learns by some neighbors that Bertha had caused a fire and then killed herself. She also finds out Rochester is now living in Ferndean, and goes to visit him; he had lost his sight and his hand during the fire. She now accepts his proposal to marry him, and when they have their first child, he regains his sight. Setting → Every house or place represents a stage in her life and has a symbolic name. Gateshead is where Jane spends her unhappiest moments. The name "'Gateshead' stands for gateway - gates = prison. She feels imprisoned at Gateshead. Lowood means “low wood” because the school was built in a low valley beside a wood, but also because it coincides with a 'low' time in Jane's life. Thornfield is an allegorical name: a “field of thorns”, which is a place of mystery and temptation. The Moor House is out on the moors; it’s the place where Jane tries to give a sense to her life again. Ferndean, or “fern hill” is the new Eden, where Jane finds mature love. Jane → Jane is intensive, passionate, independent but also always looking for affection because she had never experienced love during her childhood. She is plain — not beautiful, which makes her real. She undergoes many struggles in life: - difficult childhood > her parents had died and her aunt never treated her equally as she treated her own children.
