Research Task 4: Jane’s Dreams and Paintings

Jane’s paintings and dreams play an important part in the novel by revealing to the reader the character of Jane, what occupies her subconscious and her spirituality. Jane’s paintings indicate her well-developed artistic skills which receive admiration from their viewers even the tough critics such as Mr Rochester and Mr Rivers. It is a skill which she is better at than her accomplished cousins Diana and Mary, thus it sets her apart.  The dreams and paintings give Jane depth allowing the reader to fully comprehend different aspects of her and to what extent certain situations in her life affect her.

The watercolour pictures which she shows Mr Rochester in their first meeting are peculiar to the modern reader but they make an impression on Mr Rochester who commented on their distinction from people of her age. In all three pictures the main subjects were women. This should come as no surprise throughout Jane’s whole life it has been women who had been the  greatest influence, first Mrs Reed, Helen Burns and Miss Temple. These women are surreal, tinted at the edges showing how unsure she is of herself and the part she is to play in the big world she had not experienced.   The portraits which she did of her and Miss Ingram show how she saw herself as honestly as possible in relation to women in the upper class. It was a way of keeping her passions in check. Through these portraits she was able to discipline herself with matters concerning Mr Rochester. She does more portraits of the people she sees around her such as Miss Rosamond Oliver, Mr Rivers and Mr Rochester. These are interpretations of how she personally sees them. Thus the portraits are a way of reflecting on her life and the people in them.

Some of her paintings were a result of her dreams she was experiencing. Her water colour drawings were interpretations of her dreams. These things are those which she sees with a “spiritual eye”. She is in tune with the spiritual side of herself so much so that she can paint what she sees. Her dreams also precede bad things that are to happen to Jane. Jane had been dreaming about an infant the night Mr Mason’s attack by Bertha. These dreams continued for the next week. This worried Jane as she had once overheard Bessie telling someone that dreams of infants were signs of trouble. It had already been confirmed by Mr Mason’s stabbing on the night she was having a dream about an infant. She also hears the news about John Reeds death and Mrs Reeds’ illness. Her dreams play a role in showing her worries and how in tune she is with the supernatural in her life. This serves to show that though her ideas about the position of women may be unconventional, it does not mean she is a heathen.

Two of her other dreams were of Mr Rochester leaving her whilst Jane was carrying a child with her. These were an indication of their separation of the future and her fears of having happiness, she felt she did not deserve, snatched away from her. She woke up to seeing Bertha tearing up her veil indicating her marriage will not go through. When it becomes apparent that Mr Rochester is married, Jane dreams of a female figure.  This women in her dream tells her to resist Mr Rochester which testify to Jane's emotional turmoil over the situation and she does what the dream told her to do. This shows her reliance on her intuition rather than her passions. After she has settled in Moor House she dreams of Mr Rochester and of being with him in many romantic situations, this shows how she still was in love with him. This shows the amount of passion Jane Eyre has even though she is very morally grounded.

It is through these pictures which Jane shares with her audience that the reader can see how conflict within Jane is played out, especially when it comes to matters concerning Mr Rochester. The superstition of the Gothic era and her spirituality play an important part in the way Jane views with the world and how she deals with situations. Her dreams give her depth and her paintings are an outlet for what she sees both in her dreams and in real life. Jane’s excellence in drawing distinguishes her and her maturity in her spirituality helps her navigate her through her life thus both the dreams and painting serve as effective characterisation and narrative tools.

Research Task 3

Women Question

“The Woman Question” refers to the roles of women within their social context. It refers to the choices and opportunities available to given the restrictions of the law and the attitude towards women. “The woman question” in the novel is raised by the focus on Jane’s life, how she is bought up to act in a certain way, the way she is judged both what she says and does not just by the content of her or the degree of her actions, but because of she is a woman. When Jane refuses the proposal of Mr Rivers and tells him bluntly that she will not marry him, he is more surprised by the bluntness of her words and insists that this set up is the best for Jane. Mr Rochester tries to make Jane into something that he wants her to be by buying her expensive clothes and jewellery. Jane on the other hand refuses this, she is certain of herself and stands her ground in order to retain the identity she has forged for herself. He as a Victorian man had every right to and saw no problem with trying to turn Jane to a version of Miss Ingram, the Victorian ideal woman, Thus women were burdened by the pressures of being what society thought they roles should be.

References to being a Governess

Jane Eyre’s profession is of a governess. The first time Jane introduces the idea to herself one sees her wanting to leave Lowood and discover the world outside her comfort zone. In order to do this she sees it appropriate according to being a woman with her expertise and her low class position in society, being a governess is a way in which she can survive and escape dependence from people. When she is considering being a governess, she also describes it as being servitude. This illustrates how governesses were viewed by society despite their education. The second time is when Jane arrives at Thornfield. She as Adele’s governess is supposed to groom her into the ideal woman of the upper class society. Adele is said to have little talents and Jane’s job is to improve her, so she is able fit and be admired by Victorian society. Miss Ingram and her mother also makes a reference to governesses as they have a general dislike for them. They found them a nuisance and had an inherit mistrust for governesses because they were from a lower class than them. Miss Ingram’s mother stated that she was glad to be rid of them. Later in the book the reader is introduced to Jane’s cousins, Mary and Diana, who are both governesses. They have to leave their homes which they love in order to become governesses as their father had not enough fortunes to give them. The position as the governance, as we can observe, is therefore not taken up by wealthy people. All references in the Jane Eyre to governesses are seen as negative because of their position ion society.

Comments on Poovey Excerpts

Poovey excerpts focus on the dual roles of the governess: the roles which the governess occupied amongst her working class peers and with the families which she worked with. Poovey’s first excerpt seems to say that governesses perpetuated the gender roles in which women in Victorian society had to play. They had such an influence on young girls’ minds and how they were to view the world. This was done as that was their mandate from the parents of their pupils. The irony was that though Jane was in a way a feminist, the only job which could serve to give her a form of independence continued the values which she stood against. The fact that Jane was still able to find love contradicts Poovey’s statement of her being lack of temptation to men as Jane received two marriage proposals. Jane Eyre shows that though the role she as a governess played may have been complex, and made her an outcast to the working and middle class, she was still a woman with feelings equal to those who shunned her.