A Change of Character

The change of character that we have encountered with Jane has almost become intolerable. For the first three hundred pages of the book ,the reader is teased with the idea of Jane finding true love. Bronte plays with the idea of a “flame of fire” that burns within Jane, as well as a constant revelation for the “thrusting masts” that Jane pursues in her paintings and her reality. In a few short chapters it seems as if the flame has died out and that Jane has thrown away her desire for a manly figure in her life. Once the initial shock of Jane’s rejection towards Rochester wore off, I began to feel frustrated with our once thriving protagonist. Suddenly Jane is no longer an inspirational, independent woman. In a blink of an eye she becomes a beggar of sorts, sleeping on the roadside, struggling for survival too embarrassed to even ask for help. In a sense this “struggle for survival” could be confused with a need for Jane to prove herself, but in actuality I think it is a stab at desperation. While Jane is on the brink of a mental collapse herself, she just continues to wander from town to town. The chapters following Jane’s flight from Thornfield seem like fillers. The reader knows some turn of events will happen that will eventually save Jane, and it corresponds with how Jane portrays her new character. Unexpectedly Jane now seems to be waiting for someone to sweep in and offer her a new opportunity. After finding sanctuary at the River’s household in Marsh End, Jane is full of contempt and almost scorns Hanna for wishing to turn Jane “from the door” on the eve she arrived. I do not understand where this ungratefulness comes from. How can Jane sound so accusatory after the generosity the River family has shown her? Does Jane just expect people to bid to her grievances now? It is very disappointing that a character I once depended on to make such a vital point about female independence has succumb to a dependant little girl who expects people to lay opportunities at her feet.
Not only has Jane’s character structurally changed, but Bronte’s style of writing now includes this underlying message of “Nature.” I feel as though this constant thought of nature is a new principal that Bronte is considering. Jane spends two nights in the “open air” and then Jane continues to make all these human connections based off of how “nature” must have seen them (ie. St. John’s disposition as well as Miss Oliver’s). The word nature continues to appear in this last section and I just wanted to take a simple note of that.
Also, sorry let me go off on yet another tangent, when Miss Oliver is first introduced, she has an odd resemblance of the virgin bride. She is clad in pure white, while Carlo (the dog) throws back a “long veil.” This imagery distinctly imitates that of a bride and perhaps it is only because of the lost wedding that Jane never had, or maybe it has some deeper meaning.
As a whole, this novel seems to be taking a change, new characters are being introduced, new ideas seem to be appearing and a new side of Jane is being distinguished. Fortunately there is still a good deal of book left, and hopefully Bronte can tie it all together so the reader can understand the distinct rate of change that has so abruptly corrupted the plot.