Emma vs. Jane

Having just finished Jane Eyre, i found myself constantly comparing and contrasting Emma's view about and actions in love with those of Jane. I found many extreme differences between the two. Our first encounter with Emma shows us that she is a very traditional French woman, and nothing seems out of the ordinary. Opposingly in Jane Eyre, our first impression is that she is an overly passionate little girl, trying to break free from restraint. As both novels progress there seems to be a switch of character - Jane becomes more rational and almost suppresses her emotions to do whats best for her, when she leaves Mr. Rochester. In Madame Bovary, once Emma marries Charles she seems to come upon her hidden passionate nature, and longs for a more intense passionate love affair. Since she cannot find this with Charles she looks elsewhere to fulfill her need for passion, first with Rodolphe and later with Leon. In the end we see that Jane finds happiness with her one true love, and Emma dies in debt, and eventually Charles joins her at the grave. I think Emma's unfortunate ending is a direct result of her allowing her emotions to completely overtake her character. Jane realizes early that passion is a good thing, but not when it gets out of control (I think she learned this during her time in the red room). In my mind Jane and Emma are polar opposites, and i think the endings not only reflect the conflicting ideas of realism and romanticism, but also those of the conflicting personalities of Emma and Jane.