Connections 2- Les Miserables

When speaking to Adele, Jane incquires, "but after your mama went to the Holy Virgin, as you say, with whom did you live then?"

 Adele answers, "With Madame Frederic and her husband: she took care of me, but she is nothing related to me. I think she is poor, she had not so fine a house as mama. I was not long there. Mr. Rochester asked me if I would like to go and live with him in England, and I said yes; for I knew Mr. Rochester before I knew Madame, and he was always kind to me and gave me pretty dresses and toys." (104-105)

This quote reminds me very much of the book and movie Les Miserables. Not only is this child orphaned like little Cosette in the story, but both of their mothers become extremely ill and pass away. One of the main connections, however is that Adele lived with a woman and her husband in the book, and in Les Mis, Cosette lives with Madame Thernadier and her husband who she is not related to. Also, a prominent male figure steps into the picture to help and raise these girs. Jean Valjean and Mr. Rochester both take care of the girls, but them clothes and toys, and basically become their father figures in their lives. These are just a few connetions that I found that parallel these two stories very closely.

Connections 1- Death at Lowood

"While disease had thus become an inhabitant of Lowood, and death its frequent visitor; while there was gloom and fear within its walls; while its rooms and passages steamed with hospital smells, the drug and pastille striving vainly to overcome the effluvia of mortality, that bright May shone unclouded over the bold hills and beautiful woodland out of doors." (77-78)

Jane speaks often of the sad and tragic deaths of the girls at her school when she was a child, at Lowood. She speaks almost directly about coping with death, and indirectly talks about the many different feelings one may express while coping. This connects to everyday life, becasue new life and death and are always occuring in this world. Recently, there has been tragedies like The Boston Marathon bombings, and such. This shows us that you need to live your life to the fullest and make sure you are making yourself happy, so that you enjoy your life. Death is a terrible thing, as mentioned in the quote, but it also enriches our heart and helps us to understand and appreciate what we have going good in our lives.

Diction 2- Description of Thornfield

"The kitchen, the butler's pantry, the servant's hall, the entrance hall were equally alive; and the saloons were only left void and still, when the blue sky and halcyon sunshine of the genial spring weather called  their occupants out into the grounds." (184)

I believe that this quote is drenched in imagery, and appeals to all your senses and emotions. The way it describes the change of the winter into the spring, and shows the abandoned saloon in all its' entirety, which could relate to Jane's feelings when Mr. Rochester has all his friends visiting. The word choice that Charlotte uses really expresses the emotion of the empty saloon and all the stocked pantry's of the housekeepers. Her choice of diction proves not only the appearance of this scene to the reader, but also shows and appeals to the way Jane is feeling about her arrival to Thornfield and this dramatic change in her life. The words in the quote that help make this quote successful would be alive, void, and halcyon. Alive and void show the difference between the two areas, and halcyon, which means happy and peaceful, how the spring is brightening the inhabitants of Thornfield's mood.

Diction 1- Description of Ms. Ingram

"Tall, fine bust, sloping shoulders; long, graceful neck; olive complexion, dark and clear; noble features; eyes rather like Mr. Rochester's, large and black, and as brilliant as her jewels. And then she had such a fine head of hair: raven-black, and so becomingly arranged: a crown of thick plaits behind, and in front the longest, the glossiest curls I ever saw." (161)

I love the way this quote was worded, because you can just picture how she looks through all of the use of imagery. There are many words that she included in this description, that also can be used to describe how Blanche carries herself, and her personality. Especially the words like noble and a head of raven-black hair. She is a proud woman, and acts very stuck up towards Jane, and also can seem a little dark and mean, and you can definitely see it presented this way in the quote. The way Mrs. Fairfax describes the way Blanche looked that day, with all of her special features, really allow the reader to picture her as a character in their head, and I believe that this is important in a successfully worded quote. The comparison to Mr. Rochester also helps us see her in a different light, and shows us that she might not be what we expected her to be.

 



Themes 2- Longing for a Family

 

Jane's wish for a loving family that will care for her started at the very beginning of the book. Especially when she was living with Mrs. Reed and her kids in the family house. They did not treat her kindly, and this caused Jane to wish that she could have someone to help her along the way with her life. One of the only things Jane wishes for in the book is to have someone to call family and to love. I believe that this deprivation of a real family, caused Jane to feel somewhat desperate to find someone, so the first man that she really has any interaction with, she falls in love with. I think that this lack of a caring figure in her life impacted her dramatically.

"Glorious discovery to a lonely wretch! This was wealth indeed!- wealth to the heart!- a mine of pure, genial affections. This was a blessing, bright, vivid, and exhilarating;- not like the ponderous gift of gold: rich and welcome enough in its way, but sobering from its weight." (392)

This quote shows Jane's true feelings of joy and excitement upon hearing she does have a real family. She mentions that she does not even care for the money, her happiness upon recieving a family is much more of a reward than an inheritance. She is more excited to have a family, rather than a fortune.

Themes 1- Dreams/ Visions

A recurring theme is Jane having dreams and visions that almost reveal new information in the story, like a pyschic would. The most revealing dream/vision that she has is was when she saw the wretched woman in her room in the middle of the night looking through her wedding dress and bridal veil. Jane then learns that this is Mr. Rochester's wife, who is mentally insane. Jane also has had other dreams of bad and scary things that are happening at Thornfield.

"oh sir, I never saw a face like it! It was a discoloured face- it was a savage face. I wish I could forget the roll of the red eyes and the fearful blackened inflation if the lineaments." (288)

"I used to rush into strange dreamsat night: dreams many- coloured, agitated, full of the ideal, the stirring, the stormy- dreans where, amidst unusual scenes, charged with adventure.." (373)

In these two quotes, Jane mentions her dreams that she has been having, and also speaks of the nature of her dreams. The first is the vision where she saw Bessie, and is talking about how she looked and acted. The second was after she left Mr. Rochester and talks about how she is still having these dreams/visions.

Allusion 2- Arabian Nights

"Glancing at the bookcases, I thought I could distinguish the two volumes of Bewick's British Birds occupying their old place on the third shelf, Gulliver's Travels and the Arabian Nights ranged just above." (231)

In the text, she alludes to the story The Arabian Nights, or how it is most oftenly referenced as One Thousand and One Nights. The king in this story, Shahryar, is married many times to many different women. Every time he marries, he ends up distrusting his current wife, and decides to kill her. This is very similar to Mr. Rochester, because of his many women that he has been with, and his distrust of people in general. He has a secret he doesn't want anyone to know about, exactly like King Shahryar. In the story, however, Shahryar acquires one wife that he begins to trust and decides not to rid of her. When everyone finds out the truth of his secret, his wife is killed. This is very similar to Jane Eyre as well, due to the fact that Jane finds out about Bessie, and decides to leave Mr. Rochester. Although a big difference bewtween the two stories is that the king's wife is actually murdered, and Jane decides to leave her companion, sparing her dignity.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Thousand_and_One_Nights