Yearning for inner peace
---A review of life in Jane Eyre
Jane Eyre is written by Charlotte Bronte in 1847,which has been read by millions of people during 162 years.History does not wash out Jane Eyre,contrarily demonstrates its value and enchantment.
Charlotte Bronte(1816-1855) and her sisters Emily Bronte(1818-1848) and Anne Bronte(1820-1849)are known as Bronte Sisters.When they were young ,the Bronte Sisters were sent to a school for chergymen’s daugthers.The eldest two died there due to the poor and unhealthy conditions.This experience inspired the later portrayal of Lowood school in the novel Jane Eyre.As they grew up,the sisters worked either as teachers or governe in some private families.That may be the reason why Charlotte’s works are about governees and are noted for the portrayal of governees’inner world and characters.In 1842 ,when Charlotte went to Bruels to improve her foreign languang.She fell in love with her German profeor,a married man .Her most autobiographical work Vliette(1853),largely based on her experience in Bruels.In 1854 ,Charlotte married her father’s curate.She died a few monthes later because of a cold,unfortunately.I’m sorry to say they all died in their thirties.May be god is jealous to their gifts.
Chalotte’s works are all about the struggles of an individual consciousne towards self-realization,about some loney and neglected young woman with a fierce longing for love,understanding and a full,happy life.All these women are brought up with strict orthodoxy,Charlotte would usually stick to the puritanical code.Jane Eyre may be the most outstanding one.Charlotte loves the beauty of nature,but despise worldly ambition and succe.In her mind man’s life is composed of perpetual battle between sin and virtue,good and evil.In the novel Jane Eyre ,the actor Mr Rochester is a good man with guilty.And he always fight with his good will and ugly desires.Actually all men do so.I suppose that is the pain of life .Meanwhile ,we can say that is the meaning of life.What dose life really mean?what is the right thing we want?Just like a girl does not konw who is her Mr right,we don’t kown what we want.And then we lose our souls in this confused world and suffer a lot.I believe the meaning of life is the inner peace.I’ll explain it later.
Now,let’s take a look at Charlotte’s writing skills.Charlotte is a writer of realism combined with romanticism.On one hand,she presents a vivid realistic picture of the English society by exposing the cruelty,hypocrisy and other evils of upper claes.On the other hand her writings are marked throughout by an intensity of vision and paion.
We can take a look at the novel Jane Eyre.Charlotte reprents Mrs Reed as a selfish and cold-hearted woman.And then in Lowood school Mr
Brocklehurst reprents the cold-hearted and hypocritical upper claes.so does the depiction of the party in Thornfield.The depiction reveals the ignorant and fictitious of the upper claes.Of course our respectable Jane Eyre is absolutely different.She is loney and poor.However she hopes to have love and happine.She poees strong feelings.
Generally speaking,Jane Eyre truthfully presents the economical,mor- al,social life of the time.And it deserves to have a never dying popularity.Fiery paions and extraordinary personalities are required by the rising bourgeois after the Industrial Revolution.Freedom,equanity and self-respect are claims of the new cla.Actually those spirits are what charlotte wants to expre through Jane Eyre’s fighting life.Like Mr Rochester said “I can live alone,if self-respect and circumstances require me so to do.I need not to sell my soul to buy bli.I have an inward treasure born with me .which can keep me alive if extraneous delights should be withheld ,or offered only at a price I can not afford to give”.
In Jane Eyre,Charlotteresorte to some elements of horror,mystery and prophesy.Like the“red house”, “death in lowood”and “the screams and cries”in Thronfield.In order to create life in a wondrously romatic way.All these depictions help to make Jane Eyre to be a independent and grave girl.After all these sufferings she has became a butterfly.
However,it is far from perfect.At least Jane is not satisfied to be a teacher in Lowood school all her life.Mi Temple’s leave has a big influnce on her.She is restle and she wants more.Without doubt,she can live a quietly life in Lowood school in the rest years.But that is not really quiet and peaceful.Since her heart and mind hopes more.She is not happy and restle.She can have a quiet life and grave appearance.But she never reach the inner peace.Everyone need inner peace,so does Jane Eyre.Although different people may have different appetites and desires.However the climax may be the same,tne inner peace .Namely,we get right what we want and we can enjoy it rightly.We will live a happy and harmonious life .It is extrinsic and internal freedom and peace.We will pray everyday for what we have.It looks like a fairy tale .But we can not deny everyone has his fairy tale in heart.From the craddle to grave we common people try to find it.Since the world is complex ,we mi it again and again.Once we get it,we find the mine of happine.
Now we can take some examples from the novel Jane Eyre.
Firstly,Mr Rochester,a spirit partner could be the mine of his peace.I think Mr Rochest is a rigid and rugged gentleman.To some extent,he is a little ruthle and vulgar.Owing to his painful family and marriage I can forgive his wacky and fractious behavior.Actually,I think Mr Rochester is a rugged man,so does his appearance.However, being a upper cla man,he is arrogant and vulgar,inevitably.I mean when Jane engages herself to Mr Rochester,he intends to flatter Jane to give her jewels and gaudery.That is ridiculous and sarcastic to Jane.
Mr Rochester is not a happy man.Actually,he is in pain.Because he konws what kind of wife he wants but he never meet it.Worse more,he has a mad wife and a faithle lover.Now he even has to take care of Varens who is not her daughter at all.He tried years and years to get a solution and salvation.Unfortunately,he failed again and again.He is desparate and peimistic.Finally,he met Jane and he got the answer.But the situation is so contrary for his past.In chapter 20,after Jane help him send wounded Mr Mason away.He asked Jane:“Is the wandering and sinful,but now rest-seeking and repentant,man justified indaring the world’s opinion ,in order to attach to him for ever this gentle,gracious,genial stranger,thereby securing his own peace of mind and regeneration of life?”
“but the instrument-he instrument!God,who,does the work,ordains the instrument.I have myself-I tell it you without parable-been a worldly,diipated,restleman;and I believe I have found the instrument for my cure in---”
Of course,we konw he means Jane ,a self-respect,pure,intellegent young girl to whom he can talk franly and wittily,is the instrument.In the face of Jane,he is a true man who get equality and respect from another pure soul.As he said to Jane“My bride is here,because my equal is here,and my likene,Jane,will you marry me”.And Jane had scorned,“for you are a married man-or as good as a married,and wed to one inferior to you-to one with whom you have no sympathy-whom I do not believe you truly love;for I have seen and heard you sneer at her.I would scorn such a union”.Absolutely,Mr Rochester knows it more than Jane dose.Finally,Jane promise to marry him.He is happy for the renewal,but still restle.Because he is a married man and his mad wife is still alive.He is lucky dog as he finally gets his lover and instrument.However he is more restle and painful.The suffering is from conscience and he is afraid of objections.As he said,“God pardon me,and man meddle not with me:I have her,and will hold her”,“It will expiate at God’s tribunal.I know my Maker sanctions what I do.For man’s opinion—I defy it”.
Although he will love Jane as his own fresh and treasure.Jane will love and respect him,as he dreamed a wonderful wife and a spirit partner would do.However,never will he secure his own peace of mind and regeneration of life.To some extent,he is guilt and ashame .He is afraid so he asks to marry Jane in 4 weeks and leave Thornfield.
A married man is never allowed to marry another girl by God and man.It is a common theory.We have to say the road to the inner peace is flexuous.Sometimes we can get it but we can not enjoy it peacefully.There are priciples we need to obey.Our desires are easy to satisfy,but our mind are insatiate.We suffer a lot to reach the inner peace.We learn a leon from Mr Rochester.Although it is hard to find our instrument to happine,yet some priciples we need to obey.Or it is far from peaceful
and turns out to be another suffering.There is no crocut in life.
Secondly,Jane Eyre,a happy family could be her road to inner peace.What does Jane really want?What is Jane’s dream?People may think it is independence,respect and love.But I think is a happy family.The warmth and cherish of a family is her desire.It happens with reason.Since she was an orphan.Her aunt Mrs Reed treats her bad,brother John beats her optionally,sisters contemn her,even the servants look down on her.Gateshead is her night mare.So is Lowood school.As the novel says,when Mrs Reed is dying,Jane returns Gateshead.“On a dark,misty,raw morning in January,I had left a hostile roof with desperate and embittered heart-a sence of outlawry and almost of reprobation-to seek the chilly harbourag of Lowood:that bourne so far away and unexplored”.What Jane have suffered in Lowood I do not want to discribe more.
Finally,Jane grows up as a grave and self-independence young girl.But she is not happy.She knows she need a change.She wants to go outside and search a new world.In Thornfield,Mrs Fairfax treats her like a visitor and company.Jane’s heart really warm to the worthy lady.And then Adele likes her.When she comes back from Cateshead,she feels so happy.She knows Mrs Fairfax and Adele wil welcome her.In her heart,she will be gald to see Mr Rochester.As Mr Rochester said,“go up home,and stay your weary little wandering feet at a friend’s threshold”.And then Jane said,“Thank you,Mr Rochester,for your great kindne.I am strangely glad to get back back again to you;and wherever you are is my home-my only home”.
Jane Treats Thornfield as her home.Because she lived in it a full and delightful life-momentarily at least.She can talk,face to face,with what she reverences,with what she delight in-with an original,avigorous and expanded mind.That is what she dreamed ,but never geted in Gateshead and Lowood.May be she loves Mr Rochester.But what she really hopes is a home full of love and warmth.We can know it from the sence when she knows St John,Diana and Mary are her cousins.As she talks to St John,“I never had a home,I never had brothers and sisters.You can not at all imagine the craving I have for fraternal and sisterly love”.And then she gives up her job and goes back to Moor House.“Happy at Moor House I was,and hard I worked,I could brush,dust,clean and cook”.May be she will mi Mr Rochester when she is alone in her bedroom at mid-night.However,in fact she can live a peaceful and contented life with her cousins at Moor House.Actually ,Jane has gets her inner peace-a happy family.Her only lacuna is Mr Rochester.However,as a self-indenpendence and grave young girl,Jane can live through it.
However,a life without hope and object is routine.It is not perfect,she will feel painful and restranined secretly.That is not what I called inner peace.
What on earth does inner peace mean?What on earth does life
mean?We,common people suffer a great deal in this world for what?Do we just come for death？Since there are so many desires,there are so much pain.Desires can be satisfied,but that does not mean we are happy.We try to find something what can comfort our confused and maimed soul.That could be a lover,a happy family,a holy career like St John or a attic faith like Eliza and so on.Almost everyone try to get it unconsciously.Once we get it,we can really be happy all of our life.The problem is how to enjoy it rightly.Inner peace is a mine of happine and paion of life.Sometimes we can come acro it like Mr Rochester.But if we obey the principles whether in law or morally.We can not hold inner peace and it will ruin our life.
My opinion is that since life is difficult and short.All we want is happine.Of course different people may have different concepts.And that there are so many temptations on earth that we lose ourselves at times.As Mr Rochester when he was young.We can learn a leon from his sufferings.Sonmetimes,we need stop to listen to the summons of our souls.To find our inner peace,to get the mine of happine and the balance of life.That could be a worthy trip.
