“Marriage in Jane Eyre: From Contract to Conversation” by James Phillips

· Phillips asserts that Jane Eyre “can be read as a treatise on marriage” (209) and he proves this by discussing the marriage plot of the novel.

· Phillips discusses the two possibilities of marriage for Jane.

· She can either marry Rochester, which would be a conversation of equals, or she can marry St. John Rivers under contract and help him to perform the Christian duty of missionary work in India.

· Interestingly, Phillips mentions that "it was not until 1937 that English law recognized insanity as ground for divorce" (204).

oAs well, if Rochester wanted to divorce Bertha, then he would have had to be "blameless" (204), and he would have had to prove that she had lovers in the Caribbean, which would have been hard.

Victorian Web

The Victorian Web can be found online at victorianweb.org. The site is extensive in its coverage of Victorian "literature, history,& culture" (n.p.). However, the site is relevant, because of its information on Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë.

“Growth” from The Things that Matter by Edward Mendelson

· Mendelson’s article states, “Jane Eyre records a journey out of a childish world into an adult one and a journey out of inequality and into equality”. (82).

· According to him, Jane attains equality by fighting against unity.

oEquality is moral, emotional, and inclusive.

oUnity is a collection of people, lacks ethics, and is exclusive.

· “Growth” discusses Jane’s fight for equality over unity in terms of her love life, and her two suitors Rochester and Jane.

· Mendelson recognizes the duality of Rochester as Jane’s love interest by discussing the two ways that she can either be united with him, or equal to him.

oIf Jane had run away with Rochester after their wedding was interrupted, then she would have been united with him as his mistress. Further, she would have been sacrificing “sexual equality for the sake of sexual love” (98).

oIn marriage, Rochester and Jane are equals.

· On the other hand, Mendelson presents Jane’s marriage to St. John Rivers as unity, because St. John Rivers does not love or desire Jane, rather he sees her as a useful tool to his missionary work among the women in India.

· Mendelson even goes as far as to say that Jane rescues Rochester and St. John Rivers.

· Jane rescues Rochester by refusing to be his mistress; “She rescues Rochester from the lonely inequality of keeping a mistress whom he would eventually despise” (110).

· Jane rescues St. John Rivers “from his temptation to tyrannize her in his private life while liberating other in his public life” (110).

“Edward Rochester and the Margins of Masculinity in Jane Eyre and Wide Sargasso Sea” by Robert Kendrick

· Kendrick discusses Rochester’s emasculation in Jane Eyre and Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys, however, it is what he says concerning Wide Sargasso Sea that is most interesting.

· Kendrick also says that Rochester is not a central figure in either text, but he “occupies a crucial position in each text” (235)

oIn Jane Eyre, Jane’s marriage to Rochester represents her equality, while in Wide Sargasso Sea, Rochester’s actions help to show how Antoinette/Bertha was pushed into madness.

· The evidence that Kendrick presents from Wide Sargasso Sea is most interesting, because it seems to subvert and expand Rhys’ attempt to write Antoinette/Bertha a life.

· Overall, the article seems to suggest that Rochester’s emasculation is the result of Rochester’s subscription to English customs and British Imperialism in the Caribbean.

oIn terms of English custom

§ the second son

§ Antoinette/Bertha is non-European born

oIn terms of British Imperialism

§ Daniel “Cosway

§ Sees Rochester as a "tall fine English gentleman" (242).

§ Calls Antoinette/Bertha's chastity into question

§ Rochester's double.

oSandi

§ Rochester's second double.

§ Moves with ease between two different communities.

The British Author Game

The course is Foundations of British Literature, so here is a picture of various British Authors. Can you name more than five? Hint: Look at your syllabus.