Hamlet Subtext

SCENE IV. The Queen's closet.
Enter QUEEN GERTRUDE and POLONIUS
LORD POLONIUS
He will come straight. Look you lay home to him:
Tell him his pranks have been too broad to bear with,
And that your grace hath screen'd and stood between
Much heat and him. I'll sconce me even here.
Pray you, be round with him.

Lord Polonius is informing the Queen on what she has to do in regards to Hamlet and getting information from him.HAMLET
[Within] Mother, mother, mother!
QUEEN GERTRUDE
I'll warrant you,
Fear me not: withdraw, I hear him coming.

Lord Polonius does as the queen tells him and hides behind the arras so that Hamlet will not see him and because he wants to hear the conversation between Hamlet and the Queen.

POLONIUS hides behind the arras
Enter HAMLET
HAMLET
Now, mother, what's the matter?

Hamlet knows that he has been called in to talk because about his behavior but he plays it off like he does not know what is to come of the conversation.

QUEEN GERTRUDE
Hamlet, thou hast thy father much offended.

In Hamlets eyes he is just in his behavior but the Queen accuses him of offending Claudius.

HAMLET
Mother, you have my father much offended.

Hamlet believes that the Queen is the one that has been doing the offending because she married Claudius right after his father’s death.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Come, come, you answer with an idle tongue.

Both the Queen and Hamlet think that the other character is wrong and has a bad attitude. Neither character sees wrong in their actions.
HAMLET
Go, go, you question with a wicked tongue.

Hamlet is letting the Queen know that he thinks she is wrong even though she does not have the same feelings.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Why, how now, Hamlet!
HAMLET
What's the matter now?
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Have you forgot me?
HAMLET
No, by the rood, not so:
You are the queen, your husband's brother's wife;
And--would it were not so!--you are my mother.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Nay, then, I'll set those to you that can speak.

Hamlet and the Queen go back and forth because of their differing viewpoints. Queen Gertrude finds Hamlet to be disrespectful to her especially since she is his mother but Hamlet only gets more angry offensive towards her.
HAMLET
Come, come, and sit you down; you shall not budge;
You go not till I set you up a glass
Where you may see the inmost part of you.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
What wilt thou do? thou wilt not murder me?
Help, help, ho!

Hamlet makes The Queen sit down so that he can further attempt to make her see that her marriage was a wrong action. However, Queen Gertrude becomes frightened by Hamlet and calls out for help knowing that Polonius is behind the arras.

LORD POLONIUS
[Behind] What, ho! help, help, help!
HAMLET
[Drawing] How now! a rat? Dead, for a ducat, dead!
Makes a pass through the arras
LORD POLONIUS
[Behind] O, I am slain!

Hamlet becomes furious that Polonius was present for the whole conversation and in his anger he stabs Polonius with his sward through the arras and kills him. Falls and dies
QUEEN GERTRUDE
O me, what hast thou done?
HAMLET
Nay, I know not:
Is it the king?
QUEEN GERTRUDE
O, what a rash and bloody deed is this!
HAMLET
A bloody deed! almost as bad, good mother,
As kill a king, and marry with his brother.

Hamlet hopes that he has just killed Claudius but finds that it was indeed not him. He then informs his mother of why he has been acting the way he has and why he is so upset with her.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
As kill a king!
HAMLET
Ay, lady, 'twas my word.
Lifts up the array and discovers POLONIUS
Thou wretched, rash, intruding fool, farewell!
I took thee for thy better: take thy fortune;
Thou find'st to be too busy is some danger.
Leave wringing of your hands: peace! sit you down,
And let me wring your heart; for so I shall,
If it be made of penetrable stuff,
If damned custom have not brass'd it so
That it is proof and bulwark against sense.

Hamlet discovers that it was Polonius that he killed instead of Claudius but does not show sorrow or regret in killing him.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
What have I done, that thou darest wag thy tongue
In noise so rude against me?
HAMLET
Such an act
That blurs the grace and blush of modesty,
Calls virtue hypocrite, takes off the rose
From the fair forehead of an innocent love
And sets a blister there, makes marriage-vows
As false as dicers' oaths: O, such a deed
As from the body of contraction plucks
The very soul, and sweet religion makes
A rhapsody of words: heaven's face doth glow:
Yea, this solidity and compound mass,
With tristful visage, as against the doom,
Is thought-sick at the act.

The Queen does not understand why Hamlet is being so hostile towards her because she was not the one that killed the King even thought she is getting the sense that Hamlet knows more then she thought. Hamlet gets very mad at the Queen because she does not seem to understand his feelings on how her fast marriage was wrong and shameful.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Ay me, what act,
That roars so loud, and thunders in the index?
HAMLET
Look here, upon this picture, and on this,
The counterfeit presentment of two brothers.
See, what a grace was seated on this brow;
Hyperion's curls; the front of Jove himself;
An eye like Mars, to threaten and command;
A station like the herald Mercury
New-lighted on a heaven-kissing hill;
A combination and a form indeed,
Where every god did seem to set his seal,
To give the world assurance of a man:
This was your husband. Look you now, what follows:
Here is your husband; like a mildew'd ear,
Blasting his wholesome brother. Have you eyes?
Could you on this fair mountain leave to feed,
And batten on this moor? Ha! have you eyes?
You cannot call it love; for at your age
The hey-day in the blood is tame, it's humble,
And waits upon the judgment: and what judgment
Would step from this to this? Sense, sure, you have,
Else could you not have motion; but sure, that sense
Is apoplex'd; for madness would not err,
Nor sense to ecstasy was ne'er so thrall'd
But it reserved some quantity of choice,
To serve in such a difference. What devil was't
That thus hath cozen'd you at hoodman-blind?
Eyes without feeling, feeling without sight,
Ears without hands or eyes, smelling sans all,
Or but a sickly part of one true sense
Could not so mope.
O shame! where is thy blush? Rebellious hell,
If thou canst mutine in a matron's bones,
To flaming youth let virtue be as wax,
And melt in her own fire: proclaim no shame
When the compulsive ardour gives the charge,
Since frost itself as actively doth burn
And reason panders will.

Queen Gertrude starts to cry as Hamlet could not longer control his anger and began to yell at her. He does not understand how she could go from his great father to his underachieving uncle, especially by doing it so openly and fast after his father’s death. He his angry with his mother for not seeing the wrong in the whole situation.

QUEEN GERTRUDE
O Hamlet, speak no more:
Thou turn'st mine eyes into my very soul;
And there I see such black and grained spots
As will not leave their tinct.

Queen Gertrude finally seems to realize some of the wrong in her marriage to Claudius and the pain that she has caused Hamlet.
HAMLET
Nay, but to live
In the rank sweat of an enseamed bed,
Stew'd in corruption, honeying and making love
Over the nasty sty,--

Hamlet continues to make her feel bad by making references to her bed being tainted since she has slept in it with both her husbands.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
O, speak to me no more;
These words, like daggers, enter in mine ears;
No more, sweet Hamlet!

Gertrude can not longer handle Hamlets words.

HAMLET
A murderer and a villain;
A slave that is not twentieth part the tithe
Of your precedent lord; a vice of kings;
A cutpurse of the empire and the rule,
That from a shelf the precious diadem stole,
And put it in his pocket!
QUEEN GERTRUDE
No more!
HAMLET
A king of shreds and patches,--

Hamlet continues to attack his mother by bashing Claudius and saying that he was not half the man that Hamlet’s father was. Hamlet continues on until he is unexpectedly interrupted by the ghost.
Enter Ghost
Save me, and hover o'er me with your wings,
You heavenly guards! What would your gracious figure?
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Alas, he's mad!

Hamlet begins to speak to the ghost even though he is the only one who can see it so consequently the Queen thinks that he is crazy.
HAMLET
Do you not come your tardy son to chide,
That, lapsed in time and passion, lets go by
The important acting of your dread command? O, say!

Hamlet is worried that the ghost thinks that he is taking to long to kill Claudius.
Ghost
Do not forget: this visitation
Is but to whet thy almost blunted purpose.
But, look, amazement on thy mother sits:
O, step between her and her fighting soul:
Conceit in weakest bodies strongest works:
Speak to her, Hamlet.
HAMLET
How is it with you, lady?

The Ghost reminds Hamlet that he has succeeded in making the Queen feel bad and so he has completed his intensions for his visit. Gertrude thinks that Hamlet has gone crazy after seeing him have a conversation with what she thinks is himself for the last few minutes.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Alas, how is't with you,
That you do bend your eye on vacancy
And with the incorporal air do hold discourse?
Forth at your eyes your spirits wildly peep;
And, as the sleeping soldiers in the alarm,
Your bedded hair, like life in excrements,
Starts up, and stands on end. O gentle son,
Upon the heat and flame of thy distemper
Sprinkle cool patience. Whereon do you look?

At this point Hamlet and his mother are calmly talking with each other as opposed to Hamlet’s previous yelling. Gertrude is trying to understand why Hamlet has been acting so crazy.
HAMLET
On him, on him! Look you, how pale he glares!
His form and cause conjoin'd, preaching to stones,
Would make them capable. Do not look upon me;
Lest with this piteous action you convert
My stern effects: then what I have to do
Will want true colour; tears perchance for blood.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
To whom do you speak this?
HAMLET
Do you see nothing there?
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Nothing at all; yet all that is I see.

Hamlet is trying to get the Queen to see the ghost but she cannot because Hamlet does not understand that not everyone can see it. It appears as if she wants to understand Hamlet but she cannot since she cannot see the ghost. Hamlet becomes a bit confused.
HAMLET
Nor did you nothing hear?
QUEEN GERTRUDE
No, nothing but ourselves.
HAMLET
Why, look you there! look, how it steals away!
My father, in his habit as he lived!
Look, where he goes, even now, out at the portal!

Hamlet tries to get the Queen to see the ghost by directing her to it but she cannot see or hear the ghost, to her it is just the two of them in the room. Hamlet tells her that the ghost is his father.
Exit Ghost
QUEEN GERTRUDE
This the very coinage of your brain:
This bodiless creation ecstasy
Is very cunning in.

Gertrude now feels that Hamlet is indeed crazy to the point that he is making up stories about ghosts of his father.
HAMLET
Ecstasy!
My pulse, as yours, doth temperately keep time,
And makes as healthful music: it is not madness
That I have utter'd: bring me to the test,
And I the matter will re-word; which madness
Would gambol from. Mother, for love of grace,
Lay not that mattering unction to your soul,
That not your trespass, but my madness speaks:
It will but skin and film the ulcerous place,
Whilst rank corruption, mining all within,
Infects unseen. Confess yourself to heaven;
Repent what's past; avoid what is to come;
And do not spread the compost on the weeds,
To make them ranker. Forgive me this my virtue;
For in the fatness of these pursy times
Virtue itself of vice must pardon beg,
Yea, curb and woo for leave to do him good.

Hamlet does not know why his mother will not believe him and seems to begin to need his mother to trust him. He knows that the ghost is real, Hamlet just wishes that he could prove it to his mother.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
O Hamlet, thou hast cleft my heart in twain.
HAMLET
O, throw away the worser part of it,
And live the purer with the other half.
Good night: but go not to mine uncle's bed;
Assume a virtue, if you have it not.
That monster, custom, who all sense doth eat,
Of habits devil, is angel yet in this,
That to the use of actions fair and good
He likewise gives a frock or livery,
That aptly is put on. Refrain to-night,
And that shall lend a kind of easiness
To the next abstinence: the next more easy;
For use almost can change the stamp of nature,
And either [ ] the devil, or throw him out
With wondrous potency. Once more, good night:
And when you are desirous to be bless'd,
I'll blessing beg of you. For this same lord,

The Queen claims that she understand her wrongdoing and wants to fix it. Hamlet is very pleased and asks his mother to forget the struggle they had before in getting her to understand the whole situation. Hamlet says goodnight to his mother. Pointing to POLONIUS
I do repent: but heaven hath pleased it so,
To punish me with this and this with me,
That I must be their scourge and minister.
I will bestow him, and will answer well
The death I gave him. So, again, good night.
I must be cruel, only to be kind:
Thus bad begins and worse remains behind.
One word more, good lady.

Hamlet knows that murder is wrong but he feels that it is right to honor his father’s ghost and that he must follow through with killing Claudius. He tells his mother not to return to Claudius since she has realized her wrongs.

QUEEN GERTRUDE
What shall I do?
HAMLET
Not this, by no means, that I bid you do:
Let the bloat king tempt you again to bed;
Pinch wanton on your cheek; call you his mouse;
And let him, for a pair of reechy kisses,
Or paddling in your neck with his damn'd fingers,
Make you to ravel all this matter out,
That I essentially am not in madness,
But mad in craft. 'Twere good you let him know;
For who, that's but a queen, fair, sober, wise,
Would from a paddock, from a bat, a gib,
Such dear concernings hide? who would do so?
No, in despite of sense and secrecy,
Unpeg the basket on the house's top.
Let the birds fly, and, like the famous ape,
To try conclusions, in the basket creep,
And break your own neck down.

The Queen is confused on what to do next and Hamlet tries to assure her that all will be fine if she listens to him and does not give in to or return to Claudius.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
Be thou assured, if words be made of breath,
And breath of life, I have no life to breathe
What thou hast said to me.

The Queen confirms to Hamlet that she will not speak to Claudius about the situation or about Hamlet’s plan. The Queen appears to understand her son and believe that he is right in his motives and actions.

Wish You Were Here

So, so you think you can tell
Heaven from Hell,
Blue skys from pain.
Can you tell a green field
From a cold steel rail?
A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell?

And did they get you to trade
Your heros for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees?
Hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold comfort for change?
And did you exchange
A walk on part in the war
For a lead role in a cage?

How I wish, how I wish you were here.
We're just two lost souls
Swimming in a fish bowl,
Year after year,
Running over the same old ground.
What have we found?
The same old fears.
Wish you were here.

Kingship

One central theme displayed in “Oedipus the King” is the idea of kingship and what it means in terms of the story and Oedipus himself. Oedipus is raised by the people to become the king after he saves them from the Sphinx. They are so grateful to be free of the Sphinx and to be released from all that they were forced to do under her that they immediately turned to Oedipus as their savior and guardian. As king, Oedipus provides his people with security and protection. He also stands as a hero figure for his people to look up to, respect, and obey. Oedipus is the man that his country turns to in a time of crisis because he has positioned himself in their minds as the only man capable of such a challenge.

Oedipus is put to the test when a true crisis does evolve in his country. He is faced with saving his people from the plague that is spreading through his country as well as all over the continent. Oedipus immediately takes a stand to fulfill his role as king and thinks ahead even before his countrymen come to him in seek of help. He sends his brother-in-law as a messenger to visit an oracle to gain help and understanding for his great problem. Oedipus intends on remaining a powerful and respected ruler of his country. The messenger finds the oracle at Delphi, in the Temple of Apollo. The oracle informs the messenger that the gods will stop holding the plague over the people when they find the killer of their old king Laios. The people must kill the murderer or send him into exile. Oedipus acts as a good king in response to the news and promises to take action right away. Oedipus takes his kingship seriously in this instance because he tries to take the pain and suffering away from his people and put it onto himself by taking responsibility in finding Laios’s murderer. However, Oedipus is unaware of what this duty really means in regards to himself. In truth, Oedipus is King Laios’s killer he is just unaware of this fact. Consequently, even though Oedipus is showing great kingship by working to find the murderer, he in fact cannot fulfill this challenge without realizing the truth of him being the killer.

The whole short story is centered around the notion of kingship because Oedipus rose to the position of King by demonstrating king-like qualities and then continued to serve in the same manner. Oedipus works to demonstrate good kingship over his people by taking the responsibility of finding the murderer of King Laios even though it forces him to come to terms with the day of King Laios’s death. The success of a country was based on its king because Kings were the center of every countries survival. Oedipus was smart enough to realize how important his role was in his country and to his people, leading him to take the matter of the plague seriously. His people should be thankful of his dedication even though in a sense his killing of King Laios caused problems and pain for his people. (531)

"It's A Wonderful Life"

I believe that the character Ivan Ilych is a tragic literary character because he is an unhappy person who does not give anything positive back to society. He does not appear to believe in anything other than money and advancing himself in society to be above other people in his life. This is no way to live a happy and fulfilling life. Ivan does not realize this until the end of his life. This becomes one of the biggest messages of the short story; the author stresses not wasting your life and to not living it in greed. Ivan does not have enough appreciation for people and anything or anyone other than himself. That is why his life can be deemed as terrible.

Ivan does not know or believe in himself let alone other people. He thinks of himself only in terms in success and does not take on the responsibility of other people, not even his family. Therefore, I do think he is a tragic character. He leads a terrible life because I believe that the greatest joy, the kindest service, and the most worth in life can be found through relationships with other people. People are what matter in life and being selfless is the most profound gesture anyone can make to oneself, to other people, and to any higher power that one believes in. Ivan does nothing remotely selfless and consequently he leads what I find to be a lonely life. Some might not view his life as terrible, but if no worth can be found in his life and all that he has done in his time on earth then to me it is clear that it is terrible.

When I think about Ivan I cannot help but think about the character George Bailey from the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life” because he embodies everything that Ivan is not. Although George struggles quite a bit throughout his life and is never fully financially successful he ends up being the happiest, most loved, and rewarded man in town. George Bailey lived anything but a terrible life because he made such a difference in the lives around him and was so very appreciated. Ivan clearly did not have this affect on anyone because his supposed friends found his funeral to be a burden they had to deal with. His death did not bring sadness and despair but rather annoyance and inconvenience. In “It’s a Wonderful Life” the world without the existence of George Bailey is a sadder, darker place. His lack of existence or his death would bring anything but annoyance and inconvenience. George Bailey is a polar opposite of Ivan Ilych, which serves to further stress the wrong in the way Ivan conducted his life and shows the reader how much more there is to life. (489).

Quentin Compson

Quentin is a very troubled person because he is unable to deal with dishonor, pride, and grief. His father’s words haunt him everyday beginning when Mr. Compson tells Quentin that he will forget his grief because time will heal his despair and misery. Quentin is tortured by what he feels is the most awful sin, Caddy loosing her virginity. Quentin is the only member of the Compson family to have pride and he feels that Caddy’s lack of pride in her family has led her to commit this dishonorable act. As a result of Mr. Compson’s pessimistic view of life and Caddy’s sin, Quentin can find no basis for any true morals. Quentin cannot live a life without a system of morals and values. This gives him his greatest struggle in life. Quentin strives to prove his father wrong but he becomes devastated when he learns of Caddy sin. This leads him to question the truth behind his father’s claims.

Quentin feels very connected to Caddy on a level that he experiences with no other character of the novel. Quentin loves Caddy so much that he is willing to go to all lengths to cleanse her of her sin. Quentin goes as far as trying to convince their father that he and Caddy committed incest so that Caddy’s sins will decrease in significance. Quentin also tries to save Caddy when he suggests a double suicide pact. Caddy is willing to commit suicide with Quentin because it will go against her parents, while Quentin wants to die so that Caddy will be freed from her sin and be safe with him. Quentin will never be able to understand Caddy’s motives for loosing her virginity because while she looks for ways to disturb the peace between her and her parents, Quentin looks for ways to restore all lost order. Quentin is hopelessly connected to Caddy in a lost cause because she can never regain her virginity.

Quentin’s biggest fear in life is that all his values are meaningless. Unfortunately, Mr. Compson gives Quentin his last piece of evidence that leads him to the conclusion that Mr. Compson is indeed right when he says that there are no real values in life. Quentin tries to disregard his father’s ideas because he does not want to forget his grief. Quentin believes that if he forgets his horror then it will all become meaningless. If the experiences in life become meaningless then Quentin does not see the worth in living through them. He feels that he must stop time in order to stop himself from forgetting the dishonor that Caddy brought upon the family. The only way that Quentin knows how to stop himself from forgetting the horror and to stop time is by committing suicide. To Quentin, suicide is not a dishonorable act because he is preserving the grief he suffered and preventing the whole situation from becoming meaningless. (567).

Benjy and Caddy's Relationship

The character Benjy can be defined by two main qualities: his medical condition and his love and attachment to his sister Caddy. Benjy is extremely mentally underdeveloped. His body grows and goes through puberty but his mind does not grow and expand with knowledge. He is unable to speak and fully comprehend his feelings and the things he sees. As a result of this he is cast aside in his family and in his society. However, Benjy’s sister, Caddy, loves him unconditionally. She understands him the most and connects to Benjy on a level that no other character does. Benjy in return places all of his happiness in Caddy. Caddy always sticks up for Benjy, treats him with love and respect, and helps him when Benjy is in need. Caddy will always be at Benjy’s side when he needs her and Benjy knows this. Benjy has such a deep connection to Caddy that he knows when she is being led away from him by other people, causing him to agonize over her and her staying with him.

The largest problem with Benjy and Caddy’s relationship is that Benjy wants Caddy to himself at all times. He does not want Caddy to ever leave him. Benjy first has trouble with Caddy growing up when he discovers her wearing perfume. This distresses Benjy because to him Caddy always smells like trees. Her perfume makes Caddy’s smell unrecognizable to him and gives him his first impression of her leaving him and their childhood relationship behind. Caddy calms Benjy down and comforts his by washing the perfume off and promising Benjy she will never wear it again. Caddy chooses Benjy over the perfume and shows her devotion to him. Later Benjy becomes upset when he finds Caddy with a boy named Charlie. Benjy is threatened by Charlie and the image he puts in Benjy’s head. Benjy views Charlie as someone who is trying to take Caddy away from him. Once again Caddy consoles Benjy and again washes herself off so she no longer has on lipstick and the remains of a kiss. Caddy promises Benjy she will never do that again which eases Benjy’s crying. This is a huge gesture that Caddy is giving Benjy. At first glance is seems like a very loving gift but in reality it only ends up hurting Benjy more in the end when Caddy can no longer wash away Benjy’s troubles and keep such promises. When Caddy looses her virginity Benjy instantly knows that part of the Caddy he loves has become lost to him. Benjy tries to approach Caddy and force her to wash away what she did and promise to never do it again, but she can not go through with it. Caddy realizes that she can not keep such a promise to Benjy and she is hurt and upset by it. Benjy is even more distraught because he cannot fully understand the situation and the fact that Caddy is growing up. When Caddy is married, the family keeps Benjy away from the ceremony and party because it will be too much for Benjy to understand and accept.

When Caddy moves away from home, after she marries, Benjy does not understand that she is gone and will not be coming home to him everyday. Benjy continues to wait for Caddy to come home at the gate just as he had his whole life. As Caddy fails to appear everyday Benjy cries and moans. He wants to talk his thoughts through but he is unable to. His inability to speak and accept that Caddy was not leaving him specifically, but rather leaving her adolescence, inhibits Benjy from appreciating the situation. Benjy’s undying love for Caddy serves as a great happiness and source of strength for him when she is around, but once Caddy moves away it becomes Benjy’s greatest sorrow in his life.

Jane Eyre

In the novel, Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte shows the development and gradual characterization of the main character, Jane Eyre, making her become one of the strongest protagonists in literary history. The novel opens with Jane portrayed as a lost, unhappy, and unloved orphan. She is neglected by her aunt and cousins in their house at Gateshead. Bronte uses this as a contrast to the novels closing. When the story ends, Jane is a strong, focused, intellectual, and loved woman. These two examples from the novel’s beginning and the novel’s end emphasize the turn that Jane’s life takes and how she develops and evolves into a brave, independent, and happy character. Through the progression of the novel, Jane goes from being a powerless individual to the character that ultimately holds all the power in her hands, largely because of her strong independence.

Jane Eyre is an extremely independent character throughout the entirety of the novel. She is independent even when she wishes she was not. When she is a young, orphaned child, she is independent because her aunt chooses not to love or include Jane in her family. Jane is independent when she attends Lowood School because she is without any long-lasting relationships; she has to fend for herself and she is determined to excel in her studies even though she has no family members to support her. During Jane’s work as a governess at Thornfield, she is independent because she is let down by her love, Edward Rochester. Jane has to recover from this sadness in her life by herself. Jane finally triumphs in her independence when she is at Marsh End. She became strong enough to stand up for herself and turn down St. John River’s marriage proposal. This is possibly the best decision Jane ever made because at the end of the novel, Jane is reunited with Rochester and they become happily married. Jane remains independent even after she becomes Rochester’s wife because she believes in and treasures the abilities of women and their right to equality.

Jane Eyre is a strong advocate of women’s rights. Part of her faith in women’s equality comes from her independent mind and her longing to break social barriers that she has faced in her life. Jane works hard in school because she believes that a good education should be enough to set her apart and should help her become a lady. Her success in school adds to Jane’s self-confidence which further stresses her view that women should be allowed to be intellectual, active in society, and equal. Jane opposes society for setting women below men and for setting her profession, a governess, in low social standing. She fights against society through her relationship with her wealthy, upper class master, Rochester. Jane’s independence sparks her rebellion against the social norms of her society.

Jane Eyre gains much of her strength because of her relationship with Edward Rochester. Their very powerful connection is deepened because they both understand each others shortcomings and resistance to become emotionally close. Rochester sees the independence within Jane and does not want to hold her back. He knows that she is cautious with people because of her lack of any emotional connection or love as a child. He shows this when he says:
I see you laugh rarely; but you laugh very merrily; believe me, you are not naturally austere, any more than I am vicious. The Lowood constraint still clings to you somewhat; controlling your features, muffling your voice, and restricting your limbs; and you fear in the presence of a man and a brother- or father, or master, or what you will- to smile to gaily, speak to freely, or move to quickly: but in time, I think you will be natural with me, as I find it impossible to be conventional with you; and then your looks and movements will have more vivacity and variety than they dare offer now. I see at intervals the glance of a curious sort of bird through the close-set bars of a cage: a vivid, restless, resolute captive is there; were it but free, it would soar cloud-high.

These words of Rochester’s show that he is dedicated to Jane and that he sees her full potential as a person, even when she does not. Rochester accepts Jane’s independence, unlike the many men who would have found it inappropriate. Rochester is even impressed with Jane’s intelligence and her drawing capabilities because this was so unusual at the time.

Jane Eyre resembles a modern day heroine because of her revolutionary ideas on equal rights for women, the denial of social ranking, and her pure independence. These qualities give her the power to oppose the people who attempt to deny Jane of her happiness. Jane targets the injustices within her society which allows the novel to progress and build up around her and all that Jane was trying to accomplish. Jane’s success is largely due to her motivation, her desire for happiness, her ability to say no and to do what she knows is right for her. The novel plays off of all of Jane’s notions, ideas, desires, and actions. The growth of Jane’s character is critical to the novel because it takes this literature to another level beyond the basic story line. Bronte presents Jane Eyre to the reader as a likeable character that the reader roots for and wants to see succeed. The reader wants Jane and Rochester to end up happily together and to see Jane overcome her sad childhood. Bronte makes the readers sympathetic to Jane as a method for making the novel progress through developmental phases in Jane’s life. The reader grows to love the novel as Jane grows to love herself. The reader comes to admire Jane and everything that she stands for through her independence and her final success in her marriage to Rochester. (1021).