Victorian Literature
When considering the debatable relevance/irrelevance of the study of nineteenth century literature to students today, works of the Victorian era, such as Charlotte Bronte's classical masterpiece, Jane Eyre, can be used as an example. Jane Eyre contains such issues as religion, the role of women and morality during the Victorian Era. It is through the relevance of these issues that one can judge the appropriate/inappropriate study of nineteenth century literature in today's society.Through the use of her characters, Charlotte Bronte's novel Jane Eyre, clearly demonstrates the nineteenth century's peoples sense of Christian duty. Such blind devotion and faith in God is clearly evident in almost all of the characters in Jane Eyre. When comparing the importance of Christianity in the Victorian Era to that of today, it is obvious that religion in general has, not become less important, but has become less a part of a persons daily routine. This is shown clearly in the following passage from the novel; "The meal over, prayers were read by Miss Miller, and the classes filed off..." (Bronte: Jane Eyre. Page: 36). This quote from the novel suggests that in the Victorian Era Christianity was not unlike a daily chore, observed eve
When examining the relevance/irrelevance of the issues in Jane Eyre it seems that the study of the novel in a high school syllabus seems a waste of time and on a large part irrelevant. However when searching deeper and thinking more broadly one begins to realise that however different the issues are in the novel in relation to modern society, it is in fact the study of such issues which should definitely be studied. Through Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, and other Victorian Era authors, students can study the past of social change and know what they may be witnessing in the years of social change to come. Therefore it is not the relation of issues in novels such as Jane Eyre to the issues today, but the study of the immense change which has taken place. Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, is definitely worthy of attention and study in school syllabus. Another major issue present in Jane Eyre is that of simple human morality. The characters in Jane Eyre face and meet various challenges throughout their roles in the novel. The way these characters react and conduct themselves to these challenges gives the reader some insight into the morality possessed by the average person during the nineteenth century. The clearest example of morality in the novel is in Janes discovery that Rochester has been lying to her, and that he already had a wife and therefore cannot wed Jane. It was Jane's reaction to this, which shows the reader the deep presence of moral values in Jane; "My hopes were all dead-struck with a subtle doom, such as, in one night, fell on all the fir
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Approximate Word count = 1057
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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