Topics for Further Study
Last Updated July 27, 2024.
- In the preface to the second edition of Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte wrote: "Conventionality is not morality. Self-righteousness is not religion. . . . Appearance should not be mistaken for truth." What are some instances of these principles in Jane Eyre?
- Investigate the treatment of mental illness during the period when Jane Eyre was written. What were the prevailing beliefs among doctors of Charlotte Bronte's era regarding the causes of mental illness? How did society at large view individuals suffering from such conditions? How might someone like Bertha Mason be treated in contemporary times?
- As the younger son, Rochester would not have inherited his father's estate; it would have been passed to his older brother first. According to English law during the time of Jane Eyre, property was inherited solely by the eldest son, leaving younger sons with minimal financial support, compelling them to find their own means of livelihood. What careers did younger sons from such families typically pursue? Additionally, how did this tradition impact the daughters in these families?
- The early twentieth-century English novelist Virginia Woolf once remarked that "in order for a woman to write, she must have money and a room of her own." Do you believe this adage applies to Charlotte Bronte as a writer? Also, consider the significance of money and a "room of her own" (meaning a home) for the character Jane Eyre.
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