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Jane Eyre: A Gothic Romance Novel
Jane Eyre is one of Charlotte Bronte’s most beloved novels. It was written in 1847, a time period when gothic novels predominated in English literature. A gothic romance novel emphasizes mystery, horror, ghost-haunted rooms, underground passages and secret stairways. Elements that make a gothic novel gothic are castle settings, suspense and mystery, omens, supernatural events, high emotion, and women in distress. Many of these elements were found in Jane Eyre that proves Jane Eyre is a gothic novel. Another major part of a gothic novel is to have a Byronic hero. ... Rochester can be considered a Byronic hero and in other cases, some believed that Jane herself was a Byronic heroine. ... Rochester, Jane’s eventual love interest, is a good example of a Byronic hero. ... When Jane asks Mrs. ... ” (Jane Eyre, 116, ch. ... He is very passionate about Jane. It is shown in this passage where Rochester is speaking to Jane about his relationship with her and his previous wife:
Then you are mistaken, and you know nothing about me, and nothing about the sort of love of which I am capable. ... (Jane Eyre, 329, ch 27)
The last thing that proves that Rochester is a Byronic hero is his bigamy. ... He does not think of her as his wife at all, and while he is sill married to her, he pursues Jane. ...
Others have felt that Jane herself is actually a Byronic heroine in the story. Three characteristics, which provide the strongest examples of Jane Eyre as a Byronic Heroine: her refusal to repent, her intellectual and emotional superiority, and her rejection of value systems and moral codes.
Approximate Word count = 1303
Approximate Pages = 5.2
(250 words per page double spaced)
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