The Reed Sisters and Self Development

 More recent Brontë-related papers and theses:

The Bleak Lives of the Declasse Supporting Roles -Interpretation of the Reed Sisters in Jane Eyre from the Perspective of New Historicism

Zhang Haiyun

World Literature Studies, 2021, 9(3): 107-112

 Jane Eyre is Charlotte Brontë’s most successful novel, and Brontë draws on her early experiences to bring to life several vivid scenes of school and domestic life in 19th century England. In addition to the heroine, Jane, the images of her two cousins, Eliza and Georgiana Reed, are also distinctively and vividly portrayed. The two women’s temperaments and life situations are inextricably linked to the environment in which they grew up and the expectations of their children in the wealthy families of nineteenth-century England. From the perspective of New Historicism and on the basis of “textual historicity” and “textuality of history”, this paper analyzes the factors that lead to the formation of the two Miss Reed’s disagreeable characters, as well as the reason for their gradual descent into a less-than-ideal fate. In the end, it is concluded that the two ladies’ increasingly bleak course in life is inextricably linked to their long immersion in the unsound family and social atmosphere, as well as to the universal values that nineteenth-century British ladies hold.

La Metáfora del Simbolismo en la obra Cumbres Borrascosas de Emily Brontë

Hannis Vanessa Vaca Parra

Dissertation, Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira, 2021

Self Development Versus Discipline: A Study of Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, Charles Dickens' Little Dorrit and J.G. Ballard's The Empire of the Sun

Al-Obaidi, Abeer Abdulelah Hameed

Ph.D. , Karabuk University, 2021

The present thesis attempts to prove the hypothesis that severe circumstances and harsh atmosphere children face may strengthen and develop their personalities in spite of the strict disciplines and rules they have to obey. This hypothesis is meant to be proven throughout this thesis out of the analysis of three selected novels: Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, Charles Dickens’ Little Dorrit and J.G. Ballard’s The Empire of the Sun. For this purpose and in order to analyze the literary works mentioned above, the Psychoanalytical theory will be applied, supported by principles from Ecocriticism and Marxism. The study arrives at the finding that the three protagonists of the novels mentioned above are affected by the interplay of their childhood experiences as well as their social and physical surroundings, either directly or indirectly. The study also attempts to reveal how these characters manage successfully to overcome these forces and pressures and acquire healthy, mature, independent and active personalities and thus conquer the harsh disciplines they were forced to abide by. Moreover, they are shown as capable of dealing with their surroundings in an appropriate and tactful way. Finally, they manage to maintain their self-confidence so that they can get along with the people’s diversity around them.