Jane Eyre is, at this time in the book, described more or less as like one of a lower species than that of a human being. Her “family” is described as rich, snobby, well off humans, while poor Jane is seen by them to be of some sort of an ‘animal’. In this first chapter, a lot if unfolded about the characters. We find out who Jane is, who Mr. and Mrs. Reed are, who Bessie is, and who John, Eliza, and Georgiana are. We are told that Mr. Reed promises to take care of Jane if anything was to happen to her parents, but soon Mr. Reed falls ill and asks his wife, Mrs. Reed to promise that she will care for Jane after he passes on as one of her own, but that is apparently taken lightly and thus Jane is treated as lower than garbage. We are also told that Jane’s parents died long ago. To me, in a way, the beginning part of the book reminds me a lot of a Cinderella story. There is the evil step-mother, the evil three step-sisters, and then there is the ‘Cinderella’. But in this case, it’s an evil Aunt, three evil cousins, and her, the ‘Cinderella’ cousin. I feel this really sets a mood for the book and really allows the reader to use their own imagination and let their mind wander to draw up how this story feels and looks like in their own mind, while using that ‘Cinderella’ effect builds up our subconscious knowing of the circumstantial situation of Jane’s life.
When Mr. Lloyd visits Jane, a lot of different thoughts and emotions run through her mind. She feels a sense of security with him around. But when Mr. Lloyd speaks of school, she thinks of her current schooling conditions, and how much she thirsts for more knowledge but is deprived of it. Mr. Lloyd mentioned that Jane would probably be happier going to school, and said with Jane’s best interest at heart. After Mr. Lloyd left, and she sat pondering on the thought of her being able to fulfill her desiring thirst for knowledge, her mind wandered across how quiet and how peaceful it was around her; Mrs. Reed was out with her family, and then she thought. Her thought led her to an overwhelming amount of delight as she realized she’d be free of the Reeds’ puppetry life. But Jane soon realized that school wasn’t all that she had hoped it to be, it was worse. It definitely had not been of the expectations that she had set in her mind of Lowood to be. It was a rude awakening. ([i] pg. 16 quote) Unfortunately, at the same time, Jane already started dreading school because of the lies Mrs. Reed had told Mr. Brocklehurst which she believed, in the long run, that Mrs. Reed was surely without a doubt, setting Jane up for failure at Lowood. ([ii] Quote) ‘But with time, change is to arise out of every situation.’ And turned out that not every experience she encountered weren’t all bad; meeting Mrs. Temple, in the long run, had a really positive effect on Jane’s future and her life, and meeting Helen, her first friend of her age brought her to Jane accepting Christ.
Throughout Jane’s life, Jane has constantly been treated and thoughtless of what she really was, and underestimated her. Mrs. Reed had the casualty of the experience with John from underestimating Jane’s personality, and so did Helen. It seemed though also that Jane had a desire to please those and strive for attention to be noticed or get love. And it seemed that Jane not being appreciated and recognized led to her new nature. Jane was at a revengeful state of mind and had a passionate aggressive spirit about it to for all the mistreatment she endured and always bottled that ‘inner voice’ from getting out. But it was Jane’s inner voice that kept her strong, continuously questioning, confident and courageous. Helen being older than Jane had a little more time to discover the world and all of it’s ‘bugs’ out that life had. So when Jane came along, Helen noticed that same spunk and fire that was once in her. Jane saw that Helen was very humble and that how having Christ in her life taught her the humble life she could have. Their friendship was really centered on God now. And it was Helens example of Christ-like humility that drew Jane to admire and look up to Helen as a role model and desire to follow a life of Christ, for it was that important lesson that Helen taught Jane of “turning the other cheek and do good to them that hate you” that became the firm foundation that Jane’s new life could build upon and prosper wonders from it.
Bessie, an old time friend from her child hood, came to visit Jane before Jane left to open the next chapter of her life. Bessie‘s always been a straight out honestly blunt person with the truth. When she saw Jane for the first time in years, she had formed an opinion that Jane desired to hear. Bessie mentioned that Jane hadn’t been the most appealing child growing up, but now she had without a doubt been transformed into a lovely lady. But the look that Jane saw on Bessie’s face to her implied that Bessie was a little disappointed with her. Over all though, Bessie does say that Jane seems to be a lot clever. She also is very impressed with her accomplishments in schooling; learning to play the piano, how to draw, and her ability to speak French fluently. Bessie always knew that Jane would rise above her cousins’ skills and achievements. But it seems though that Jane is pleased with all of Bessie’s observational critiques because she knows that Bessie means well and would tell her what’s what straight up. Jane’s at the age of eighteen where at that age of eighteen, one wishes to please the world and all they strive for is to please others and receive approval of others. ([iii] Quote) “…and they have not an exterior likely to second that that desire brings anything but gratification…” Beauty is very important to Jane because all her life, Jane’s been viewed as the ‘Ugly Duckling’, but now that Jane has grown up and physically grown more attractive, she seems to be taking more of an interest in her looks.
In the Introduction to the book Jane Eyre Charlotte Brontë said this: “To you I am neither man nor woman. I come before you as an author only. It is the sole standard by which you have a right to judge me – the sole ground on which I accept your judgment”. To me, it’s telling me, but at the same time, not telling me if these events in her book are events that happened to her or really what connection they have to her life. We do know that Charlotte was left to face the death of her family and loved ones, which is depicted descriptively in her book full of emotions which left you with a sense of the author probably having experienced that due to the amount of perplexing details. She is also a teacher which is to be true in her real life too. Charlotte also judged herself as small and plain and quarter-like, and not pretty at all. Mr. Rochester says to her that she isn’t pretty any more than he is handsome, who is a fictional character and is the voice of her consciousness of a long and intricately thought up book of high ambition. But as this story is written, it’s the more and more that we read on that the more and more we realize that it is history not story.
[i] Pg. 16 “It had gotten to the point where she thought she’d find peace and contentment with them’ the Reeds ‘gone, but no calm could soothe her…”
[ii] I’m not really sure if that really IS as quote by someone but rather it be credited than not.
[iii] Quote from book on page 94 or 95
Monday, May 4, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Frankenstein: Struggle between Good and Evil
Initially it appears that the definitions of good and evil are clear. The definition of good in the dictionary is a person that has good morals and is kind and Loyal. This would perfectly describe Victor Frankenstein at the beginning of the book. Evil can be defined as anything which impairs the happiness of a person or deprives them of any good; anything which causes suffering of any kind to sentient beings such as injury, mischief or harm, this is opposed to good, death is a perfect example of this, it take people away from their families and causes suffering to everyone.
Mary Shelley's message to the reader is evident through out her whole novel. Her message is that a person should not play god because it is not the natural place of humans to be gods, also if a person is treated and raised badly they will inevitably turn out bad.
Victor Frankenstein, when he was young and very ambitious he sought out to destroy death and find the elixir of life, Mary Shelley points out that god will turn against you. "Let me say such the words of the fate - enounced to destroy me." Because Victor Frankenstein is going against gods will and natural order, God is going against Victor Frankenstein and plans to destroy him or anybody else that goes against his will or the natural way of life which serves as a warning against playing god.
The novel's alternative title is the modern day Prometheus. Prometheus was a Titan from Greek mythology who made men out of clay and stole fire against the god's wishes, the fire gave life to the clay models and so mankind was born, but Prometheus was punished by the gods and was chained to a rock where every day a giant Eagle would come to Prometheus and eat his liver, leaving only when the liver would begin to grow back once more. At daybreak, the eagle would return to the chained Prometheus and again attack his body, eating his liver. This agonising daily ritual would carry into eternity. Frankenstein is the modern day version of Prometheus because just like Prometheus he went against gods will and created life when it was not his to give in the first place. This didn't go unpunished as both Frankenstein and Prometheus suffered at the hands of monsters due to their disobedience to a higher power.
The reader's empathy for various characters shifts throughout the novel. First the reader empathies with Victory Frankenstein who is a family man and has good intentions to cure the human race of death. Then the monster narrates, which shows the reader that he is not an evil monster under his horrible appearance but an innocent and childlike creature, this makes the reader empathise with the monster instead of Victor Frankenstein. Victor Frankenstein narrates again, during which he loses his family and becomes bitter and sad, these emotions help the reader to empathise once more with Frankenstein.
The structure of the novel is framed within a letter structure. This letter is being sent to Margaret from Watson the captain of an Atlantic ship, this structure contains shifting perspectives of first person narratives, for instance, Frankenstein's monster tells his story of what happened to him when he was with the de Lacey family to Frankenstein before Frankenstein tells his story to Watson who in turn sends this to his sister Margaret in the form of a letter. The structure of Mary Shelley's novel allows her to show characters like Victor Frankenstein and his Monster their deeper and innermost thoughts and to show to the reader the themes of power and revenge as the definitions of good and evil are redefined in the readers mind.
Victor Frankenstein wanting the power to make other beings, even though he didn't have the right to create unnatural life, starts off the theme of power and revenge. When he created the monster he was its master and had full power over it, however when the monster reads Victor Frankenstein's journal he wants revenge as his "accursed creator" outrages him. The monsters anger triggers the start of the theme of revenge which soon makes him "the master" and makes Frankenstein his "slave" however by the latter part of the novel both the monster and Frankenstein have nothing to live for, except to make the other one suffer or die. But even in this situation, the monster has full control over Frankenstein, it is almost like he is the monsters string puppet because the monster is tormenting Frankenstein by making him chase his all-around the world and even leaves obvious clues as to where he is going so Frankenstein has no choice but to pursue him in vain.
When the monster first narrates, this shows him to be extremely vulnerable, for when he wants the de Lacey family to be a part of his life, he puts his hearth and soul into trying to achieve this and in his eyes they are the pinnacle of human kindness, so if they don't except him, mankind will also reject him. The monster realises this and says "I am full of tears for if I fail there, I am an outcast in the world forever." This is when the monster is at the mercy of the de Lacey family and is completely vulnerable almost like a new born baby, so when he fails in achieving his goal of being part of the de Lacey family this is the starting point in the monsters life which leads toward him becoming evil. The monster is also mistreated by Felix who struck him "violently with a stick." This is not the only time the monster has been mistreated because of his looks; "barbarous villagers" had also mistreated him. The mistreatment of the monster in his vulnerable state helps emphasise Mary Shelley's point of when a person is treated or raised in a bad manner this person will inevitable turn out bad like in the case of the monster.
Victor Frankenstein has many sides to his character, he is so bold and ambitious in his views of science he believes that he can "pioneer a new way, explore unknown powers, and unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation." His ambition and boldness misguide him into thinking that "The labours of men of men of genius however erroneously directed, scarcely ever fail in ultimately turning to the ultimate turning to the solid advantage of mankind." This sort of thinking misguided Victor Frankenstein to create his monster. But when he creates the monster, he is uncaring and horrified at it, this contrasts to what the reader has see before this event, Frankenstein was a loving family man who had and give deep respect.
Mary Shelley uses pathetic fallacy for climatic event, an example of this is when Victor Frankenstein created the monster. "It was on the dreary night of November, that I beheld the accomplishment of my toils. Because of this constant use of pathetic fallacy, the reader can see when things are about to go wrong, like when the de Lacey's rejected
The monster or when Elizabeth got killed, these events occurred in winter and stormy conditions. Winter is a time of destruction and is also when the monster got created and most of Victor Frankenstein's family got killed. This also may explain some of the monsters behaviour, because he was created in winter, the season of destruction and not spring the season of life and new beginnings his creation was unnatural and intern evil.
When Victor Frankenstein first gives life to the monster, Mary Shelley's use of descriptive language helps reinforce the fact the monster that Frankenstein created is so ugly that no member of the human race no matter how kind and noble, would not reject and despise it just like the de Lacey family did. Mary Shelley also shows how bitterly disappointed Frankenstein is with his creation. "How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe" Mary Shelley uses these descriptive words to show to the reader how Frankenstein is devastated, because he wanted his creation to be a grand and handsome race that praised him as "their creator", instead he thinks he has made a "race of devils"
Mary Shelley's tale of a struggle between good and evil makes the reader constantly redefine both definitions for both Frankenstein and the monster has been kind and loyal either to their family or the de Lacey's, but both have been evil at certain points as well, for the monster has murdered and caused suffering to Frankenstein's family and Frankenstein has rejected and deprived the monster of a mate and possible children.
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is a tale of a struggle between good and evil to the extent that the reader can see that good and evil can co-exist within the same person and it is this coexisting of good and evil that make the reader empathise with both Frankenstein, the monster, good and evil.
Mary Shelley's message to the reader is evident through out her whole novel. Her message is that a person should not play god because it is not the natural place of humans to be gods, also if a person is treated and raised badly they will inevitably turn out bad.
Victor Frankenstein, when he was young and very ambitious he sought out to destroy death and find the elixir of life, Mary Shelley points out that god will turn against you. "Let me say such the words of the fate - enounced to destroy me." Because Victor Frankenstein is going against gods will and natural order, God is going against Victor Frankenstein and plans to destroy him or anybody else that goes against his will or the natural way of life which serves as a warning against playing god.
The novel's alternative title is the modern day Prometheus. Prometheus was a Titan from Greek mythology who made men out of clay and stole fire against the god's wishes, the fire gave life to the clay models and so mankind was born, but Prometheus was punished by the gods and was chained to a rock where every day a giant Eagle would come to Prometheus and eat his liver, leaving only when the liver would begin to grow back once more. At daybreak, the eagle would return to the chained Prometheus and again attack his body, eating his liver. This agonising daily ritual would carry into eternity. Frankenstein is the modern day version of Prometheus because just like Prometheus he went against gods will and created life when it was not his to give in the first place. This didn't go unpunished as both Frankenstein and Prometheus suffered at the hands of monsters due to their disobedience to a higher power.
The reader's empathy for various characters shifts throughout the novel. First the reader empathies with Victory Frankenstein who is a family man and has good intentions to cure the human race of death. Then the monster narrates, which shows the reader that he is not an evil monster under his horrible appearance but an innocent and childlike creature, this makes the reader empathise with the monster instead of Victor Frankenstein. Victor Frankenstein narrates again, during which he loses his family and becomes bitter and sad, these emotions help the reader to empathise once more with Frankenstein.
The structure of the novel is framed within a letter structure. This letter is being sent to Margaret from Watson the captain of an Atlantic ship, this structure contains shifting perspectives of first person narratives, for instance, Frankenstein's monster tells his story of what happened to him when he was with the de Lacey family to Frankenstein before Frankenstein tells his story to Watson who in turn sends this to his sister Margaret in the form of a letter. The structure of Mary Shelley's novel allows her to show characters like Victor Frankenstein and his Monster their deeper and innermost thoughts and to show to the reader the themes of power and revenge as the definitions of good and evil are redefined in the readers mind.
Victor Frankenstein wanting the power to make other beings, even though he didn't have the right to create unnatural life, starts off the theme of power and revenge. When he created the monster he was its master and had full power over it, however when the monster reads Victor Frankenstein's journal he wants revenge as his "accursed creator" outrages him. The monsters anger triggers the start of the theme of revenge which soon makes him "the master" and makes Frankenstein his "slave" however by the latter part of the novel both the monster and Frankenstein have nothing to live for, except to make the other one suffer or die. But even in this situation, the monster has full control over Frankenstein, it is almost like he is the monsters string puppet because the monster is tormenting Frankenstein by making him chase his all-around the world and even leaves obvious clues as to where he is going so Frankenstein has no choice but to pursue him in vain.
When the monster first narrates, this shows him to be extremely vulnerable, for when he wants the de Lacey family to be a part of his life, he puts his hearth and soul into trying to achieve this and in his eyes they are the pinnacle of human kindness, so if they don't except him, mankind will also reject him. The monster realises this and says "I am full of tears for if I fail there, I am an outcast in the world forever." This is when the monster is at the mercy of the de Lacey family and is completely vulnerable almost like a new born baby, so when he fails in achieving his goal of being part of the de Lacey family this is the starting point in the monsters life which leads toward him becoming evil. The monster is also mistreated by Felix who struck him "violently with a stick." This is not the only time the monster has been mistreated because of his looks; "barbarous villagers" had also mistreated him. The mistreatment of the monster in his vulnerable state helps emphasise Mary Shelley's point of when a person is treated or raised in a bad manner this person will inevitable turn out bad like in the case of the monster.
Victor Frankenstein has many sides to his character, he is so bold and ambitious in his views of science he believes that he can "pioneer a new way, explore unknown powers, and unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation." His ambition and boldness misguide him into thinking that "The labours of men of men of genius however erroneously directed, scarcely ever fail in ultimately turning to the ultimate turning to the solid advantage of mankind." This sort of thinking misguided Victor Frankenstein to create his monster. But when he creates the monster, he is uncaring and horrified at it, this contrasts to what the reader has see before this event, Frankenstein was a loving family man who had and give deep respect.
Mary Shelley uses pathetic fallacy for climatic event, an example of this is when Victor Frankenstein created the monster. "It was on the dreary night of November, that I beheld the accomplishment of my toils. Because of this constant use of pathetic fallacy, the reader can see when things are about to go wrong, like when the de Lacey's rejected
The monster or when Elizabeth got killed, these events occurred in winter and stormy conditions. Winter is a time of destruction and is also when the monster got created and most of Victor Frankenstein's family got killed. This also may explain some of the monsters behaviour, because he was created in winter, the season of destruction and not spring the season of life and new beginnings his creation was unnatural and intern evil.
When Victor Frankenstein first gives life to the monster, Mary Shelley's use of descriptive language helps reinforce the fact the monster that Frankenstein created is so ugly that no member of the human race no matter how kind and noble, would not reject and despise it just like the de Lacey family did. Mary Shelley also shows how bitterly disappointed Frankenstein is with his creation. "How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe" Mary Shelley uses these descriptive words to show to the reader how Frankenstein is devastated, because he wanted his creation to be a grand and handsome race that praised him as "their creator", instead he thinks he has made a "race of devils"
Mary Shelley's tale of a struggle between good and evil makes the reader constantly redefine both definitions for both Frankenstein and the monster has been kind and loyal either to their family or the de Lacey's, but both have been evil at certain points as well, for the monster has murdered and caused suffering to Frankenstein's family and Frankenstein has rejected and deprived the monster of a mate and possible children.
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is a tale of a struggle between good and evil to the extent that the reader can see that good and evil can co-exist within the same person and it is this coexisting of good and evil that make the reader empathise with both Frankenstein, the monster, good and evil.
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