Jane Eyre

Eric Lizzul

Bruce Graver

British Literature

March 26, 2015

Jane’s Departures

Jane Eyre’s departure from each location throughout the book shows that Jane is lacking something in her life. She mentions how she has been alone most of her life and has never really had much of a family. We are aware of her situation at the beginning of the book and how she lives with her Aunt because her parents had died a while back. The real question is why is Jane not happy and why does she seek to leave Gateshead? I’ve noticed throughout the book that leaving is something that Jane relies on quite often, but the question is why? Brontë creates these similar departures throughout the book when Jane leaves Gateshead, Thorn field, and Moor House. It’s her lack of happiness but most importantly her lack of love that continues to drive her away. Brontë uses these reoccurring departures to symbolize how sometimes leaving a good thing could eventually lead to something great.

Jane’s Aunt owns a large piece of land that is referred to as Gateshead. It’s a large and elegant estate. By the look of the estate, we can tell that Jane’s Aunt is very wealthy. Leaving Gateshead was the start of Jane Eyre’s long journey of life. She had never been happy living with her Aunt because she was always treated with such animosity. As a child its important to see how strong Jane was because dealing with her Aunt had to be quite difficult. Jane’s parents died and her Aunt Reed took her in at Gateshead. What seemed like a nice gesture turned into a nightmare for Jane. Jane felt trapped at Gateshead and just wants freedom. She was tormented and never taken seriously which finally pushed her to leave. It was the lack of love that Jane was shown that caused such hatred towards her Aunt. As a child she couldn’t be brought up by her parents or be loved and cared for by any siblings. All Jane knew was to be alone and that she was better off by herself. This is an important departure for Jane because it...