Sexuality In Charlotte Bront S Jane Eyre

Seminar paper from the year 2005 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 2,7, University of Trier, language: English, abstract: Wherever you let your eye travel these days you come across sexuality and nakedness. Three beautiful women are nakedly smiling at you from a huge advertising poster for a solarium, in the advert break on TV a woman tears an attractive man's clothes because she is mesmerized by his new scent, and in the phone book you can even find a voucher which guarantees you a bottle of champagne for free if you book a one hour-service in a certain brothel . Sexuality, and along with it desire and lust are accepted that much that they indeed build the base for a huge manufacturing branch. Of course, this has not always been the case. Sensuality and passion have been fought and punished in earlier times. During the Victorian era for example they have even been seen as dangerous and attacking the mental as well as the physical health. When in 1847 Charlotte Brontë's successful novel Jane Eyre was published, it caused riot and rage because of how the topic "sexuality" was dealt with. In this paper I am going to explain the Victorian beliefs and notions regarding this topic. Furthermore I am going to reveal the attitude of the characters Jane Eyre, Edward Rochester and Bertha Mason towards sexuality. Before though, I will give a short biography of Charlotte Brontë, to depict how her own attitude differed from the social conventions and expectations of her time.

Seminar paper from the year 2005 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 2,7, University of Trier, language: English, abstract: Wherever you let your eye travel these days you come across sexuality and nakedness. Three beautiful women are nakedly smiling at you from a huge advertising poster for a solarium, in the advert break on TV a woman tears an attractive man’s clothes because she is mesmerized by his new scent, and in the phone book you can even find a voucher which guarantees you a bottle of champagne for free if you book a one hour-service in a certain brothel . Sexuality, and along with it desire and lust are accepted that much that they indeed build the base for a huge manufacturing branch. Of course, this has not always been the case. Sensuality and passion have been fought and punished in earlier times. During the Victorian era for example they have even been seen as dangerous and attacking the mental as well as the physical health. When in 1847 Charlotte Brontë’s successful novel Jane Eyre was published, it caused riot and rage because of how the topic “sexuality” was dealt with. In this paper I am going to explain the Victorian beliefs and notions regarding this topic. Furthermore I am going to reveal the attitude of the characters Jane Eyre, Edward Rochester and Bertha Mason towards sexuality. Before though, I will give a short biography of Charlotte Brontë, to depict how her own attitude differed from the social conventions and expectations of her time.

Studienarbeit aus dem Jahr 2003 im Fachbereich Englisch - Literatur, Werke, Note: 2,0, Pädagogische Hochschule Weingarten, Veranstaltung: Women Novels, Sprache: Deutsch, Abstract: Da sich meine Auffassung von Sexualität und Erotik von anderen Interpretationen deutlich zu unterscheiden scheint, erfüllt der Inhalt meiner Hausarbeit vielleicht nicht die Erwartungen, die durch den Titel hervorgerufen werden. Des Öfteren tat ich mir schwer, im Text Anspielungen auf Sexualität, Erotik und hetero- oder homosexuelle Wünsche oder Phantasien zu entdecken, die im Rahmen anderer Interpretationen als ganz offensichtlich dargestellt werden. In meiner Hausarbeit bediente ich mich daher weitestgehend dieser Ansätze, um die unterschiedlichen Betrachtungsmöglichkeiten einer Textstelle aufzuzeigen. Nur an wenigen Stellen kann ich sie zur Unterstützung meiner Sichtweise anführen. Um überhaupt mit Jane Eyre mitfühlen zu können ist es wichtig, die Rolle der Frau zur Zeit des Viktorianismus zu verstehen und sich dabei mit weiblicher Sexualität ebenso zu beschäftigen, wie mit dem damaligen Rollenverhalten von Mann und Frau! Deshalb behandle ich dieses Thema kurz in Punkt 3, bevor ich mit der Interpretation des Textes in Punkt 4 beginne. Ich habe das Buch, und somit meine Arbeit, in fünf Abschnitte eingeteilt, die sich an den Lebensabschnitten von Jane orientieren. In jedem einzelnen Abschnitt beschäftige ich mich hauptsächlich mit derjenigen Szene des jeweiligen Abschnittes, die meiner Ansicht nach die Schlüsselszene bezüglich Erotik und Sexualität, bzw. sexueller Entwicklung darstellt. Am Ende der Arbeit fasse ich meine Ergebnisse kurz zusammen.

This book raises fundamental questions about our understanding of Victorian sexuality. Charlotte Brontë was no 'other Victorian' living out a secret life in a sexual underworld, but she did centre her life's work on exploring the complexities of our sexual nature. John Maynard shows how Brontë's early stories and novelettes, written from her teens to young maturity for a private audience of her sisters and brother, deal openly with a 'world below' of consuming passion, adultery, seduction, promiscuity, frigidity and incest. He traces how these themes are incorporated into Brontë's mature published work, where her psychological insight into the complexities of sexual need finds its consummate expression. Brontë's mature novels, especially Jane Eyre and Villette offer an intensely felt but finely realised vision of sexual awakening. They are however, deeply aware of the difficulties that beset sexual experience. Unlike a number of studies, this book stresses the insight, achievement and artistic mastery of Charlotte Brontë, who still challenges us to comprehend the subtleties and complexities of her impressively articulated discourse on sexuality.

This book raises fundamental questions about our understanding of Victorian sexuality. Charlotte Brontë was no 'other Victorian' living out a secret life in a sexual underworld, but she did centre her life's work on exploring the complexities of our sexual nature. John Maynard shows how Brontë's early stories and novelettes, written from her teens to young maturity for a private audience of her sisters and brother, deal openly with a 'world below' of consuming passion, adultery, seduction, promiscuity, frigidity and incest. He traces how these themes are incorporated into Brontë's mature published work, where her psychological insight into the complexities of sexual need finds its consummate expression. Brontë's mature novels, especially Jane Eyre and Villette offer an intensely felt but finely realised vision of sexual awakening. They are however, deeply aware of the difficulties that beset sexual experience. Unlike a number of studies, this book stresses the insight, achievement and artistic mastery of Charlotte Brontë, who still challenges us to comprehend the subtleties and complexities of her impressively articulated discourse on sexuality.

This book offers a radical rethinking of Jane Eyre from feminist and post-colonial positions.

When an eager and curious Jane Eyre arrives at Thornfield Hall her sexual desires are instantly awakened. Who is the enigmatic Rochester whom she instantly feels attracted to, what are the strange and yet captivating noises coming from the attic, and why does the very air she breathes feel heavy with passion? Only one thing Is certain. Jane Eyre may have arrived at Thornfield an unfulfilled and tentative woman, but she will leave a very different person...

Presents a collection of nine critical essays about the novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.