Structure

Jane Eyre

• The most fundamental structure of Jane Eyre is the form in which it was first published: as a three-volume novel.

• Nineteenth-century publishers favoured this means of publication for a number of reasons:

Basic Structure

• It increased their income. Three volumes at 10s 6d per volume would earn them more than publishing a single volume at perhaps 15 shillings. Given the level of income in the nineteenth century, the single volume price put the purchase of books beyond most people’s financial reach, whereas 10s 6d was perceived as more affordable

• It also enabled them to make good deals with circulating and subscription libraries: – Library members paid an annual fee – Libraries bought books from publishers in bulk at a

discount – They then charged their members a fee for each

volume borrowed – perhaps 6d or 1s per week.

The three volumes of Jane Eyre are of roughly equal length and are divided into chapters as follows:•Volume 1: 15 chapters •Volume 2: 11 chapters •Volume 3: 12 chapters

In terms of the plot or action, this means that each volume ends as follows:•Volume 1: the attempt to set Rochester’s bed on fire •Volume 2: the events of Jane’s intended wedding day •Volume 3: the conclusion.

• Each of the first two volumes therefore ends with a dramatic event related to Rochester’s marriage:

• The fire at the end of Volume 1 could be seen as a warning or at least a foreshadowing of the dangerous situation in which Jane, unsuspectingly, is now placed

• The interruption of Jane’s wedding to Rochester reveals the true identity of the woman in the attic, responsible for the fire

• The resolution of the novel is brought about by another fire.

• One critic, Robert Bernard Martin, has gone a step farther in analysing the form of Jane Eyre.

• He compares the novel to a five-act play, divided according to the five different places where Jane lives during the course of her life

– Gateshead – Lowood school – Thornfield– Moor House– Ferndean.

• Each time Jane Journeys to a new locale she's ready to begin another stage in her emotional life, and her journeys are described in a way that builds the reader's suspense.

• Novel is tightly constructedNovel is tightly constructed..

• It is given a structural unity by Jane while It is given a structural unity by Jane while she searches for a way to build her own she searches for a way to build her own identity and resolve the tensions in her identity and resolve the tensions in her character.character.

• This, together with her physical This, together with her physical movements, means the book falls roughly movements, means the book falls roughly into five phases.into five phases.

• Each time Jane moves from one locale to Each time Jane moves from one locale to another the narrative breaks to set the another the narrative breaks to set the scene and stress that this setting will form scene and stress that this setting will form a new stage in her life.a new stage in her life.

• Each setting is dominated by a different Each setting is dominated by a different tone.tone.

What tone dominates each of these What tone dominates each of these settings?settings?

The novel oscillates between the irrational – The novel oscillates between the irrational – Gateshead and Thornfield – and the rational – Gateshead and Thornfield – and the rational –

Lowood and Moor HouseLowood and Moor House

• Gateshead:Gateshead:

• Lowood:Lowood:

• Thornfield:Thornfield:

• Moor House:Moor House:

• Ferndean:Ferndean:

passionate, superstitious and wild

cold, hard and constrained

superstitious, personal and symbolic

stifling, oppressive and conventional

happiness and delight

At the end of each phase Jane moves on to a new At the end of each phase Jane moves on to a new stage in her development:stage in her development:

1.1. At Gateshead she is still a child;At Gateshead she is still a child;2.2. when she leaves for Lowood School she when she leaves for Lowood School she

moves into girlhood;moves into girlhood;3.3. she is an adolescent at Thornfield;she is an adolescent at Thornfield;4.4. reaches maturity at Moor House;reaches maturity at Moor House;5.5. becomes fulfilled with her marriage to becomes fulfilled with her marriage to

Rochester at Ferndean.Rochester at Ferndean.

The structure of the novel is effectively that of The structure of the novel is effectively that of a a BildungsromanBildungsroman (‘novel of development’), in (‘novel of development’), in which the protagonist’s growth is traced which the protagonist’s growth is traced through childhood, into adulthood and maturity.through childhood, into adulthood and maturity.

Characterisation: Jane EyreCharacterisation: Jane Eyre

Explore each of the five phases of the novel. Explore each of the five phases of the novel. How is Jane’s character presented and How is Jane’s character presented and

how does she develop or change at each how does she develop or change at each phase?phase?