Charlotte Brontë and Jane Eyre Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards related to Charlotte Brontë's life and the context of Jane Eyre.

Charlotte Brontë

Born in 1816, died in 1854, and was the third of six children born to the Reverend Patrick Brontë and his wife Maria.

Brontë juvenilia

Charlotte Brontë's early writings and stories created with her siblings about an imaginary world.

Phrenology

The pseudo-science involving studying the shape of people's skulls and faces, which Victorians believed could be used to read a person's character type.

Miasma Theory

Victorian belief that diseases were caused by bad air in the form of fog and mist.

Roe Head School

The school Charlotte attended, which she used as a basis for Lowood School in Jane Eyre.

Currer Bell

Charlotte Brontë's pen name under which she published her works.

Views on Industrial Revolution

Implies that the Golden Age of modern literature is over because of widespread industrialization, leaving no room for grand gestures of bravery and passion.

"Reader, I married him."

One of the most famous lines; encapsulates Jane's triumph and partnership with Rochester.

"I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will."

Jane's declaration of independence and refusal to be controlled or confined

Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong!—I have as much soul as you—and full as much heart!"

Jane's passionate assertion of her equality with Rochester, despite social and economic differences.

"It is in vain to say human beings ought to be satisfied with tranquility: they must have action; and they will make it if they cannot find it."

Reflects Jane's restless spirit and need for purpose and fulfillment.

"I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself."

Highlights Jane's strong sense of self-reliance and moral integrity.