Jane Eyre and Wide Sargasso Sea

Main themes in Jane Eyre

• gender

• truth vs deceit

• social class

• spiritual

sub-themes of gender (JE)

• love

• autonomy

sub-themes of spiritual (JE)

• religion

• supernatural

sub-themes of social class (JE)

• money

JE gender main points

• patriarchy

• freedom as a woman is economic

• values love over money (St. John)

• representation of dissension in gender expectations

JE truth vs deceit main points

• idealism

• fire and its duality

• Rochester as a manipulator of truth

• red motif

• eyes

JE social class main points

• colonialism

• social ambiguity (governess)

• moral independence more important than societal expectations

• psychological realism

JE spiritual main points

• Enlightenment response to 19th century Evangelicalism

• Brocklehurst and St. John as hypocritical of Christianity

• gothic genre

• Bertha Mason

Main themes in Wide Sargasso Sea

• gender

• colonialism

• oppression

• truth

WSS gender main points

• patriarchy

• financial dependence

• female independence as temporary

WSS colonialism main points

• emancipation and freedom

• capitalism

• conflict and psychological disintegration

• exoticisation

• language

WSS oppression main points

• othering/alienation

• enslavement

• cultural differences

• destructive acts

WSS truth main points

• JE revisionism

• names

• fire

• narration

comparing main themes

• female protagonist

• social class

• genre

• Rochester

comparing female protagonist main points

• idealism

• narration

• titles

• love

comparing social class main points

• patriarchy

• ambiguous social status

• class mobility

comparing genre main points

• bildungsroman

• autobiography

• gothic

comparing Rochester main points

• deceit

• patriarchy

• fire