Jane Eyre a Coming of Age Story -Grade = 80b - 1762 Words

Jane Eyre: A Coming of Age Story Charlotte Bronte’s novel, Jane Eyre, is a coming of age story, about a young, orphaned, and submissive girl growing up, through many hardships, into a young, passionate, and free willed woman. Charlotte Bronte begins the story with a ten-year-old Jane Eyre living with an impartial and sometimes cruel aunt, Aunt Reed. Aunt Reed, after neglecting Jane for the whole of her life, finally decides to send her away to boarding school, to Lowood School. Upon her departure, Jane expresses a measure of autonomy and agency, the first of many episodes in which she â€Å"gathered her energies and launched them in this blunt sentence – ‘I am not deceitful; if I were, I should say I loved you; but I declare I do not love†¦show more content†¦Rochester that though they may not be â€Å"equal† in social status, they are â€Å"equal† in thought and feelings. â€Å"Equal† is a term marked by justice, honesty, and bias, and something that everyone is entitled to. Jane Eyre is letting Mr. Rochester know that she is entitled to be happy, and that she finds her happiness in him. Upon this exclamation, and her fearlessness to express her sentiments, Jane and Rochester get engaged, and Jane, once again, gets what she wants by having taken action. Jane’s comfort at Thornfield and with Rochester and her rising level of maturity start to bring out more frequent episodes of autonomy and agency, with ease. The next episode rises within a few days of the last, when Jane strives to maintain her identity with Rochester. Mr. Rochester wants to dress her in new clothes and Jewelry, â€Å"I will make the world acknowledge you a beauty too [†¦] Jane in satin and lace,† he says (221). In reply, Jane says, â€Å"And then you won’t know me, sir; and I shall not be your Jane Eyre any longer† (221). Earlier in the novel Jane had no other option but to be a governess, and so to better her situation she chose to find a new location, other than Lowood, for her â€Å"servitude†, and ended up at Thornfield, where she has ultimately fallen in love with Mr. Rochester. Ironically Jane is now in a position where she has the capability to get anything she wants, but she wants nothing, but to be herself. Autonomy and agency are