The Notion of Beauty in Bronte's Jane Eyre
The Notion of Beauty in Bronte's Jane Eyre
The notion of beauty, what it is and whether it is an inner or outward quality, has been long debated. For centuries people, and particularly women, have struggled with the concept of their own inner beauty as something as important, if not more important than their outward, physical beauty. This is no less true in literature. The idea of female inner beauty has not always been valued. In Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, the protagonist, Jane, rejects her own outer beauty in favour of nurturing her intellect, her humility and those other inner qualities that she herself views as beautiful. She respects her wisdom and philosophy before any of her physical attributes, partly because of her need as a child to read, partly from the lessons she is taught. The ideas she embraces as a child regarding outer beauty are reinforced as they reappear in her adulthood. For the duration of novel, Jane lives in five homes. In each, the suggestion of inner beauty overshadowing exterior appearance becomes a lesson, built upon over time, and in her last home she gains her reward, a man who loves her solely for her mind.
Jane Eyre spends the first part of her childhood at her Aunt's house, where she struggles to become more intelligent through reading. Jane always has a burning need to learn, despite her cousin’s insistence, “You have no business to read our books; you are a dependent” (pg. 42). Jane perseveres. Rather than give up, she requests Gulliver’s Travels from the library. Upon its receipt, Jane comments, “This book I had again and again perused with delight” (pg. 53). While her quest for self improvement is met always with criticism and opposition from her cousins, Jane continues to have a thirst for knowledge. She may be treated like an outcast by her family, but she rejects their criticism through self-improvement, reading whenever she possibly can.
The next location that Jane calls home is the Lowood Institution. Jane spends the next six years of her life there, learning to be an intelligent and morally stringent person, while remaining outwardly plain. Here, the lessons in outer and inner beauty lie in the hands of Mr. Brocklehurst, who is the institutions main benefactor. When he sees a girl with hair that is...