By interpreting the ideas in Bronte’s Jane Eyre and articulating WHY Bronte presents these ideas, you will be able to sharpen your topic sentences and analysis of evidence. Consider giving NUANCED analysis by weaving in specific historical pressures to show, not just what Bronte does, but why it matters in her time and beyond.
Here are some examples:
Keep going by adding more rows and columns to this table!!
Vocabulary sorted – tick!
2. Now it is time to use some SENTENCE STARTERS to give your writing a lift!
Sentence Starters to elevate your analysis
3. CONSIDER CRAFTING YOUR OWN SENTENCE FRAMES and add CONTEXT
These kinds of structures move you away from summary (what happens) and toward interpretation (why it matters). That’s what the Examiners like to find in your writing!
Challenge yourself to go beyond what’s obvious.
MARRIAGE-MORALITY-FEMALE EMPOWERMENT/INDEPENDENCE
Through her version of the romantic trope, Bronte depicts women as rational beings possessing the right to claim both security and happiness within marriage, censuring those who fail to leave behind androcentric values and adapt to the progressive. Her frequent use of first-person narration, allowing for an intimate fusion of personal reflection and emotional immediacy, empowers the voice of her heroine Jane with resolute moral conviction and passionate self-awareness, contradicting the patriarchal view of the early nineteenth century ofwomen as passive and dependent beings. Jane is ultimately constructed as possessing a compelling blend of moral integrity and passionate independence, and Rochester is enthralled by the “penetration and power” of her spirit. Moreover, as a Byronic hero, Rochester, whilst a brooding and dominant male figure, embodies a similar passionate nature, yet his moral transgressions and attempt to bind Jane in an illicit union catalyse her rejection of the man she passionately loves. By claiming that “laws and principles are not for the times when there is no temptation” in conjunction with the indomitable reply “I care for myself,” Jane is characterised as refusing to relinquish her dignity and self-worth. In this, Brontë encourages the reader to sympathise with the protagonist for choosing independence and integrity over love and Rochester’s offer of financial support — a lifeline for women of the period, who were almost entirely dependent on marriage for economic security. Like her rejection of marriage to Rochester, Jane refuses to allow St John to “claim” her. The word “claim” signals the objectification of women, and here Brontë critiques a Victorian society that views women as possessions, offering her readers a powerful affirmation that marriage should be founded on emotional authenticity and personal autonomy rather than duty, sacrifice, or societal expectation. Unlike the passionate love she feels for Rochester, Jane “scorn[s]” St John’s idea of love. By repetitively declaring “I scorn,” Jane conveys her fierce disdain for the “counterfeit sentiment” he offers her. In this, Brontë depicts Jane’s rejection of marriage as a protest against societal codes that compel women to marry for duty and security rather than genuine love.In the first line of the final chapter, Jane’s boastful declaration and direct address, “Reader, I married him” represents a defiant assertion of gender equality that subverts Victorian society’s expectation of women to be submissive. Thus, symbolically, the eventual union of Jane and Rochester represents a new vision of womanhood – one that balances affection and self-determination and where Bronte champions female independence, challenging rigid social conventions.
