The famous European psychologist, Sigmund Freud, became popular through his works on psychoanalysis in the early 20th century. His works consisted of many theories regarding the symbols in a text and how it pertains to the overall meaning of a story. Many of his ideas can be directly applied to the symbols in Jane Eyre, and how they help propel Jane as a character. Let's take a look at these ideas and how they can be applied to Bronte's novel.
The Relationship between Author and Text: Freud theorized that in many novels, the author uses parts of the text and namely the protagonist to reflect past events in the the author's own life. This is one of the major discussion about Bronte and Jane's story. In the book, many things reflect key events in Bronte's history, and these include: Helen and her early death being attributed to Bronte's younger sister; Jane's planeness is said by Bronte to mimic her own; both were sent to live with their Aunts. The list goes on.
Use of Dreams as Symbols: Freud's works encompassed not only behaviour and relations, but also the importance of dreams. His magnum opus is widely regarded as An Interpretation of Dreams, which goes to suggest that he happened to have dabbled in the field of dream interpretation. Throughout Bronte's novel, she uses dreams as ways to foreshadow events that will happen to Jane, as well as give insight to what Jane actually feels beyond what is told by her.
Importance of Childhood Events: Freud also believed that events from one's childhood acts as a great factor towards later attributes in one's life. This is heavily exemplified in Jane's character. Events such as Jane's parents' death and the loss of her uncle Reed played a drastic role in paving Jane's path. Without those events, she would most likely have never had a hard childhood, and therefore, no conflict to catalyze her life events.
One Must Bypass Their Psychological Resistances in order to Become Fully Aware: This idea mainly means that one must ignore any inhibitions that may be preventing them from saying what they truly feel, in order to fully understand themselves. This can be related to the turning point in Jane's story: when she first has a discussion with Rochester. In this discussion, she speaks of his appearance in an honest tone, and is unhindered to express her opinion. This means that by admitting to Rochester her true opinions on him, she realizes something about herself; this realization further goes to fuel her will to be independant.
All of these theories relate directly to Jane Eyre, and there are others that are discussed in Freudian psychoanalysis that relate indirectly to Jane's life. Because of this, it can be determined that books such as Jane Eyre were pivotal in the development of some of Freud's theories.
The Relationship between Author and Text: Freud theorized that in many novels, the author uses parts of the text and namely the protagonist to reflect past events in the the author's own life. This is one of the major discussion about Bronte and Jane's story. In the book, many things reflect key events in Bronte's history, and these include: Helen and her early death being attributed to Bronte's younger sister; Jane's planeness is said by Bronte to mimic her own; both were sent to live with their Aunts. The list goes on.
Use of Dreams as Symbols: Freud's works encompassed not only behaviour and relations, but also the importance of dreams. His magnum opus is widely regarded as An Interpretation of Dreams, which goes to suggest that he happened to have dabbled in the field of dream interpretation. Throughout Bronte's novel, she uses dreams as ways to foreshadow events that will happen to Jane, as well as give insight to what Jane actually feels beyond what is told by her.
Importance of Childhood Events: Freud also believed that events from one's childhood acts as a great factor towards later attributes in one's life. This is heavily exemplified in Jane's character. Events such as Jane's parents' death and the loss of her uncle Reed played a drastic role in paving Jane's path. Without those events, she would most likely have never had a hard childhood, and therefore, no conflict to catalyze her life events.
One Must Bypass Their Psychological Resistances in order to Become Fully Aware: This idea mainly means that one must ignore any inhibitions that may be preventing them from saying what they truly feel, in order to fully understand themselves. This can be related to the turning point in Jane's story: when she first has a discussion with Rochester. In this discussion, she speaks of his appearance in an honest tone, and is unhindered to express her opinion. This means that by admitting to Rochester her true opinions on him, she realizes something about herself; this realization further goes to fuel her will to be independant.
All of these theories relate directly to Jane Eyre, and there are others that are discussed in Freudian psychoanalysis that relate indirectly to Jane's life. Because of this, it can be determined that books such as Jane Eyre were pivotal in the development of some of Freud's theories.