Jane Eyre Essay Example for Free

Jane Eyre Essay The novel Jane Eyre was originally published in London, England in 1847 by Smith, Elder Co. The early editions of the novel were given the subtitle An Autobiography and named Currer Bell as the editor, not the author. The subtitle was dropped in subsequent editions of the novel. During the days when the novel was published, it was popularly believed that men and women had different duties and responsibilities. Women were encouraged to be devoted and submissive to their husbands. The ideal woman was passive, charming, self-sacrificing and pure. Jane Eyre and other works of the Charlotte and her sisters were centred around the lives of protagonists who did not conform to these societal ideals. Thus, in order to hide their true identities and genders, the three Bronte sisters published their works under pseudonyms. These were Acton Bell (Anne Bronte), Ellis Bell (Emily Bronte) and Currer Bell (Charlotte Bronte). Despite its immediate popularity, Jane Eyre was condemned by its earliest critics as anti-Christian. These negative reviews can be attributed to the generally rebellious tone of the novel. Through the description of the protagonist’s life, including those related to her social status and matters of the heart, the reader is presented with several social and political issues. The novel questions society’s view of women, the importance of the arts and the basis of a solid marriage. Based on the standards of the society in the days when the novel was first published, Jane Eyre as a character lead an immoral life. Jane fell in love and lusted after a married man, was proposed to by her cousin, and describes a clergymen as hypocritical and greedy. The novel is written in such a manner that the reader empathizes with Jane, and in doing so, leads the reader to question his or her beliefs. The novel is also explicitly anti-Christian in that Jane questions the existence and importance of God. During her days at Lowood, Jane’s close friend, Helen Burns contracts tuberculosis. On her deathbed, Helen calmly reassures Jane that by dying young, she is escaping great sufferings, and will go to God. Jane remains sceptical, and asks, â€Å"Where is God? What is God? † In the same conversation, Jane questions the existence of heaven and the ability of people to enter it. Using contemporary standards, these questions might be considered by some to be normal and even healthy. However, in the context of the society during the time when the novel was first published, such comments would have been considered as blasphemous and grossly immoral. Critics who believed that the novel was in fact an autobiography were correct. Although the life of the character Jane Eyre is not identical to that of the author Charlotte Bronte, there are obvious parallels. For example, while attending Lowood School, one of Jane’s closest friends dies of consumption. Similarly, while attending school at Cowan Bridge, Jane’s sisters died of the same illness. This coincidence drew comparisons between the fictional headmaster of Lowood whom Jane denounces as insincere and deceitful, and Charlotte’s own former headmaster who ran Cowan Bridge. Another parallel can be drawn between the character of John Reed and Charlotte’s brother Branwell, because both men suffered from alcoholism. Perhaps the most obvious similarity between the novel and the author’s life is the fact that both Jane and Charlotte were governesses. In accepting Jane Eyre as the true adventures of its heroine and by branding the novel as anti-Christian, early critics were correct. Due to similarities in the personal life of Charlotte Bronte and the experiences of Jane Eyre, it can be inferred that the novel is an autobiography. Based on the standards of society during the time it was first published, the rebellious tone and the manner in which the novel questioned respected social institutions, the novel can be considered as anti-Christian.

Getting Back To Basics :: essays research papers

Getting Back to Basics In earliest times primitive people made contact with the outside world through the same five senses used by people today. They could hear the sounds of animals, see objects, feel the rain on their faces, smell the fragrance of wild flowers, and taste berries and other foods. Primitive people also expressed their feelings through art and dance. The cave paintings in Lascaux, France, which were drawn some 27,000 years ago, depicted animals of the time. Do these images show Paleolithic man’s continuity with nature? It is not known whether these pictures had a methodical, or a magical or religious purpose; however, they did show that primitive people had both a need and a talent for self-expression. In Suzi Gablik’s book, Conversations before the End of Time, Gablik touches base with several artists analyzing the discontinuity between man and nature, nature and art, and art and man. During interviews with each artist, philosophical questions arise, such as what is art for (Ellen Dissanayake), are humans really at the apex of the pyramid (Christopher Manes), and can mankind survive without modern technological civilization (Rachel Dutton and Rob Olds)? Links between ecology, psychology, and art are explored, and the consensus among the artists states that mankind needs to change how we live with the earth by getting back to the basics. What is Art For? & Making Art About Centipedes If you were to ask Ellen Dissanayake what is art for, she would reply that art is â€Å"making special.† Dissanayake believes that humans, since the beginning, have been attracted to objects that were ‘extraordinary or special’, and ‘make special things’ to show that we care and have regard for those things. Most importantly, â€Å"art is for everyone and not solely for an elite group of artists in the art world.† Upon first reading this article, I agreed with Dissanayake, however after rereading, I discovered that there was some hypocrisy in what she was saying. Initially, Dissanayake created a solid argument on why art is important to man, why we create art, and to whom art is created. However, when linking this to the importance that man must â€Å"realize that we cannot go on living in ways that are so mechanical, materialistic and hard on the environment (Dissanayake, p.54), Dissanayake separated man into a Darwinist view of nature, and m an’s superiority over it. In my opinion, this view is the reason man is disconnected with nature.

Causes of World War 1

The Causes of World War I World War I is essentially much more complicated and complex than a simple list of causes. While there was a series of events that directly led to the fighting, the actual origin causes are much deeper and a part of continual debate and discussion. Ultimately, countries all over Europe made joint defense agreements that would pull them into battle. Therefore, if one country was attacked, allied countries were bound to defend them. Before World War 1, the following alliances existed: * Russia and Serbia. * Germany and Austria-Hungary. France and Russia. * Britain and France and Belgium. * Japan and Britain. Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, in which Russia got involved in to defend Serbia. Germany, seeing Russia rallying, declared war on Russia. France was then drawn in against Germany and Austria-Hungary. Germany attacked France through Belgium, pulling Britain into war. Then Japan entered the war. Afterwards, Italy and the United States would enter on the side of the allies. Imperialism is when a country boosts their power and wealth by bringing additional territories under their control.Before World War I, Africa and parts of Asia were points of controversy amongst the European countries. This was particularly true because of the raw resources these areas could provide. The growing competition and want for greater empires led to an increase in disagreement that helped press on the world into World War I. As the world got into the 20th century, an arms race had begun. By 1914, Germany had the greatest increase in military buildup. Great Britain and Germany both greatly increased their navies in this time period.Further, in Germany and Russia particularly, the military establishment began to have a greater influence on public policy. This increase in militarism helped push the countries involved to war. Much of the origin of the war was based on the desire of the Slavic peoples in Bosnia and Herzegovina to no longer be part of Au stria-Hungary, but instead be part of Serbia. In this way, nationalism led directly to the War. But in a more general way, the nationalism of the various countries throughout Europe contributed not only to the beginning but the extension of the war in Europe. Each country tried to prove their dominance and power.The instantaneous cause of World War I that made all the aforementioned items come into play (alliances, imperialism, militarism, nationalism) was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary. In June 1914, a Serbian nationalist assassinated him and his wife while they were in Sarajevo, Bosnia which was part of Austria-Hungary. This was in objection to Austria-Hungary having control of this region. Serbia wanted to take over Bosnia and Herzegovina. This assassination led to Austria-Hungary declaring war on Serbia. When Russia began to gather together due to its alliance with Serbia, Germany declared war on Russia.Thus began the expansion of the war to inc lude all those involved in the mutual defense alliances. Works Cited: * Beck, Roger B. World History: Patterns of Interaction. Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell, 2005. Print. * Duffy, Michael. â€Å"Firstworldwar. com. †Ã‚  First World War. com. 22 Aug. 2009. Web. 22 May 2012. . * â€Å"World War One – Causes. †Ã‚  Causes of World War One. Historyonthenet. Web. 22 May 2012. . * â€Å"What Really Caused World War 1? †Ã‚  WW1. Web. 22 May 2012. . Causes of World War 1 The Causes of World War I World War I is essentially much more complicated and complex than a simple list of causes. While there was a series of events that directly led to the fighting, the actual origin causes are much deeper and a part of continual debate and discussion. Ultimately, countries all over Europe made joint defense agreements that would pull them into battle. Therefore, if one country was attacked, allied countries were bound to defend them. Before World War 1, the following alliances existed: * Russia and Serbia. * Germany and Austria-Hungary. France and Russia. * Britain and France and Belgium. * Japan and Britain. Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, in which Russia got involved in to defend Serbia. Germany, seeing Russia rallying, declared war on Russia. France was then drawn in against Germany and Austria-Hungary. Germany attacked France through Belgium, pulling Britain into war. Then Japan entered the war. Afterwards, Italy and the United States would enter on the side of the allies. Imperialism is when a country boosts their power and wealth by bringing additional territories under their control.Before World War I, Africa and parts of Asia were points of controversy amongst the European countries. This was particularly true because of the raw resources these areas could provide. The growing competition and want for greater empires led to an increase in disagreement that helped press on the world into World War I. As the world got into the 20th century, an arms race had begun. By 1914, Germany had the greatest increase in military buildup. Great Britain and Germany both greatly increased their navies in this time period.Further, in Germany and Russia particularly, the military establishment began to have a greater influence on public policy. This increase in militarism helped push the countries involved to war. Much of the origin of the war was based on the desire of the Slavic peoples in Bosnia and Herzegovina to no longer be part of Au stria-Hungary, but instead be part of Serbia. In this way, nationalism led directly to the War. But in a more general way, the nationalism of the various countries throughout Europe contributed not only to the beginning but the extension of the war in Europe. Each country tried to prove their dominance and power.The instantaneous cause of World War I that made all the aforementioned items come into play (alliances, imperialism, militarism, nationalism) was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary. In June 1914, a Serbian nationalist assassinated him and his wife while they were in Sarajevo, Bosnia which was part of Austria-Hungary. This was in objection to Austria-Hungary having control of this region. Serbia wanted to take over Bosnia and Herzegovina. This assassination led to Austria-Hungary declaring war on Serbia. When Russia began to gather together due to its alliance with Serbia, Germany declared war on Russia.Thus began the expansion of the war to inc lude all those involved in the mutual defense alliances. Works Cited: * Beck, Roger B. World History: Patterns of Interaction. Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell, 2005. Print. * Duffy, Michael. â€Å"Firstworldwar. com. †Ã‚  First World War. com. 22 Aug. 2009. Web. 22 May 2012. . * â€Å"World War One – Causes. †Ã‚  Causes of World War One. Historyonthenet. Web. 22 May 2012. . * â€Å"What Really Caused World War 1? †Ã‚  WW1. Web. 22 May 2012. .

There Will Come Soft Rains Story Analysis

American writer Ray Bradbury (1920 to 2012) was one of the most popular and prolific fantasy  and science fiction writers of the 20th century. He is probably best known for his novel, but he also wrote hundreds of short stories, several of which have been adapted for film and television. First published in 1950, There Will Come Soft Rains is a futuristic story that follows the activities of an automated house after its human residents have been obliterated, most likely by a nuclear weapon. The Influence of Sara Teasdale The story takes its title from a poem by Sara Teasdale (1884 to 1933). In her poem There Will Come Soft Rains, Teasdale envisions an idyllic post-apocalyptic world in which nature continues peacefully, beautifully, and indifferently after the extinction of humankind. The poem is told in gentle, rhyming couplets. Teasdale uses alliteration liberally. For example, robins wear feathery fire and are whistling their whims. The effect of both the rhymes and the alliteration is smooth and peaceful. Positive words like soft, shimmering, and singing further emphasize the sense of rebirth and peacefulness in the poem. Contrast With Teasdale Teasdales poem was published in 1920. Bradburys story, in contrast, was published five years after the atomic devastation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II. Where Teasdale has circling swallows, singing frogs, and whistling robins, Bradbury offers lonely foxes and whining cats, as well as the emaciated family dog, covered with sores, which ran wildly in circles, biting at its tail, spun in a circle and died. In his story, animals fare no better than humans. Bradburys only survivors are imitations of nature: robotic cleaning mice, aluminum roaches and iron crickets, and the colorful exotic animals projected onto the glass walls of the childrens nursery. He uses words like afraid, empty, emptiness, hissing, and echoing, to create a cold, ominous feeling that is the opposite of Teasdales poem. In Teasdales poem, no element of nature would notice or care whether humans were gone. But almost everything in Bradburys story is human-made and seems irrelevant in the absence of people. As Bradbury writes: The house was an altar with ten thousand attendants, big, small, servicing, attending, in choirs. But the gods had gone away, and the ritual of the religion continued senselessly, uselessly. Meals are prepared but not eaten. Bridge games are set up, but no one plays them. Martinis are made but not drunk. Poems are read, but theres no one to listen. The story is full of automated voices recounting times and dates that are meaningless without a human presence. The Unseen Horror As in a Greek tragedy, the real horror of Bradburys story remains offstage. Bradbury tells us directly that the city has been reduced to rubble and exhibits a radioactive glow at night. Instead of describing the moment of the explosion, he shows us a wall charred black except where the paint remains intact in the shape of a woman picking flowers, a man mowing the lawn, and two children tossing a ball. These four people were presumably the family who lived in the house. We see their silhouettes frozen in a happy moment in the normal paint of the house. Bradbury does not bother describing what must have happened to them.  It is implied by the charred wall. The clock ticks relentlessly, and the house keeps moving through its normal routines. Every hour that passes magnifies the permanence of the familys absence. They will never again enjoy a happy moment in their yard. They will never again participate in any of the regular activities of their home life. The Use of Surrogates Perhaps the pronounced way in which Bradbury conveys the unseen horror of the nuclear explosion is through surrogates. One surrogate is the dog who dies and is unceremoniously disposed of in the incinerator by the mechanical cleaning mice. Its death seems painful, lonely and most importantly, unmourned. Given the silhouettes on the charred wall, the family, too, seems to have been incinerated, and because the destruction of the city appears complete, there is no one left  to mourn them.   At the end of the story, the house itself becomes  personified and thus serves as another surrogate for human suffering. It dies a gruesome death, echoing what must have befallen humanity yet not showing it to us directly.   At first, this parallel seems to sneak up on readers. When Bradbury writes, At ten oclock the house began to die, it might initially seem that the house is simply dying down for the night. After all, everything else it does has been completely systematic. So it might catch a reader off guard when the house truly starts to die. The houses desire to save itself, combined with the cacophony of dying voices, certainly evokes human suffering. In a particularly disturbing description, Bradbury writes: The house shuddered, oak bone on bone, its bared skeleton cringing from the heat, its wire, its nerves revealed as if a surgeon had torn the skin off to let the red veins and capillaries quiver in the scalded air. The parallel with the human body is almost complete here: bones, skeleton, nerves, skin, veins, capillaries. The destruction of the personified house allows readers to feel the extraordinary sadness and intensity of the situation, whereas a graphic description of the death of a human being might simply make readers  recoil in horror. Time and Timelessness When Bradburys story was first published, it was set in the year 1985. Later versions have updated the year to 2026 and 2057. The story is not meant to be a specific prediction about the future, but rather to show a possibility that, at any time, could lie just around the corner.