I feel like in Jane’s situation, the Rivers was a physical downgrade, but an emotional upgrade. At Thornfield Jane was in a very large, luxurious house, had the ideal little girl as her student, and had the “love of her life” as her boss, which on the outside seems perfect. Emotionally though, Thornfield was not the best place for Jane at the time. Rochester was married and hiding it from Jane, which led to mysterious events (which definitely is emotionally draining I’m sure), as well as she felt looked down upon because of her social class, specifically when she was engaged to Rochester. While Jane was getting everything she could possibly want at Thornfield, she was emotionally being dragged through the mud. When Jane leaves to go to the Rivers home and live with them, even teaching the poor girls in the town, she has a physical downgrade, but an emotional upgrade. The house itself that Jane lives in, at first and even when she moves to teach in the school are smaller houses and more plain/basic than Thornfield, which for Jane is a downgrade, but seems to fit Jane’s personality better. Through the Rivers Jane finds part of her family that loves and accepts her and even an inheritance. Jane is accepted for who she is, and feels like she fits in somewhere when she is with Diana and Mary, learning German and even when drawing for them. She learns that she is not totally alone and loves her cousins, and I think for the first time begins to truly come into her own and feel like she belongs. When Jane leaves the Rivers and the school to go back to Rochester, she is more confident in herself and is confident in her decisions, which seems to me to be newer. When Jane left Thornfield, while it was a slightly different situation, I think that she was constantly second guessing herself, and she doesn’t do that when leaving the Rivers. Both situations had their pros and cons, but ultimately I think that Jane leaving Rochester and going to be with the Rivers when she did, was a good thing and helped her life and personality in the long run. :)
I think for what has happened so much in her life, living with the Rivers was an upgrade. I do agree with Kylie that physically it may have been hard but she got so much out of staying there. She arrived to the Rivers place helpless, in which they took her and helped her in a way be stable again. Jane did not have to do as much and she definitely did not face troubles like she did with her Aunt Reed or at Lowood. Living with the Rivers was also a way for her to temporary omit about what had just happened to her; learning that Mr. Rochester was married. She was easily able to obtain a job with the help of St. John. Living with the Rivers, Jane had plenty of good things happen to her. She got her own family when she learned that Diana, Mary and St. John were her cousins. Additionally, she gained a fortune of money and became rich. However, there were some cons to living with the Rivers. I feel as if the cons of living with the Rivers were more emotional than physical. For example, though St. John had promised Jane that he would be like a brother to her, he did not. Jane herself states that he was still cold towards her at times. Also, St. John forced her to marry him when she did not want to but this did help Jane because she did leave to go back for Rochester hence I would say that overall, living with the Rivers helped her more than it hurt her.
I think for the most part besides Thornfield life with the Rivers was an upgrade because it seemed as most people there generally cared and wished the best for her. Ironically though she never tells the truth about who she is, which is fits in with her description in Mrs.Reed's description of her. With the the Reeds it was mostly cons because they treated her poorly, but each new living quarters she always found something for her to cherish. At the Reeds' it was Bessie who was ever so kind to her, at the school it was Helen who befriended Jane and made her life there tolerable before Helen passed away, and at Thornfield it was non-other than the love of her life Rochester as she protected him from dangers and he let her into his life with its troubling past.
I wouldn't say the new life with the Rivers was an "upgrade" necessarily. But it definitely wasn't a downgrade. Jane's life with Rochester had its positives and its negatives, just like Jane's life with the Rivers. At the Rivers, Jane was able to become more independent and more self sustaining. She was able to find herself more as a person and become more comfortable with eventually being with Rochester because she new that she wouldn't be controlled by him. At the Rivers, Jane was able to work and provide for herself. Even though the Rivers aided her, she still was not completely reliant on them. Jane enjoyed this self dependence because as we have seen throughout the novel, Jane enjoys being her own person. However, Kylie raises a good point that Jane's life with the Rivers was not as great physically. Obviously, Jane didn't have all of the luxuries and the money that she had at Thornfield, but I don't think she ever really cared for those luxuries anyways. All Jane really wanted was to prove that she could be independent and she does that at the Rivers. She was given time to find how she truly feels about Rochester, and was given distance from Thornfield. That proved beneficial in the end of the novel, because she was eventually able to live the life she wanted, which I don't think would have been possible without her time with the Rivers.
I agree with Wesley that Jane's life with the River's is not exactly an upgrade. However I would not say it was particularly a downgrade either. I believe the answer to this question is almost solely on what a person sees as more important in life. With this being said, Jane treasures love/companionship and equality very much throughout the book. When she was at Thornfield she was able to have love and companionship, but due to Rochester's scandal her feelings were crushed. With thr River's she was able to find equality amongst get family, but was being kept away from the person she loved. After taking these two things into account, the reader can make the judgement based on the personal opinion of what would be better to have and harder to lose.
I agree with Wesley that Jane's life with the River's is not exactly an upgrade. However I would not say it was particularly a downgrade either. I believe the answer to this question is almost solely on what a person sees as more important in life. With this being said, Jane treasures love/companionship and equality very much throughout the book. When she was at Thornfield she was able to have love and companionship, but due to Rochester's scandal her feelings were crushed. With thr River's she was able to find equality amongst get family, but was being kept away from the person she loved. After taking these two things into account, the reader can make the judgement based on the personal opinion of what would be better to have and harder to lose.
Jane's life after leaving Thornfield is a lot better in my opinion. With the Rivers she has a chance to get away and develop herself as a woman. She gets a meaningful job that she enjoys for herself, meets family members that actually care for her. And despite the sadness of her Uncle's passing she acquires a fortune that she splits with her family. With the Rivers she has money and family. Although St. John is distant and cold he doesn't treat her like we she in the beginning of the book. That said I do recognise that the love of her life is in Thornfield. But her independence is not.
Comparing jane's situation at the river's to thornfield, it is both an upgrade and downgrade. Yes, she is is able to adopt a new social status and acquire an inheritance of her own, she is able to live in her own way accordingly. However, even though she gained social staus and wealth, she was surpressed by st.john, her christian cousin, and her love for rochester. While she definitely had an upgrade, it was a downgrade to her emotional and mental life.
In my opinion, Jane's life at Thornfield surpasses her life with St John. With Rochester she seems to have everything she wants and is very happy. The only good thing that she has with St. John is the school that she gets to run. However, after sometime she seems to feel disappointed and tired of the work and career she has chose. There is a short time where Jane feels as though she has feelings for St. John but then quickly realizes that Rochester is her true love.
I feel like in Jane’s situation, the Rivers was a physical downgrade, but an emotional upgrade. At Thornfield Jane was in a very large, luxurious house, had the ideal little girl as her student, and had the “love of her life” as her boss, which on the outside seems perfect. Emotionally though, Thornfield was not the best place for Jane at the time. Rochester was married and hiding it from Jane, which led to mysterious events (which definitely is emotionally draining I’m sure), as well as she felt looked down upon because of her social class, specifically when she was engaged to Rochester. While Jane was getting everything she could possibly want at Thornfield, she was emotionally being dragged through the mud. When Jane leaves to go to the Rivers home and live with them, even teaching the poor girls in the town, she has a physical downgrade, but an emotional upgrade. The house itself that Jane lives in, at first and even when she moves to teach in the school are smaller houses and more plain/basic than Thornfield, which for Jane is a downgrade, but seems to fit Jane’s personality better. Through the Rivers Jane finds part of her family that loves and accepts her and even an inheritance. Jane is accepted for who she is, and feels like she fits in somewhere when she is with Diana and Mary, learning German and even when drawing for them. She learns that she is not totally alone and loves her cousins, and I think for the first time begins to truly come into her own and feel like she belongs. When Jane leaves the Rivers and the school to go back to Rochester, she is more confident in herself and is confident in her decisions, which seems to me to be newer. When Jane left Thornfield, while it was a slightly different situation, I think that she was constantly second guessing herself, and she doesn’t do that when leaving the Rivers. Both situations had their pros and cons, but ultimately I think that Jane leaving Rochester and going to be with the Rivers when she did, was a good thing and helped her life and personality in the long run. :)
ReplyDeleteI think for what has happened so much in her life, living with the Rivers was an upgrade. I do agree with Kylie that physically it may have been hard but she got so much out of staying there. She arrived to the Rivers place helpless, in which they took her and helped her in a way be stable again. Jane did not have to do as much and she definitely did not face troubles like she did with her Aunt Reed or at Lowood. Living with the Rivers was also a way for her to temporary omit about what had just happened to her; learning that Mr. Rochester was married. She was easily able to obtain a job with the help of St. John. Living with the Rivers, Jane had plenty of good things happen to her. She got her own family when she learned that Diana, Mary and St. John were her cousins. Additionally, she gained a fortune of money and became rich. However, there were some cons to living with the Rivers. I feel as if the cons of living with the Rivers were more emotional than physical. For example, though St. John had promised Jane that he would be like a brother to her, he did not. Jane herself states that he was still cold towards her at times. Also, St. John forced her to marry him when she did not want to but this did help Jane because she did leave to go back for Rochester hence I would say that overall, living with the Rivers helped her more than it hurt her.
ReplyDeleteI think for the most part besides Thornfield life with the Rivers was an upgrade because it seemed as most people there generally cared and wished the best for her. Ironically though she never tells the truth about who she is, which is fits in with her description in Mrs.Reed's description of her. With the the Reeds it was mostly cons because they treated her poorly, but each new living quarters she always found something for her to cherish. At the Reeds' it was Bessie who was ever so kind to her, at the school it was Helen who befriended Jane and made her life there tolerable before Helen passed away, and at Thornfield it was non-other than the love of her life Rochester as she protected him from dangers and he let her into his life with its troubling past.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't say the new life with the Rivers was an "upgrade" necessarily. But it definitely wasn't a downgrade. Jane's life with Rochester had its positives and its negatives, just like Jane's life with the Rivers. At the Rivers, Jane was able to become more independent and more self sustaining. She was able to find herself more as a person and become more comfortable with eventually being with Rochester because she new that she wouldn't be controlled by him. At the Rivers, Jane was able to work and provide for herself. Even though the Rivers aided her, she still was not completely reliant on them. Jane enjoyed this self dependence because as we have seen throughout the novel, Jane enjoys being her own person. However, Kylie raises a good point that Jane's life with the Rivers was not as great physically. Obviously, Jane didn't have all of the luxuries and the money that she had at Thornfield, but I don't think she ever really cared for those luxuries anyways. All Jane really wanted was to prove that she could be independent and she does that at the Rivers. She was given time to find how she truly feels about Rochester, and was given distance from Thornfield. That proved beneficial in the end of the novel, because she was eventually able to live the life she wanted, which I don't think would have been possible without her time with the Rivers.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Wesley that Jane's life with the River's is not exactly an upgrade. However I would not say it was particularly a downgrade either. I believe the answer to this question is almost solely on what a person sees as more important in life. With this being said, Jane treasures love/companionship and equality very much throughout the book. When she was at Thornfield she was able to have love and companionship, but due to Rochester's scandal her feelings were crushed. With thr River's she was able to find equality amongst get family, but was being kept away from the person she loved. After taking these two things into account, the reader can make the judgement based on the personal opinion of what would be better to have and harder to lose.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Wesley that Jane's life with the River's is not exactly an upgrade. However I would not say it was particularly a downgrade either. I believe the answer to this question is almost solely on what a person sees as more important in life. With this being said, Jane treasures love/companionship and equality very much throughout the book. When she was at Thornfield she was able to have love and companionship, but due to Rochester's scandal her feelings were crushed. With thr River's she was able to find equality amongst get family, but was being kept away from the person she loved. After taking these two things into account, the reader can make the judgement based on the personal opinion of what would be better to have and harder to lose.
ReplyDeleteJane's life after leaving Thornfield is a lot better in my opinion. With the Rivers she has a chance to get away and develop herself as a woman. She gets a meaningful job that she enjoys for herself, meets family members that actually care for her. And despite the sadness of her Uncle's passing she acquires a fortune that she splits with her family. With the Rivers she has money and family. Although St. John is distant and cold he doesn't treat her like we she in the beginning of the book. That said I do recognise that the love of her life is in Thornfield. But her independence is not.
ReplyDeleteComparing jane's situation at the river's to thornfield, it is both an upgrade and downgrade. Yes, she is is able to adopt a new social status and acquire an inheritance of her own, she is able to live in her own way accordingly. However, even though she gained social staus and wealth, she was surpressed by st.john, her christian cousin, and her love for rochester. While she definitely had an upgrade, it was a downgrade to her emotional and mental life.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, Jane's life at Thornfield surpasses her life with St John. With Rochester she seems to have everything she wants and is very happy. The only good thing that she has with St. John is the school that she gets to run. However, after sometime she seems to feel disappointed and tired of the work and career she has chose. There is a short time where Jane feels as though she has feelings for St. John but then quickly realizes that Rochester is her true love.
ReplyDelete