The Prosthetic Hand

As Jane returns to Thornfield, she learns from an inn’s host about the tragedy that has befallen upon Mr. Rochester. Not only has she learned that Thornfield has been destroyed in a fire caused by Rochester’s wife, but also that Mr. Rochester suffered injury from the crash of the mansion around him, causing him to be blinded and for one of his hands to be crushed. The host recounts that “‘one hand [was] so crushed that Mr. Carter, the surgeon, had to amputate it directly,’” thus rendering Rochester a “cripple” (Bronte 382). 

After his hand is amputated and his home destroyed, Rochester secludes himself from nearly everybody. When Jane first sees Rochester, he appears to be hiding his missing limb inside his jacket (Bronte 384). And then when Jane finally reconnects with Rochester, he appears ashamed of his missing limb, telling her, “‘I thought you would be revolted, Jane, when you saw my arm and cicatrised visage,’” (Bronte 388). Although it is unclear when the novel Jane Eyre takes place, the option to have an artificial limb or prosthetic limb was available mostly to the wealthy in the 19th century (Armfield para 6). In fact, as far back as the 16th century there were ideas about the prosthetic limb, the hand in particular, with Ambroise Pare, a French military surgeon, creating the first design of a prosthetic hand (Zuo and Olsen para 5). With advancements being made in the Victorian era, the prosthetic limb became a more viable option. 

Mr. Rochester was considered wealthy and seemed to have the concept of a prosthetic hand at his disposal, and yet there is no mention of him getting one. Instead, he simply has no left hand and Jane helps assist him where needed. He explains the situation to her in the words, “‘...to bear my infirmities, Jane: to overlook my deficiencies,’” (Bronte 396). Whatever his reason for not getting a fake limb, I think it says something about his character. Knowing these options might have been available for Rochester, we can perhaps assume it was a thing of pride. He might not have wanted to feel worse about his condition with the addition of a limb that probably didn’t look as realistic as it might have now. Understanding Rochester’s character, this might have been his reasoning. Seeing how, after the accident, he isolates himself from everyone, he might have felt a shame that only would have been made worse by getting a prosthetic hand to replace his lost one; especially as the whole accident was caused by his wife, someone who continually brought shame to Rochester. 

Works Cited

Armfield, Julia. “Without a Leg to Stand On – Victorian Prosthetics.” Untold lives blog, https://blogs.bl.uk/untoldlives/2013/10/without-a-leg-to-stand-on-victor.... Accessed 27 January 2022.

Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre, edited by Deborah Lutz, 4th ed., New York, W. W. Norton & Company, 2016.

Zuo, Kevin J, and Jaret L Olson. “The evolution of functional hand replacement: From iron prostheses to hand transplantation.” Plastic surgery (Oakville, Ont.) vol. 22,1 (2014): 44-51.

Image Citation

Pare, Ambroise. Hand with mechanical apparatus. National Library of Medicine, Jean Le Royer, 1564, https://collections.nlm.nih.gov/catalog/nlm:nlmuid-101448278-img?sort=Ti....

Francis Bacon and Shakespeare

In the novel The Eyre Affair, the protagonist Thursday Next is confronted by a “Baconian” who attempts to convince her that that scientist Sir Francis Bacon was the true author of the plays of William Shakespeare (Fforde 37). Though the novel relies heavily on alternate history, this claim is one that has been made historically on many occasions by many people. This claim is seemingly reliant on two pieces of evidence. The first is that Bacon was apparently secretly a poet known to the world under a different name, which is evidenced in several letters; the second is that Ben Jonson eulogized both Shakespeare and Bacon using the same language (“History of the Baconian Shakespeare Authorship Theory”). While the fact that Jonson used identical language for both men is certainly interesting, it is by no means conclusive proof of the sameness of the authors. Thus, the claim must be supported on the merits of the first argument, that Bacon was secretly a poet of considerable ability. This claim does not hold true to reality. Upon examining some of the works written by Bacon, some have concluded that “the man could not write a play. We know this because he penned some court entertainments, and they are sadly static affairs in which stock characters—a hermit, a soldier, a secretary—stand and deliver set pieces about the joys of being a hermit, a soldier, a secretary. There’s not a trace here of the grasp of plot, character, nuance, conflict that we expect in Shakespeare’s plays. In short, Francis Bacon had no drama” (Stewart).

Why then, if the evidence does not hold up to scrutiny, has the claim continued to exist, and, in the world of The Eyre Affair, grown to have door-to-door proselytizers? The evidence may be found in one of the claims of the Baconian in the novel. In response to Thursday saying “if you expect me to believe that a lawyer wrote A Midsummer Night’s Dream, I must be dafter than I look,” the Baconian says “not as daft as supposing that a Warwickshire schoolboy with almost no education could write works that were not for an age but for all time” (Fforde 38). Here, the reader is presented with an unfortunately common attitude in literary circles. The idea that an uneducated person could not produce great works of art is classist, and that classism is at the heart of the majority of the theories behind the “true” identity of William Shakespeare. It is a great shame that some cannot stomach the merest possibility of Shakespeare’s “low” social status and must create poorly supported conspiracy theories to explain the quality of his work. It is not shocking that in a fictional world in which literature is given even higher regard than it is in the real world, that these classist attitudes would find even more public avenues to spread and that some would feel comfortable enough to so blatantly express that attitude.

Works Cited

Taylor, John. Chandos Portrait. Wikimedia Commons, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Shakespeare.jpg. Accessed 9 Apr. 2022.

Fforde, Jasper. The Eyre Affair. Penguin, 2001.

“History of the Baconian Shakespeare Authorship Theory.” Shakespearean Authorship Trust, https://shakespeareanauthorshiptrust.org/bacon-history. Accessed 9 Apr. 2022.

Steward, Alan. “Sir Francis Bacon and Shakespeare’s Authorship.” Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, https://www.shakespeare.org.uk/explore-shakespeare/podcasts/60-minutes-shakespeare/sir-francis-bacon-and-shakespeares-authorship/. Accessed 9 Apr. 2022.

Christian Missionaries to India

William Carey, who sought to spread Christianity in India.

Throughout Jane Eyre, the references to Christianity/religion are prevalent. In Chapter 34, St. John implores Jane to go with him to the mission field “as a conductress of Indian schools, and a helper amongst Indian women” (Bronte 360). John’s calling to missionary work shows his willingness to be helpful to others. Jane’s humility is apparent as well, as she offers to accompany John to India. John, however, is concerned with appearances only, which causes a rift between the two. Similar to Jane’s and John’s willingness to help others, early missionaries were concerned with more than spreading Christianity. 

In Europe, the spread of Christianity was important and highly regarded as the calling of many. What many people might not know, however, is that trading companies were hesitant to allow missionaries into their trading posts. They regarded missionary work as “destabliz[ing to] culture and threaten[ing to] trade” (Daughrity and Athyal 34). Therefore, it wasn’t until 1706 that the first Protestants traveled to India. In contrast to the beliefs of trading companies, missionaries sought to “enrich humanity with God’s loveliest and best” (Hedlund 45). Their goal was to be humble and helpful members of Indian society. Many missionaries learned the native language and tried to assimilate themselves into Indian culture. The Bible was translated into multiple languages in an effort to help make Christian doctrine more accessible to the people. In the time period of Jane Eyre, John would have heard of William Carey--one of the fathers of the Christian missionary field in India--and his motto, “to educate, to inspire, and to serve” (Daughrity and Athyal 39). John would have been inspired by this motto to become a missionary himself.  

The first college built in India was Serampore College, which eventually became the center of religious studies. The goal of the missionaries which built the school was to create “cross cultural understanding and empowering the local context with education” (Daughrity and Athyal 39). Had Jane been allowed to accompany St. John to India, the story might have included details of her efforts to educate the people of India--specifically, women and young girls. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, “by the 1860s, education for women had advanced and nurses’ training had begun; the vast majority of Indian nurses also have been Christian.” But, the choice to have Jane agree to marry John, travel to India, and begin missionary work would have been a stagnant one. The story would not have progressed, and Jane would not have sought after Mr. Rochester.

Works Cited

Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. W.W. Norton and Company, 2016. 

Carey, William. image. Britannica Academic, Encyclopædia Britannica, 13 Nov. 2021.  academic-eb-com.eu1.proxy.openathens.net/levels/collegiate/assembly/view/168680. Accessed 23 Jan. 2022.

"Christianity." Britannica Academic, Encyclopædia Britannica, 10 Sep. 2020. academic-eb-com.eu1.proxy.openathens.net/levels/collegiate/article/Christianity/105945#260807.toc. Accessed 23 Jan. 2022.

 Daughrity, Dyron B., and Jesudas M. Athyal. Understanding World Christianity: India. National Book Network, 2016, https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1b3t6wd.

 Hedlund, Roger E. Christianity Made in India: From Apostle Thomas to Mother Teresa. Fortress Press, 2017.

"William Carey." Britannica Academic, Encyclopædia Britannica, 22 May. 2012. academic-eb-com.eu1.proxy.openathens.net/levels/collegiate/article/William-Carey/20318. Accessed 23 Jan. 2022.

Silver Scissors

There is no shortage of conclusions to be made about Bronte’s character. Within Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, one of the most thought-provoking characters is Bertha, a symbol of femininity and commentary on mental health treatment within the victorian era. This attention to a character has carried into almost every adaptation of Jane Eyre in some form or another. With each writer is trying to vilify, sympathize, or combine the two to hold the same level of interest that Bronte first generated with Bertha. In Jasper Fforde’s Eyre Affair, a story set in a world where literature is at the forefront of human innovation, Fforde immerses the reader into a depth of literary allusions that often provide implicit commentary (primarily humorous) on many of the excellent English works over the best centuries. When addressing the character of Bertha, Fforde seems to walk the line, both centering Bertha as mentally ill and trying to make her a hero by saving Thursday and Rochester from Hades. Having Bertha use silver Scissors, in a fit of “madness,” to thwart Acheron Hades Fforde places Bertha into the conversation as a redemptive hero.

Silver has been connected to the supernatural since early civilization. The lore suggests that the metal has protective properties against evil spirits due to its reflective nature and the idea of your true self being reflected. If you were evil, you would be unable to handle your reflection (James Ross Jewelers). Scissors have been around since 400 B.C, but it wasn’t until the nineteenth century that scissors made out of silver became popularized at the height of the victorian period. Mostly belonging to the wealthy citizens of the time, silver scissors were used as grape shears, a tool for cutting grapes from the stem to serve to guests for dessert. Sheering grapes in front of guests was seen as proper etiquette for that era, as they would know that no one's hands had touched their food. Later designs even had devices used for catching the grapes after cutting them (Smith). 

Given the history of silver scissors, Fforde makes the character of Bertha all the more interesting because if she were genuinely evil or thought herself to be acting out of malice, she would be unable to wield the scissors in her battle with Acheron due to the metals “supernatural” properties. In addition, given the use of silver scissors in the victorian age, it makes little sense as to why Bertha would have them in the first place. Since they were used as a tool to showcase their wealth and social class in front of peers, Bertha being in isolation, would not need them as she would have minimal contact with the outside world. However, the circumstances of her fight with Acheron could showcase that Bertha’s madness resulted from social isolation. It is only by rejoining society using a simple tool like silver scissors that she gets better and allows to act with agency. 

Cardboard

In the book Wide Sargasso Sea, written by Jean Rhys, which mainly explores the relationship between Antoinette/Betha and Rochester before appearing in Jane Eyre, there are many allusions (or disillusions) to the pinnacle of high English society. One of the most notable and subliminal of these allusions is when Antoinette describes Thornhill, and she refers to England as a place built from cardboard. Rhys writes, "Then I open the door and walk into their world. It is, as I always knew, made of cardboard. I have seen it before somewhere, this cardboard world where everything is coloured brown or dark red or yellow that has no light in it [...] This cardboard house where I walk at night is not England." (Rhys 107). Rhys's use of cardboard here is interesting because it directly contradicts the victorians' notion of their greatness by highlighting key societal structural issues, especially between class and gender.
The history of cardboard is obscure, with varying accounts of its creation; most scholars agree that cardboard was commercialized in 1817, but they disagree on who created it. Of the many people and groups linked to cardboard's conception, three names most often emerge as Malcolm Thornhill, the business M. Treverton & Son, and an unnamed German toy company (Blitz). The first cardboard boxes were vastly different from modern-day cardboard boxes. They were more like paper and much more fragile and flimsy than their modern-day successor (Printcosmo). It wouldn't be till 1856 when Edward Allen and Edward Healey created the first corrugated paper, which is used in modern cardboard boxes, but Allen and Healy’s corrugated paper was being used in the construction of tophats. Due to corrugated paper's solid and durable design, it allowed hatmakers to extend and emphasize the height of tophats (A Brief History of the Indispensable and Ingenious Cardboard Box).
Judging that Wide Sargasso Sea was set sometime between the 1830s and 1840's Antoinette most likely referred to the first non-corrugated cardboard that came around in 1817. Due to its weak and flimsy design and given the negative context that Antoinette speaks of Thornhill, she could have been calling Victorian Era's societal values faulty and very material. This point is only extended when Antoinette begins to describe the colors of what she is seeing. She lists the shades of brown, dark red, and yellow, all of which were colors used to describe Jamacia and people from there in the story. Given Jamaica's history with slaves and the Western world's view that slaves were objects, a unit of material to be bought or sold, the notion of Antoinette attacking victorian values is only highlighted more by the sentiment.
However, given that Wide Sargasso Sea was published in 1966, Rhys herself could have been commenting on the patriarchal structure of the victorian era in an attempt to connect it to the civil rights movement that was going on globally. Given that at the height of the victorian era, the tophat was a mainstay of high-class male fashion. The invention of corrugated paper allowed hatmakers only to extend the height of the hat. Rhys could have been very well making the claim the artificial structure of the male dominate society was arbitrary and without merit, much like a fashion accessory.

Works Cited

“A Brief History of the Indispensable and Ingenious Cardboard Box.” Paper & Packaging, https://www.howlifeunfolds.com/packaging-innovation/brief-history-indisp....

Blitz, Matt. “How the Cardboard Box Was Invented.” Gizmodo, Gizmodo, 9 Feb. 2015, https://gizmodo.com/how-the-cardboard-box-was-invented-1684626050.

Levins, Cory. “All Boxed up: An in-Depth Look at How the Corrugated Box Is Made.” Air Sea Containers, Inc., Air Sea Containers, Inc., 5 Nov. 2021, https://www.airseacontainers.com/blog/all-boxed-up-an-in-depth-look-at-h....
Printcosmo. “What Started the Cardboard Boxes?” Cardboardboxes, 29 Mar. 2018, https://printcosmo.wixsite.com/cardboardboxes/post/what-started-the-card....

Rhys, Jean, et al. Wide Sargasso Sea. W.W. Norton, 1999.

Drystone Walling and Hedging

In the 2006 BBC adaptation of Jane Eyre, after discovering the existence of Mr. Rochester’s wife, Jane flees from Thornfield Hall and makes her way eventually to the Rivers family, who she will later learn are her cousins. While she lives with them and becomes a teacher in the village, the viewer is shown many shots of the northern landscape, a prominent feature of which is different types of barriers and field boundaries (Jane Eyre 01:16:12-01:16:17). The two main types of boundaries found throughout much of England, including the north, are drystone walls and hedges.

Drystone walling, so named because no mortar is used in the construction, is an ancient craft in England and was still widely practiced in the time of Jane Eyre. While some walls date back 800 years or more, many of these boundary walls found today are from just before the Victorian era, particularly walls that are straight and regular as they date from the period of Enclosure (“Dry Stone Walls”). This type of boundary is the one most often seen in the film and are particularly prominent around the Rivers’ home and around Jane’s school.

Hedging, unlike drystone walling, makes use of various plant materials to construct boundaries, particularly field boundaries for livestock. While there are many different approaches to hedging available depending upon the area, the specific needs of the builder, or the available materials, one that would be relatively common throughout the period is wattlework. Wattlework is a hedge style which involves driving posts into the ground, then weaving hazel rods between them for form a barrier (“Why Victorian Cravings Changed How They Hunted” 00:41:45-00:42:05).

While Jane herself would have known of the various types of boundaries in use, it seems unlikely that she would have had much, if any, practical experience building them given her schooling and profession. The same cannot be said for her students. Jane’s students in the village were, by and large, the children of farmers and would have been expected to work when needed. While many of her students would have been too young when she was there to help repair these boundaries, they would have already started to learn how the boundaries work and what the techniques were to build them with the expectation that they would be able to help when they were older. The professional craft of laying new walls and hedges was dominated by men, but the maintenance and repair of existing walls would have been the responsibility of whoever had a spare hour between other tasks around the farm, so any member of a household of the appropriate age and with the appropriate knowledge would have been constructing portions of walls and hedges. This expectation, that they be able to work with their hands in this way, sets Jane somewhat apart from her students since she seemingly at no point in her life has had this type of responsibility expected of her, showing that while Jane is of the same social class as her students, the life she tends to live is nothing like the lives of her students.

Works Cited

BBC Two. “Why Victorian Cravings Changed How They Hunted | Victorian Farm | Absolute History.” Youtube, uploaded by Absolute History, 31 July 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxcA4rszDgg&t.

“Dry Stone Walls.” DalesDiscoveries, https://www.dalesdiscoveries.com/more-inspiration/70-dry-stone-walls. Accessed 19 Mar. 2022.

“Jane Eyre: Episode 2.” Films On Demand, Films Media Group, 2006, fod.infobase.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?wID=101269&xtid=128872. Accessed 19 Mar. 2022.

White, Matt. Barns and Fields. DalesDiscoveries, https://www.dalesdiscoveries.com/uploads/4/8/5/6/4856328/published/barns-and-fields-matt-white_1.png?1552300882. Accessed 19 Mar. 2022.

The Royal Family Portrait: 1846

In the beginning of the film adaptation of Jane Eyre, Jane is treated cruelly by her aunt and cousins in front of an artist who is painting their family portrait. This scene is not in the original novel, but is still significant to Jane’s journey. The artist asks Jane if she “shouldn’t be in the portrait,” extending kindness which Jane has not experienced from her own family (Jane Eyre, Episode 1)..

Portraits in the Victorian era were seen as a way of displaying family dynamic as well as wealth. In 1846, Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, and her five children were painted by Fran’s Xavier Winterhaler. Winterhaler sought to present a portrait with “domestic harmony, peace and happiness, [and] tradition…” (Royal Collection Trust). In the same way, Jane’s aunt sought a portrait which might show their wealth and create a façade of happiness. Jane would no doubt ruin this façade with her drab clothing and sad demeanor. Her aunt and cousins wore colorful clothing, dressed in their best. Jane would never be a part of their family, even in portraits. The choice by the filmmaker to include this scene helps the viewer understand why Jane feels like an outcast in her childhood home. The scenes with her aunt and uncle’s home are short, which creates a need for quick understanding before the transition into the scene at Lowood.

Throughout the film, Jane has a distinct relationship with art. Art creates a sense of comfort for her. For example, in the opening scene, she imagines herself traveling through a desert from the novel, “Voyages and Travels, Illustrated.” The paintings in the novel are an escape from her current existence. The first kind words spoken to her in the film are from an artist. She uses art to remember Helen Burns, and the first scene where she is teaching includes painting/drawing with charcoal.

As Jane enters Rochester’s office, she observes insects, books, maps, pen and paper, but no portraits. She is unable to associate him with art, which makes him a mystery to her and ultimately more intriguing.  

Works Cited

Jane Eyre. Episode 1. BBC Worldwide Ltd, 2017.

The Royal Collection Trust. Royal Collections Enterprises, Ltd, https://www.rct.uk/collection/405413/the-royal-family-in-1846. Accessed 14 Mar. 2022.

Winterhalter, Franz Xavier. The Royal Family in 1846, 1846. https://www.rct.uk/collection/405413/the-royal-family-in-1846. Accessed 14 Mar 2022.

A Brief Chronology of Jane Eyre Adaptations

Jane Eyre has been around for a very long time and has worked its way into the hearts of many. With this notoriety has also come a desire for many to see this coming-of-age novel brought to life on the big screen. There have been many attempts to capture the heart of Jane's story going back almost a hundred years; however, the "big screen" hasn't always existed.

Prior to the 1890s, when the first single-lens cameras were first coming onto the invention scene, a primary method of entertainment for the masses was plays. Jane Eyre was first adapted as a five-act play by John Brougham in 1849. Once the technology improved to record feature-length films, 1910 saw a black-and-white silent film version. A new adaptation was made in 1934 with dialogue, making it the first "talkie" adaptation of the novel. This would really kick start the history of adaptations of Jane Eyre since, from then on, every adaptation was in a recorded format featuring dialogue; these range from feature films to television mini-series to a webseries told like a video diary (Topping).

I have mixed feelings about the Jane Eyre adaptation viewed for class. On one hand, I think the actors are excellent and capture the spirits of the characters really well. The cinematography, however, irks me occasionally. I can see how Susanna White meant to use fast-paced shots to increase adrenaline and tension within scenes, but I felt disoriented and couldn't quite follow the action despite knowing what was happening from reading the novel. I do have more qualms in this vein with the first half from the previous week than the second episode viewed for this week; notably, as discussed in class, the shortening of her childhood stunted Jane's moral foundation and made it hard to truly gauge how much she grew in the second half of her life. On a positive note, I did like how viewers glimpsed Rochester's life without Jane while she was away visiting her Aunt. In the book, readers only saw Jane's hopes and dreams at the moment and had to find out through dialogue that Rochester did actually miss her during the interlude. By showing rather than telling, it offers viewers a chance to get to know Rochester without Jane's influence. It also utilizes time well, since it would have been boring to just watch Jane idly chat with her cousins for twenty minutes when the point would have been made fairly early in the scene.

Works Cited

• “Jane Eyre: Episode 2.” Films On Demand, Films Media Group, 2006, https://video-alexanderstreet-com.eu1.proxy.openathens.net/watch/jane-ey.... Accessed 20 Mar. 2022.

• Topping, Amber. “15 Of the Best Jane Eyre Movies and Adaptations, Ranked.” The Silver Petticoat Review, 21 July 2021, www.silverpetticoatreview.com/jane-eyre-movies-adaptations-ranked/.

The Matrimonial Causes Act of 1857 Makes Divorce Legal in England

Houses of Parliament, London, England. [Between 1890 and 1900] Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/92518894/.

Chapters 26 and 27 of Jane Eyre cover Jane and Mr. Rochester’s failed attempt to get married as well as the backstory for Mr. Rochester’s hidden marriage with Bertha Mason, the woman he kept locked in the attic since returning to England from Jamaica. Though he had successfully kept the identity and relation to the woman a secret for fifteen years, Mr. Rochester admits this truth upon being prevented from marrying Jane, and he invites everyone to visit “Mrs. Poole’s patient, and [his] wife” who he was “cheated into espousing” (262). In trying to provide explanation and reassurance to Jane, Mr. Rochester reveals that doctors “had discovered that [his] wife was mad” and that he had entered the marriage under false pretenses regarding her age, her well-being, and the affect she would have on his life (275). Though there are larger implications for Mr. Rochester’s decision to lock his wife away for years, taking a closer look at the matrimonial and divorce laws of that time period and region may provide some helpful context for the absence of divorce as a solution in the novel. 

Having been published in 1847, Jane Eyre was constructed in a time that divorce was not an easily available option in England. According to the UK Parliament, “the only way of obtaining a full divorce which allowed re-marriage was by a Private Act of Parliament” before the mid-nineteenth century, and there were only 314 divorces from 1700 to 1857, mostly initiated by husbands (“Obtaining a divorce”). However, divorces were only granted for adultery, and they were mostly limited to the very wealthy due to its costly process (“Obtaining a divorce”). Since Bertha was unwell rather than engaged in an adulterous affair, Mr. Rochester could not legally and publicly end his marriage. 

It was not until 1857, ten years after the publication of Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, that the Matrimonial Causes Act would pass and allow married couples to divorce through a special court while essentially keeping the grounds for divorce the same: men could divorce their wives for adultery “but a woman could only obtain a divorce if her husband was physically cruel, incestuous or bestial in addition to being adulterous” (Wood). However, Gail Savage notes that divorce remained an unlikely option for a large population since the court was located only in London, and while "expense barred most of the working class from the court,” the societal expectations and “the social stigma must have discouraged many of those who could have borne the cost” (103, 108). 

Had the Matrimonial Act of 1857 been passed sooner and had her circumstances been different, Bertha Mason could have potentially tried to end her marriage with Mr. Rochester for his adultery and physical cruelty if she wanted. The likelihood of this being obtainable, however, would still largely depend on her ability to prove it all, her wealth, and likely her well-being as well. Instead, she faced being married to a man that took ownership of her wealth and locked her away during a time where no laws had been made to fairly apply to both husbands and wives and where divorce was virtually impossible, especially when initiated by a woman. 

Works Cited 

Brontë, Charlotte. Jane Eyre, edited by Deborah Lutz, 4th ed. Norton, 2016. 

“Obtaining a Divorce.” UK Parliament, https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/private-lives/relationships/overview/divorce/. Accessed 21 January 2022. 

Savage, Gail L. “The Operation of the 1857 Divorce Act, 1860-1910 a Research Note.” Journal of Social History, vol. 16, no. 4, Oxford University Press, 1983, pp. 103–10, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3786994. 

Wood, Margaret. “Marriage and Divorce 19^th Century Style.” Library of Congress,https://blos.loc.gov/law/2018/02/marriage-and-divorce-19th-century-style/. Accessed 21 January 2022.

Image Citation  

Houses of Parliament, London, England. [Between 1890 and 1900] Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/92518894/.

Married Women's Property Acts

The Married Women's Property Act of 1870 changed the game for Victorian women. Prior to this act, any property and wages earned or inherited by a woman became her husband's resources; this was possible due to the fact that, under law, women became their husband's property after marriage. The 1870 Property Act changed this status quo by legalizing women's keep of: wages and investments separate from husbands', inheritance,  and rented or inherited property. The act also made both parents liable for their children.  While these were great steps towards women's individualization under law, the 1870 act still left married women financially dependent on their husbands, who still controlled a good portion of household finances and property. There was also a glaring lack of reciprocity to this act: it only applied to new marriages post-Act. Women married prior to 1870 still retained a complete lack of control over their own finances. 

The Married Women's Property Act of 1882 furthered women's autonomy by legalizing their ability to keep and retain property (own, buy, and sell) along with the money earned from said property. Women were also able to keep their wages and inheritance. Both acts were eventually repealed and replaced with more substantial laws.

Admittedly, these two acts don't impact Jane Eyre in any way whatsoever since they were passed decades after the book was published. What they do accomplish, however, is point out how much freedom Jane gave up in her marriage to Rochester. Not only was she signing up to be his nurse, but she essentially signed away all of the money she inherited from her uncle. Jane, herself, points out how liberating the inheritance could be, especially for her cousins, when discussing the news with St. John. And she does feel free for a time, a weight being lifted off her shoulders by not having to worry about money quite so much. Now the book doesn't expressly discuss the financial issues; the most readers are told in these last couple of chapters is that Rochester considers himself poor with the loss of Thornfield Hall. If he does get Jane's money, as is likely since their marriage took place before laws were in place securing the fortune as hers, that would certainly lift them up a bit from any chance of poverty Rochester fears.

Works Cited

Loudermelk, Shana. “Married Women's Property Act, 1870 and 1882.” Towards Emancipation?, 2019, hist259.web.unc.edu/marriedwomenspropertyact/.

"The History of Twins" by Francis Galton

The character of Eshton, a house guest of Rochester’s, in Susanna White’s adaptation of Jane Eyre seems to have a great deal of interest in studying twins. Throughout the series, he is seen constantly questioning the Dent twins. Eshton perhaps plays a role in showing the types of studies that were occurring during this time period. One of the most notorious twin studies conducted was by Francis Galton. Galton published his article “The History of Twins” in 1875 and it is said to “represent[..] the first detailed attempt to use the phenomenon of twinning to estimate the relative powers of nature and nurture” (Waller). The debacle between nature vs. nurture was an important argument during the 1800s and continues to be so. The question was whether who we are as people lies more in the genetics we were born with or how we were raised and the experiences we had in life. Galton’s study focused on researching this question through the use of twins.

Galton ultimately concluded from his study “that nature has a larger effect than nurture on development” (Bahjat). Ultimately, he believed that the way twins were born was more determining in the people they would become. This means that if a set of twins were born to be similar, they would continue to be similar even if they were raised differently, and vice versa (Bahjat). This study seems to support the character of Eshton’s beliefs in the film. He seems to believe strongly in the idea of nature over nurture, especially when it comes to the twins he studies. He poses the question to Rochester as he is leaving: “Well, you don’t think it possible that two minds can be so in tune that they communicate across the country, and call out to each other across space and time?” (Jane Eyre 17:10-19). However, this comment seems to extend past the idea of twins, and more closely focus on the relationship between Rochester and Jane.

This quote appears to be foreshadowing for when Jane hears Rochester's call out to her while she is staying with St. John. As we later learn, Rochester indeed did call out to her and it wasn’t all in her head. The metaphor of being “twins” is used continuously throughout the film in reference to Rochester and Jane, specifically by Rochester himself. He remarks to Jane, “And you and I, it’s like we’re a pair of Eshton’s twins. Bound together in some unwordly way, sharing a spirit we’re so alike” (Jane Eyre 28:35-46). From this and from Galton’s study in 1875, we can see the popular question of nature vs. nurture being applied directly to Jane and Rochester. We might even add class as a factor to all of this; despite Rochester and Jane being raised very differently and going through different experiences, what they were born with (their very nature) is what makes them so similar. Though not actually twins, there is a theme interwoven here that is saying that even with all their physical differences, Jane and Rochester have similar “spirits.” In this way, it is supporting Galton’s conclusion that nature has a larger effect on who Jane and Rochester are than nurture (how they were raised) and this is what connects them, despite all their class and age differences. 

Works Cited

Bahjat, Mudhaffar, "“The History of Twins, As a Criterion of the Relative Powers of Nature and Nurture” (1875), by Francis Galton". Embryo Project Encyclopedia (2017-12-19). ISSN: 1940-5030 http://embryo.asu.edu/handle/10776/13029.

Jane Eyre. Directed by Susanna White, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), 24 September 2006.

Waller, John C. “Commentary: The birth of the twin study—a commentary on Francis Galton’s ‘The History of Twins.’” International Journal of Epidemiology, vol. 41, no. 4, August 2012, https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dys100. Accessed 19 March 2022. 

Image Citation

Sir Francis Galton (1822-1911), FRS. 1860. Historic England Archive. English Heritage, Down House. https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/sir-francis-galton-18221911-frs-194337

Asthma Research Council

1927—Asthma Research Council created--”aimed to promote research into the prevalence, causes, and treatment of asthma” (Jackson 121). 

In the beginning chapters of the novel, The Flight of Gemma Hardy, Gemma’s friend Miriam suffers from asthma attacks, which eventually result in her death. According to Asthma: The Biography, asthma has been studied for centuries. In the past, many scientists and doctors believed sufferers of asthma simply needed a change in climate to help prevent attacks. Although a change helped, many people still died from the disease. After Miriam’s death, Sister Cullen mentions had Miriam “been in a sanatorium when she first developed asthma; if someone had made sure she had the best possible diet, plenty of rest, and cheerful company,” she might not have died” (Livesey 117). According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a sanatorium is “a place to which , on account of favourable climatic and other conditions, invalids resort for the improvement of their health” (sanitorium). During the 1950s, advancements were still being made in the study of asthma, and many people still believed it could be managed by moving to a warmer climate. Here, Sister Cullen also mentions if Miriam had “cheerful company,” she might have survived. Gemma tried to be this for Miriam, and in her death, Miriam’s face glowed with the friendship they shared. The same is true in Jane Eyre. Both Jane and Gemma sought to comfort their friends in death. Their kindness reveals a character trait which will continue throughout both novels—a willingness to serve others. Their willingness to do so will enhance their relationship with other characters and becoming a driving force in their decisions. Jane Eyre, for example, is willing to serve others in her position as governess. She is also willing to provide care for Mr. Rochester when she discovers he has been wounded in the fire at Thornfield.  

Asthma is defined as “a disease of respiration, characterized by intermittent paroxysms of difficult breathing, with a wheezing sound, a sense of constriction in the chest, cough, and expectoration” (asthma). In the novel, Miriam often has asthma attacks where she needs an inhaler to help ease her discomfort and steady her breathing. According to Asthma: The Biography, physicians and scientists have used many different remedies to treat the disease. The “first electric vacuum cleaner” was designed to help prevent asthma attacks triggered by dust (Jackson 117). Today, asthma is treated using “anti-inflammatory agents...bronchodilators...and leukotriene receptor antagonists” (asthma).  

"asthma, n." OED Online, Oxford University Press, December 2021, www.oed.com/view/Entry/12143. Accessed 14 February 2022.

"Asthma." Britannica Academic, Encyclopædia Britannica, 3 Mar. 2017. academic-eb-com.eu1.proxy.openathens.net/levels/collegiate/article/asthma/9973. Accessed 13 Feb. 2022.

asthma . image. Britannica Academic, Encyclopædia Britannica, 13 Nov. 2021. academic-eb-com.eu1.proxy.openathens.net/levels/collegiate/assembly/view/59903. Accessed 13 Feb. 2022.

Jackson, Mark. Asthma: the Biography : The Biography, Oxford University Press USA - OSO, 2009. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/coastal/detail.action?docID=472302.

Livesey, Margot. The Flight of Gemma Hardy. New York, HarperCollins Publishers, 2012.

"sanatorium, n." OED Online, Oxford University Press, December 2021, www.oed.com/view/Entry/170455. Accessed 14 February 2022.

Child Labor Laws

In Patrick Park’s Jane Re, Sang owns a grocery store. From an early age, Jane is set to work for her uncle along with her cousins. Jane is singled out compared to the others by always doing something wrong – hanging toilet paper the wrong way, not doing geometrical math fast enough (33), but also by working more than the others. It’s not until Jane learns about child labor laws that she harbors anger for being put to work as a child. Jane’s thoughts in this revelation are, “...and we’d learn about child-labor laws at school, I’d get angry at Sang. That was against the law! You should go to jail! Then he’d snap back - “Then who gonna buy your food? Who gonna pay your clothes?” (34). The audience learns that Sang is cheap from the McDonald’s mouse situation, which explains why he takes advantage of “free” family labor. While the child-labor laws were after Jane Eyre (1800s), they were created before The Flight of Gemma Hardy (1950s/60s), and they were well established by Jane Re (2000, part I estimation of 1 year prior to 9/11). The child-labor laws were started in 1938 to help children not harm their health, education, and/or well-being (Wage and Hour Division). All fields of work have different age restrictions and guidelines, and while Jane had feelings that Sang should be in jail for making her work – she did have an education, food to eat, and a place to live which is why nothing would happen to Sang even if Jane had reported to the police. For children to work, there are specific guidelines to know, “Federal law states that 14-15 year olds cannot work over 8 hours a day, with no more than 3 hours on a school day, and over 40 hours a week, with no more than 18 hours per week while in school. Minors are also not allowed to work before 7am or after 7pm respectively” (OSHA). This is important to the text of Jane Re as she wasn’t even the minimal age of 14 when she began working for her uncle, she recalls memories from eight years old. All Jane knew was school, going to work at Food, then going home to more complaining from her uncle. While some may think that what Sang did was unfair to Jane, others may see what he did to keep food on the table and lights on in the house. The biggest boom surrounding NYC was in the late 90’s for the economy prior to 9/11 happening, but even with an economic boom, it doesn’t mean that local stores didn’t suffer as NYC / Queens / Brooklyn were expensive places to live considering the population by the year 2000 exceeded two million people (2). All of this is essential in understanding why Sang may have been the way he was in part I of Jane Re, but also to recognize that his actions were wrong in overworking minors – going against child-labor laws. 

Works Cited:

Bram, Jason. "New York City's Economy before and after September 11." Current Issues in Economics and Finance Second District Highlights, vol. 9, no. 2, Feb. 2003, pp. 1-2. 

Child Labor Laws. Progressive Era Photo Exhibit, weebly, progressiveeraexhibition.weebly.com/child-labor-laws.html. Accessed 27 Mar. 2022. 

OSHA. "Child Labor Laws - Facts and Misconceptions." OSHA Education Center, American Safety Council,     www.oshaeducationcenter.com/articles/child-labor-laws/ lgr=f527d12c-333d-4a07-82c2-0f927bf2131e. Accessed 27 Mar. 2022. 

Wage and Hour Division. "Child Labor." U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/child-labor. Accessed 27 Mar. 2022. 

Wikipedia contributors. "Timeline of Queens." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 6 Mar. 2022. Web. 27 Mar. 2022. 

Soviet Space Dogs: Laika, Strelka, and Belka

Laika, dog launched into space on stamp from Rumania Posta Romania, 1959

Throughout Margot Livesey’s The Flight of Gemma Hardy, the narrator consistently points to the changes taking place throughout Scotland and surrounding areas—from post-WWII attitudes to changing fashions to newly-built suspension bridges and more. Some of the most notable events are mentioned by Gemma Hardy as she recalls her teacher’s enthusiasm for space travel. Miss Seftain shares a poem about Laika, has her students write letters to Strelka and Belka, and toasts the night sky with the success of Yuri Gagarin’s orbit in space (127). These events stem from the Soviet Union’s efforts to advance in the Space Race initially started in the late-1950s with the United States, their Cold War rival.

Though WWII ended in 1945, the spirit of expansionism was on the rise not long after and continued in other widely-covered competitions and wars like the Cold War and associated Space Race; Space exploration became another focus for both nations in their attempts to successfully prove their dominance and superiority, both economic and technological, over the another (“The Space Race”). Livesey’s inclusion of the Soviet space dogs not only provides readers with a concrete sense of time but also an idea of the societal development taking place in the world—media reached wider audiences, countries gained more power, and technology advanced at an ever-increasing pace. Although the United States made progress in their space travel efforts, it seemed that the Soviets were consistently ahead in the first few years. While Laika was sent into orbit on the Sputnik 2 space capsule in 1957, Strelka and Belka made history only three years later on August 19, 1960 as they successfully traveled space and returned to Earth alive after 17 orbits; Less than a year later in 1961, Yuri Gagarin became the first man to orbit the planet (Hollingham). With widespread coverage of the race already established, the Soviet space dogs gained international fame and were plastered on newspapers, stamps, and postcards, thus explaining Miss Seftain’s excitement over in Scotland (Hollingham).

Livesey’s incorporation of these monumental moments in history allow readers to contextualize and imagine the time period The Flight of Gemma Hardy’s narrator grows up in. From the moment of her birth, Gemma’s life is defined by the changing landscapes surrounding her. War, the death of her parents and uncle, fashion, and infrastructure are just a few consistently referenced throughout. Earlier in the novel, “the great tide of changes sweeping postwar Britain” is mentioned, referencing the end of World War II, and shortly after the mention of the space dogs, Gemma reflects on the changing nature of Claypoole (66, 129). With the late 1950s and early 1960s serving as a time of rapid transformations and technological advancements, Miss Seftain’s fascination with the Space Race sheds light on the ever-shifting nature of society before, during, and after times of war and empire-building not only where Gemma is located in Scotland but worldwide as well. It also highlights just how interconnected the world was in comparison to the 1800s, the time period of Jane Eyre, thanks to the technology developed and spread since.

Works Cited

Hollingham, Richard. “The Stray Dogs that Led the Space Race.” BBC, 1 Nov. 2017, https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20171027-the-stray-dogs-that-paved-the-way-to-the-stars. Accessed 11 Feb. 2022.

Livesey, Margot. The Flight of Gemma Hardy. HarperCollins, 2012.

Neozoon. 2009. Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Posta_Romana_-_1959_-_Laika_120_B.jpg. Accessed 13 Feb. 2022.

“The Space Race.” History, 22 Feb. 2020, https://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/space-race. Accessed 11 Feb. 2022.

Construction of the Twin Towers Begins/Sang comes to New York

Twin Towers, New York

In the novel Re Jane, Jane’s Uncle Sang mentions, “‘everytime I walking by construction site [of the Twin Towers], they building one more story…always feel little bit like we growing up together” (Park 154). Based on this information, he immigrated to Queens on or around 1966, when the first Twin Tower was constructed. The Twin Towers are significant to the story–they bring Jane and Sang back together in the second half, and they also represent Sang’s change into the man he is in the story. Although Sang is hard on Jane, he is distraught when he cannot find her after 9/11. 

Sang and Jane’s relationship is strained due to Sang’s insistence that Jane focus on being a “good” member of the family–in other words, he is extremely traditional, where Jane pushes those boundaries. In Korean culture, the family is the driving force behind all decisions. Sang, for example, gives up his dreams of going to Seoul University to follow his father’s orders and go to America. He raises Jane even though he knows she is almost an outcast in his culture–frowned upon for having mixed blood. 

According to Kyeyoung Park, the first Koreans to settle in New York “settle[d] in Queens” (9). When Jane asks why her grandfather would choose to send Sang overseas, Emo tells her, “it takes a certain kind of person to go through immigration…only the strongest can pull themselves back together again” (Park 240). Under the Immigration Act of 1965 required immigrants “have no adverse effect on wages and working conditions” (K. Park 13). Therefore, Sang’s intelligence and willingness to work were traits which worked in his favor. His father knew he would work hard, and he could withstand leaving his family behind. Emo’s answer was twofold–Sang had the mental and emotional strength to start over in a country where he knew no one and had no family to help him. 

Sang’s strength in coming to America reflects Jane’s strength in coming to Korea. Jane, facing cultural criticism and new social norms, continues to overcome each adversary in her way. Sang, although he is condescending and unmoving at times, prepared Jane for her time in Korea. Much like Sang, she had to learn to navigate her new country, advocating for herself, and continuing her strong ties with family. It is Sang’s example of strength and love which helps Jane find herself–ultimately leading up to the end of her relationship with Ed, and her independence in the end of the novel. 

Park, Kyeyoung. “Korean Migration to America: Dependent Development and ‘American Fever.’” The Korean American Dream: Immigrants and Small Business in New York City, Cornell University Press, 1997, pp. 7–35, http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7591/j.ctv5rf2p7.7.

Park, Patricia. Re Jane. New York, New York. Penguin Publishing Group, 2015.

World Trade Center . undefined. Britannica Academic, Encyclopædia Britannica, 3 Mar. 2022. academic-eb-com.eu1.proxy.openathens.net/levels/collegiate/assembly/view/180491. Accessed 3 Apr. 2022.

Star Wars Episode I The Phantom Menace

In the year 1999, Star Wars Episode I The Phantom Menace grossed $1.027 billion in the box office. This was the first Star Wars movie in 16 years and introduced a whole new generation to Star Wars. In Re Jane A Novel, Patricia Parks uses this to her advantage to set up the time period. Based on the popularity of Star Wars during that time, it is not at all surprising that Jane and her friends enjoy Star Wars and reference it in everyday conversations. ““Good-bye, Jane Re. I wish you well. May the force be with you.” “And also with you,” I found myself saying” (Parks 16). This is a subtle Star Wars reference that Parks uses to show the time the novel is set in. It is evident that the novel can only be set in one of two years. It is set in 1999, or 2000. The reason we know it is no earlier than 1999 is because it is unlikely that Star Wars would have been popular enough with Jane’s generation to be used casually in conversation this way if The Phantom Menace hadn’t come to theatres yet. Parks also subtly tells us the novel is no later than 2000 by mentioning The World Trade Center. “I thought of my interview at Lowood on the 103^rd floor of the World Trade Center” (7). Parks uses both events, Star Wars, and 911, to send subtle messages to the reader about when the story takes place. She never comes right out and says what year it is. In addition to working for setting, it also works to add to both Jane and Eunice’s characters. This is a smart literary tactic that is worth emulating. I find it interesting the way Parks works Lowood into the story here. Presuming that some time will pass, the events of 911 are likely to occur during the story, which would cause Lowood to serve as a reference to death and despair, much as it did in Jane Eyre: An Autobiography with Hellen Burns. In Re Jane A Novel, so far Lowood only represents the misfortune of missed opportunity and economic hardship, but if 911 does occur later in the story it could be a foreshadow to Jane gaining fortune in unexpected ways. This would make the company Lowood an interesting symbol and plot device and is something I will continue to track throughout my read.

Works Cited

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, imbd.com, 1999, accessed 3/27/22 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120915/

Parks, Patricia, Re Jane, Viking Penguin Publishing Group Penguin Random House LLC, 2015, ISBN 978-0-525-42740-7 accessed 3/27/22