The Culturally Displaced Other in Jane Eyre Free Essay Example, 1500 words

Jane uses the reference of slaves and the colonized in the context of oppression. The comparison that Jane makes between the condition of a woman and a slave is not to show the latter inferior but to stress on the grimness of torture on both (Meyer, 1990). Jane Eyre s story might have been a romantic tale of love set in the Victorian era except for the character of Bertha and her outlandish origin and dark and swarthy appearance (Meyer, 1990). It is in the figurative use of Bertha s character that Bronte unconsciously introduces the theme of the culturally displaced At this point, Bronte s Jane Eyre transcends the personal story of oppression and captures a more tragic tale of cultural displacement and oppression. Bertha s story as Jane and the readers get to know from Rochester might be used as a foil to Jane s but it also speaks about Bronte s perception of another cultural reality. The story of the Creole heiress brought up in the sultry and free-spirited isle and forced to mar ry in a completely different cultural paradigm had the potential to be a striking tale of cultural displacement. We will write a custom essay sample on The Culturally Displaced Other in Jane Eyre or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/page She becomes a symbol of the Other that Bronte implies in her reference to the colonized slaves. Finally, Bronte s autobiographical novel has the seeds of feminism and sparks off a debate over the oppressive norms of the patriarchal society and at the same time acts as a critique of racism.