The Bluebeard Reference in Jane Eyre :: Charlotte Bronte Jane Eyre Essays

The Bluebeard Reference in Jane Eyre    Within Jane Eyre lies an explicit reference to the tale of Bluebeard. When first exploring the dark hall of Thornfield’s third floor Jane tells us, "I lingered in the long passage to which this led [. . .] with only one little window at the far end, and looking, with its two rows of small black doors all shut, like a corridor in some Bluebeard’s castle" (114; ch. 11). This allusion is not a casual one, for the plot of Jane Eyre has much in common with the tale of Bluebeard. Bronte uses Bluebeard to foreshadow Rochester’s first wife, Bertha, being locked away from society in a hidden room on the third floor. This reference also in part alludes to ideas of women’s obedience and how not following the patriarchal rules of society can lead to punishment. Bertha is isolated from society and held captive in a secret room because she is not the model wife and acts out despite her husband. This relates to Bluebeard because he murders his wives once they become diso bedient. Bertha does die in the end of Bronte’s novel, though not at the hands of her husband. But even being isolated from society and held captive can be viewed as a symbolic death. Also Jane herself is often punished for not following the rules of patriarchal society. Bronte brings this poor treatment of women by society to light in the novel and shows her rejection of it through the characters of Jane and Bertha. The tale of Bluebeard dates back to the seventeenth century. "Bluebeard as we know him first appeared in Paris in 1695 as La Barbe Bleue, in the manuscript version of Charles Perrault’s Histories Ou Contes Du Temps Passe, a collection which has become a seminal influence on the evolution of fairy tale" (Davies 33). The villain of this tale is a man with a blue beard whom everyone fears. After inviting his neighbors to stay and celebrate at his country home in attempts to persuade one of the their daughters to marry him, he convinces the youngest of his widowed neighbor to be his bride. All goes well until the new husband goes away on business, leaving his wife in charge with only one rule, to not open the door of one room in the castle. Of course curiosity overtakes the wife and she enters the room only to find Bluebeard’s previous wives murdered within the chamber. The Bluebeard Reference in Jane Eyre :: Charlotte Bronte Jane Eyre Essays The Bluebeard Reference in Jane Eyre    Within Jane Eyre lies an explicit reference to the tale of Bluebeard. When first exploring the dark hall of Thornfield’s third floor Jane tells us, "I lingered in the long passage to which this led [. . .] with only one little window at the far end, and looking, with its two rows of small black doors all shut, like a corridor in some Bluebeard’s castle" (114; ch. 11). This allusion is not a casual one, for the plot of Jane Eyre has much in common with the tale of Bluebeard. Bronte uses Bluebeard to foreshadow Rochester’s first wife, Bertha, being locked away from society in a hidden room on the third floor. This reference also in part alludes to ideas of women’s obedience and how not following the patriarchal rules of society can lead to punishment. Bertha is isolated from society and held captive in a secret room because she is not the model wife and acts out despite her husband. This relates to Bluebeard because he murders his wives once they become diso bedient. Bertha does die in the end of Bronte’s novel, though not at the hands of her husband. But even being isolated from society and held captive can be viewed as a symbolic death. Also Jane herself is often punished for not following the rules of patriarchal society. Bronte brings this poor treatment of women by society to light in the novel and shows her rejection of it through the characters of Jane and Bertha. The tale of Bluebeard dates back to the seventeenth century. "Bluebeard as we know him first appeared in Paris in 1695 as La Barbe Bleue, in the manuscript version of Charles Perrault’s Histories Ou Contes Du Temps Passe, a collection which has become a seminal influence on the evolution of fairy tale" (Davies 33). The villain of this tale is a man with a blue beard whom everyone fears. After inviting his neighbors to stay and celebrate at his country home in attempts to persuade one of the their daughters to marry him, he convinces the youngest of his widowed neighbor to be his bride. All goes well until the new husband goes away on business, leaving his wife in charge with only one rule, to not open the door of one room in the castle. Of course curiosity overtakes the wife and she enters the room only to find Bluebeard’s previous wives murdered within the chamber.