The Search for an Identity in Jane Eyre and Great Expectations Comparison Essay

The Search for an Identity in Jane Eyre and Great Expectations
The essay reflects how social pressures help Pip in Charles Dickens', "Great Expectations" and Jane in Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre" develop as mature adults in Victorian times.
# 147692 | 1,739 words | 0 sources | 2011 | PR
Published on Jun 15, 2011 in Literature (English) , Women Studies (Women and Society)


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Description:

This paper looks at two fictional characters; Pip from Charles Dickens', "Great Expectations" and Jane Eyre from the novel of that name by Charlotte Bronte. These two characters reflect the period's attitude towards the importance of social acceptance and the role each gender has to play within society. The paper explains how the ideas of class and keeping up appearances are very important features in these novels and the development of Pip and Jane's character is deeply rooted and affected by these social pressures and how hard it is for them to define themselves.

From the Paper:

''Bronte's Jane Eyre and Dickens's Great Expectations from the Victorian Era reflect the period's attitude towards the importance of social acceptance and the role each gender has to play within society. The protagonists search for the meaning of life and the nature of the world within the context of that defined social order. The ideas of class and keeping up appearances are very important features in these novels and the development of Pip and Jane's character is deeply rooted and affected by these social pressures (which consists mostly on their education, relationship with peers, and their love lives). It becomes hard for them to define themselves when they first think about others before themselves in their crucial stage of development. However eventually they reach maturity by asserting a decision that is not dependent or revolved around others and finally transcend from childhood innocence to experience.
''Often in the Victorian novel there are restrictions upon the female characters that deal with the class that they are forced into and the way they maintain the appearances of the class they are a part of.''

Cite this Comparison Essay:

APA Format

The Search for an Identity in Jane Eyre and Great Expectations (2011, June 15) Retrieved September 24, 2023, from https://www.academon.com/comparison-essay/the-search-for-an-identity-in-jane-eyre-and-great-expectations-147692/

MLA Format

"The Search for an Identity in Jane Eyre and Great Expectations" 15 June 2011. Web. 24 September. 2023. <https://www.academon.com/comparison-essay/the-search-for-an-identity-in-jane-eyre-and-great-expectations-147692/>

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