Concepts of love and marriage in 'Jane Eyre'

Seminar paper from the year 2000 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,0 (A), University of Cologne, language: English, abstract: In the novel Jane Eyre, which was first published in 1847, Charlotte Brontë discusses various problems concerning marriage, which especially affect the woman and she unfolds her idealistic picture of marriage. This work will concentrate on Jane Eyre¿s conflicting relationships with the two male protagonists, which raise important issues of the marriage debate such as the double standard of morality, divorce and the rights of the married woman. The solution to the conflicts and the basis of a harmonious male-female relationship which are offered in the novel will be examined and subsequently evaluated.

But before I can embark on the study of concepts of love and marriage in Jane Eyre, it is useful to have some background information about the author and her time, which will make it easier to understand the problems discussed in the novel. Therefore, I am going to begin with a very brief outline of the situation women were in in the Victorian era and of Brontë¿s attitude towards marriage.