03-25-2008, 10:48 PM
I think repression is definitely a theme of the book. I've never read a biography of Charlotte Bronte, but I doubt that she consciously wrote about this topic. I think it seeped into her writing as a result of her life experience, the times in which she lived and her family background.
Everyone in the book is repressed in one way or another. Characters are repressed as a result of gender, class, and religion. The women clearly suffer the most. A number of the characters are emotionally constrained, unable and unwilling to reveal their feelings (aside from being unable to control their own destinies because they are women.) Mrs. Reed is emotionally repressed, having never had a loving relationship with her husband or son. Her daughters don't much care for her. And the oldest Reed girl who became a nun? That is a VERY tightly wound character.
Who is the most repressed of all though? It must be St. John. At first, it is because of class issues, but then because of his own arrogance and martyrdom. How painful and lonely such lives must be!
I'm not a fan of Helen. I find her martyrdom as incomprehensible as St. John's. She is clearly a victim and never shows anger. I think it's people like Helen who are the doormats of the world. I understand that she is powerless, but she doesn't even have the will to fight. But then again, I'm not a religious person so that may be why I can't accept Helen. I find her just as repressed as anyone else.
Everyone in the book is repressed in one way or another. Characters are repressed as a result of gender, class, and religion. The women clearly suffer the most. A number of the characters are emotionally constrained, unable and unwilling to reveal their feelings (aside from being unable to control their own destinies because they are women.) Mrs. Reed is emotionally repressed, having never had a loving relationship with her husband or son. Her daughters don't much care for her. And the oldest Reed girl who became a nun? That is a VERY tightly wound character.
Who is the most repressed of all though? It must be St. John. At first, it is because of class issues, but then because of his own arrogance and martyrdom. How painful and lonely such lives must be!
I'm not a fan of Helen. I find her martyrdom as incomprehensible as St. John's. She is clearly a victim and never shows anger. I think it's people like Helen who are the doormats of the world. I understand that she is powerless, but she doesn't even have the will to fight. But then again, I'm not a religious person so that may be why I can't accept Helen. I find her just as repressed as anyone else.