Today’s Agenda
The “Dangerous Tools” portion of our course
1) Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis is founded on some basic concepts, many of which you may have heard about before: Subconscious mind, Id, Ego, and Super Ego, etc..
But for our purposes, the most important concept is the concept of the Oedipus Complex.
Sigmund Freud first came up with this idea around 1899, and called it the “nuclear complex.” You may have heard about this complex before, probably in the context of it being about people who want to murder their father and sleep with their mother. That’s not exactly an accurate description on the complex, which is much better understood as follows.
The Oedipus Complex in Ten steps
1) Freud argues that, when you were a fetus in the womb, your first psychological experience was the experience of total comfort: all of your biological needs were met, and you did not suffer from any mental stress. Thus, you were “totally happy.” He calls this experience the experience of the “Oceanic feeling” You were essentially overwhelmed by a force that was infinitely more powerful than you were.
2) When we are born, we quickly lose “the oceanic feeling,” because we suddenly develop biological needs that need to be taken care of that we cannot take care of ourselves. Thus, we begin to experience need and pain in a very real way, and this is distressing.
3) So what do we do? Well, Freud says we all try to get back to that oceanic feeling, and that we first do this by clinging to our mothers. They “take care of us,” by feeding us, changing us, etc.
4) However, he also says that our need to the oceanic feeling is SO strong, and the challenges of the world SO great that our mother’s are essentially doomed to fail in making us happy. No matter what they do, they cannot return us our primal state of bliss, which we demand!
5) So, Freud says, we get mad at our mothers and reject them as “failures.” We may not understand WHY we are upset with our parents, but, according to Freud, the ultimate reason is because we demand that they do something no one can reasonably do: return us to the oceanic experience.
6) So, we cast out mother’s cast aside. We supposedly then turn towards our fathers, who, under Freud’s theory, are there to “tell us what to do, and what not to do.” As our father’s deny us activities, they effectually cut the world down for us – this is forbidden, than is forbidden. This has the effect of shrinking our world, and provides some of the comfort that we have during our oceanic experience.
7) However, Freud argues, the world is so complex and challenging that we are bound to figure out that the smaller world our father gives us is ultimately very disappointing, and will leave us wanting – so we eventually strike out against him.
8) However, because we are all driven by our desire for the oceanic experience, when we strike out at the father, it is not to undo all that he stands for, but to become him, because, by doing that, we believe that we will gain the ability to control our own perception of the world, and, then, be able to simply choose to return to the oceanic experience.
9) To remove the father, we find that we must replace him, and here is where the gross part comes into the theory. The idea here is that we choose to “marry” our mothers so that we will be as much like our father as possible. For Freud, this is why incest is so taboo in society, it stands a direct challenge to establish patriarchal orders. I can think of far more obvious reasons for this.
10) Now, there are some obvious problems with this theory, not the least of which is that it is totally sexist. It presumes the existence of a “nuclear” family. However, it lays a foundation for human action that can be used to explain human relations.
How might the Oedipus complex be playing out at Husson?
You may or may not be aware of fellow students who have the following kinds of obsessions
1: Always listening to their IPOD/ talking on their Cell Phone
2: Always talking about sports or a sport team or other hobby
3: Someone who is always talking about their boyfriend or girlfriend, or talking about their ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend
4: Unreasonably obsessed with a particular faith system or topic
These can all be seen as — literally infantile — efforts to limit one’s world as much as possible so that it is as orderly and organized as possible – as close to the Oceanic experience as possible. People may do so for any number of reasons, but at the heart of Freud’s theory the ultimate reason is that they are dissatisfied with existence as they find it, and want to trim it down to something that is as orderly as possible.
So next time you see this:
Think This:
Okay, let’s write a journal entry:
Do you buy into what I just said? Does this theory make sense to you? Why might it be a useful tool for analyzing literature? What are its potential limitations? Can it be applied to the reading for today? If so, explain.
Class Discussion, Discussion of Reading
[...] Wednesday, March 25 [...]
Jason Stewart
Adam Crowley, Eh 241
29 March 2009
The first dozen chapters of Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre finds the protagonist in a world dominated by female characters, most of them being villainous to Jane. The lack of male characters throughout the first chapters speaks to type of novel Bronte is writing, which is quite different from what else was being written in her time. It is not until Jane is out of Lowood that she begins to have genuine feelings for a man. After being hired to be the nanny of Adele at Thornfield, Jane begins to feel more “at home” with where she is in life, which is probably the reason why she is able to open up and fall in love with a man. Jane finally meets the owner of Thornfield, Mr. Rochester, who Jane describes as “abrupt and cold”. This is interesting because Jane has described two other male characters, John Reed and Mr. Brocklehurst, in the same manner, yet Jane begins to have feelings for this man.
The other interesting part of Mr. Rochester is that he is by far the most developed male character thus far in Jane Eyre. Instead of the author diving into the lives of Mr. Brocklehurst or John Reed to discover why they are so cross with the women around, we are just left to draw the conclusion that the men around Jane are evil and that is all that is to them. We learn many things about Mr. Brocklehurst that makes the reader see the “cold” man in a new light, which is the light that Jane sees this man in. Bronte creates this world around Jane, and the reader inevitably begins to feel what Jane feels. After discovering that Rochester brought Adele into his house even strongly believing she is not his child, Jane begins to have feelings for the man that she has yet shown toward a man in the novel. We have seen Jane being compassionate to other characters in the story, like Bessie and Helen, but we are now seeing a new side of Jane. This side of Jane bears new emotions like love, affection and jealousy.
With the love story between Rochester and Jane we also find mystery in the Thornfield estate. Grace Poole was introduced to Jane as a worker at Thornfield who was a bit of a recluse and Jane was not to approach her. Jane soon discovers that Grace laughs in the most eerie of ways, and one night hears this sinister laughter before finding that Rochester’s life was nearly snuffed out by Grace who tried to burn him while he was asleep. This story of Jane Eyre does not quite fit a specific genre like most modern novels, which why the Grace Poole mystery is quite shocking considering what we have seen thus far in the novel.
William Dow
3/29/2009
EH241.001
Basic feelings of Jane Eyre
The novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte is a funny little novel. I personally have drawn many equivalents in modern stories. The story has made me draw eerie comparisons to the Harry Potter novels though they are vastly different in subject’s one dealing in fantasy and this story feeling like it could be based on a real life. I personally had a problem getting into the book; the story is well written but just does not appeal to my interest. The book seems to have more things happening then most of the story we have been assigned to read but this just keeps me at arm’s length from being absorbed into the story unlike the others.
As I stated above I draw many similarities to other novels that I have had the pleasure to read. The most similarities between the two as I stated above is the Harry Potter novels. They both being orphans both being forced to live with a relative that treats them worst then dirt. The thing that drove my mind set to this is the passage where Jane talks about being forced to live in a closet shown here “Since my illness she had drawn a more marked line of separation than ever between me and her own children; appointing me a small closet to sleep in (24)”. Though I doubt that it was a closet and not just an extremely small room it still drew me to that mind set. The next sign to me was the greedy spoiled cousin that seems to be the same person in both novels. Violent, stupid, and the biggest mama’s boy ever they could be brothers if not the same person. The next big idea is the bordering school though the schools are different in purpose and friendliness of staff it is still never the less the same path followed by the young boy of 11 in the popular novel of today. They are both around the same age when entering their education. After that, the similarities are thinner, the last being the staying at their respective institutions over breaks though Jane is forced and Harry by choice.
The novel of Jane Eyre is odd one indeed; I have found myself knowing what going to happen next without prior knowledge of the story. This seems less a fault of the story, but sign that this has been an influential novel to the rest of the world. There seems to be an over abundance of female characters, every few kind to are protagonist. This strikes an oddity in are reading up to know which have been have been male dominated. Especially the novel Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe which goes so far as to never mention a woman except when describing his mother in the beginning. This fact is most likely the reason for my lack of enthusiasm in reading this book. This leads me to believe that she wrote this book to appeal to a different audience then the novel we have been assigned before this one.
Lisa Randall
EH 241, Adam Crowley
29 March 2009
In the beginning chapters of Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre we learn that there is little happiness in Jane’s early life when living with her aunt, Mrs. Reed. Jane soon realizes in her life that things are not right with the way she is being treated in the home. Her only friend is Bessie, who works in the house. It is only after she moves out of the house to Lowood that she finds a friend her own age. At the age of ten, Jane experiences a friend her own age and learns from the other girls at Lowood, as well as from the teachers there. At this time, the only male influence she has had in her life was from John Reed and Mr. Brocklehurst.
When she is hired to be the governess at the age of 18, by Mr. Rochester, she beings to have different feelings for a male, which seem to be confusing and new to her. Jane soon becomes attached to the residents at Thornfield estate. After meeting and speaking with Mr. Rochester a few times, Jane finds herself beginning to care for the man, and later even admitting that she loves him. Jane’s move to the Thornfield estate proves to be one of the biggest changes in her life, emotionally and physically. While there, she is treated with respect and has a fine living, considering what she has to compare it all to.
After the attempted murder on Mr. Rochester, Jane begins to question the habits of Grace Poole, another who works at the estate as a seamstress. She was told not to approach her, and after hearing her eerie laugh a few too many times, she begins to wonder at what the big secret of Thornfield is.
Sarah Rackliffe
EH 241
Professor Crowley
March 20, 2009
Interesting Parts in Jane Eyre
The first interesting part I found in Jane Eyre is the part where Jane discusses feminism. She explains that women feel the same as men and that they can do more than clean and cook. I found this part interesting because Charlotte Bronte is introducing feminism so a sexist world. Jane never views herself as the lesser sex. Jane almost reminds me of the wife of bath, while she doesn’t act like the wife she seems to have the same views of independence that the wife has. Most of the books we have read in this class have been written by a male and have been told in a male prospective. Even Frankenstein was written by a female, but was told in a male prospective. In Frankenstein we see women as the oblivious weaker sex and constantly are in distress. Jane Eyre gives us a look into the female’s point of view of the world and the struggles that ‘she’ faces by trying to prove to be equal to men.
From page 129 to one 130 there is a paragraph describing Jane’s feelings towards the gender roles in society. She says that women are supposed to feel a certain way but in reality they feel the same way that men do. She says that people who think any other way, such as men are the greater sex and women are not equal to them in anyway, are narrow minded. She also believes that it is horrible to laugh or make fun at a woman who wants to seek more in life then just what their sex is supposed to do.
Another interesting thing I found in this story is the romance between Jane and Rochester. This is the first story we have read in class that focuses on the development of a relationship. Unlike The Knights Tale in Jane Eyre we see Jane fall in love with this man instead of the man deciding that he loves a woman and that automatically makes her his, which brings us back to the feminism that is brought up in this book. We get to see Jane’s view on this man and how he feels about him and sees that it is Jane’s choice whether or not to be with him.
We see that Jane always wants to be this independent women and I feel that Jane is afraid of giving up this independence for Rochester. I believe that she feels that if she gave in and admitted her feelings about Rochester then she would be giving up all that she has worked for and what she believes in.
What I thought interesting about Jane Eyre.
While I am reading this book I am finding myself realize that we are diving into the complex theory of feminism. We have read books before this one, but unlike the others, we are following the life of a woman who is the main character. All the other novels we have read have been about the lives of men and their deeds. This book is extremely interesting to me because we confront feminism head on. It is sad to say that when Charlotte Bronte wrote this novel women were seen as being lesser than men in society. For her to write this novel at this time in history, I think is almost as a jab to society at this time. What she is doing with this novel is truly great. Bronte is putting the issue right on the table in front of a society that is dominated by males and saying “Hey we have the same feelings and can do the same things as any man out there!” This I find truly fascinating.
As for the novel itself, I like the style of writing Bronte posses. She is truly a great writer. As stated before in another post by a classmate, I found the story hard to get into first. Although now that we are deep into the novel I find myself wondering what is going to happen next or how it is going to end. I thought it was interesting that all the women in the novel were mean even though Bronte is trying to throw issues of feminism out there on the “table”. I thought it was great that she placed all the men in the story as being cold characters but Jane starts to have feelings for him. As the story evolves, we see life in society through a female standpoint. We as readers, get a firsthand view through a female’s eyes in society at this time. I truley feel Bronte was trying to do this so males who were ignorant and thought women were lesser than them would see that they are wrong. Women have the same thoughts, same feelings, same capabilities as any other person out there in the world. I find myself also thinking of what men during this time would think of the novel or even read it. I also wonder if this novel changed some of their views.
Coming along further in this book, I would like to make the point now that this novel is increasingly interesting. Jane is plain, poor, unconnected with the only family she has, and she is incredibly outspoken in all situations.
Jane’s perception throughout the novel, becomes the readers moral compass. She shows the reader the hypocrisy in those characters who call themselves “Christian” but are mean-spirited and selfish.
Jane also challenges the audience to think about social classes. The reader learns that although Jane is poor, she is admirable and simple which makes her higher in caliber that the wealthy people whom she is raised. Jane is constantly endeavoring to change her circumstances.
While reading Jane Eyre I am beginning to pick up on a few things. To really get a good perspective on why this novel is herald as one of the greats you have to look at the time it was written. At the time this was written it was still expected of women to become mothers and the basic housekeeper of the family. They were still not allowed to vote or hold office or basically make many choices. They were viewed as lesser beings that could not think of their own. The school that Jane goes to is direct proof of this. Lowood does not teach anything more than what is needed to be taken care of, to get married off and be a good wife. I am viewing this as not only a well written story, but a social commentary from the hands of Charlotte Bronte herself. She speaks out that women are just as good as men, that they can read, write, and be a contribution to an intellectual society instead of being pushed to the sidelines.
When Jane finally receives a position or governess, something that was monumental at the time, things start to look up for her. She meets a man and start to have feelings for him, something new and exciting for her, for the first time in her life she views a male to be a companion. Unlike the last few stories we have read were women were just told to be married to people, used as finical gain, or just tricked into marriage this is were Jane makes a conscious decision as to who she wants to be with, and then pursues it. But something comes up much like what Elizabeth I of England did, she was almost afraid to get married because she didn’t want someone to be her master. Jane didn’t want a person that could boss her around like an animal and have it be also socially acceptable. This is all understandable given the portrayal of men, and most of the women, that Jane has come into contact with at this point. She has become a fairly guarded person due to her struggle to make it this far.
The style that she writes in is very interesting. At first I was wondering why I didn’t find the story dry or boring to read. There was not much going on that I thought I would have been interested in but as I read page after page; I found myself getting more and more interested. She details the world Jane lives in so vividly and with so much detail that you can’t help but picture it in your head.
Leah Gomes
EH 241
30 March 2009
Jane Eyre
What Interested Me:
The concept of class is seen throughout the book, and it is very disturbing to see how horribly people treat other people. It isn’t so much how Jane is treated, but how differently she is treated from other people. First, Mrs. Reed does not treat Jane as an equal to her children, as she had promised. Secondly, Mr. Brockelhurst treats all of the children with great unkindness. Thirdly, when Mr. Rochester brings his friends from London, Miss Ingram sees and treats them as inferiors. It is not until Jane reaches Thornfield that someone in a higher class treats her with equality. I think she begins to be comfortable in her own skin, in her own caste, and that intrigues Rochester. I love the character of Jane because of her struggles and her strengths.
Although Rochester does not treat Jane as the governess she is, Jane must remind herself that there is indeed a difference in their classes, and she had no right to the feelings she has. One particular scene we see Jane giving herself one of her many talks, after Rochester has been gone for several days, “He is not in your order: keep to your caste.” She realizes that she has no right to the feelings she has for him, because of the high position he has. Later, as Jane is watching Rochester and Miss Ingram together, she begins to think that he is “not of their kind” but of her. By this, she means that she and he have more in common, as far as tastes and feelings, than he does with the London group. She does not mean that she is in the position, the caste, to have want of his affections.
Jane, in spite of her class and with no act of her, gained the love of Rochester. She was herself, and did not want to become something that she was not, even though he offered it to her. She did not love him for his money. After his proposal of marriage to her, he offers her many jewels, and dresses, but she replies: “And then you won’t know me, sir; and I shall not be your Jane Eyre any longer, but an ape in a harlequin’s jacket, – a jay in borrowed plumes.” She does not want him to make her become like the others who think themselves higher.
The group from London, though they all seem to be from the same caste, are not all treated the same, especially Miss Ingram. This young woman looks down her nose at everyone. It seems though there are castes within castes. Her first attack is on Mrs. Dent, who likes flowers, but has no knowledge of botany. Miss Ingram took this advantage to “play on her ignorance” and to run over its vocabulary with an air.” She did not merely show off her knowledge on the subject, but she threw it in the poor woman’s face. When Miss Ingram is introduced to Adele, she looks “down at her with mocking air” and call her a puppet. At the discussion of governesses, Jane’s name is brought up, and you can see where Miss Ingram gets her pompous nature, when Mrs. Ingram instantly slams Jane down, saying “I noticed her . . . and in her I see all the faults of her class,” yet she will not disclose what those faults are. Jane later reflects that Miss Ingram “scorned to touch me with hem of her robes as she passed . . . and if her imperious eye fell on me by chance, would withdraw it instantly as from an object too mean to merit observation.” She felt too high herself to even look upon someone of a lower class than her.
Miss Ingram did not love Rochester. She merely wanted hi money. As was said, if another, richer man came along, her ‘affection’ for Rochester would be gone. Thankfully, her character is shown, when Rochester sends a rumor their way that he is not as rich as everyone thought. He says that “I presented myself [to them] to see the result: it was coldness both from her and her mother.” There is quite a difference in character between Jane and Miss Ingram. It takes a while for Rochester to see this, but he does realize that he has fallen in love with Jane because she is different.
Caleb Ashey
EH241 Professor Crowley
Interesting Things
One thing I found very interesting about Jane Eyre was the way that the story is being told. Its being told like a recollection. As if she is talking about her childhood as an adult. Which is why I think some of the language that is being used when she is ten or so years old seems very above that age level. Sometimes I forget that its being re-told and I raise my eyebrows at some of the vocabulary that is being used. Also I am surprised that the story closely resembles the Cinderella story of the abused step child who is being raised by the evil step mom character. Except that this is the adult version of it.
Another interesting theme about the book is its very feministic air about it. Jane believes throughout the whole story that she is equal to other people around her. Most especially the male characters in the story, even though there aren’t that many of them. Which is in itself very interesting. Most of the characters in the story are females, and they are people who have chosen to follow certain social norms of that time and live a life of servitude. Which Jane does not want to do.
Jane wants to be independent, which comes from her childhood of spending a lot of time in isolation. Whats interesting about this is that it seems to me that she is seeking companionship, but when she finally starts getting close to someone she either comes up with a reason to push them away or they are taken away from her and she feels like she has been abandoned. Its hard to believe that after all that time spent at a school that she was unable to form a long enduring relationship with someone.
Kacey Beckwith
03/29/09
Eh 241: Major British Writers
Professor Adam Crowley
Reaction to Jane Eyre
The two parts of our reading that caught my attention the most was when there was a seeming assassination attempt on Mr. Rochester’s life and when Jane realized that she was in love with Mr. Rochester. Jane seems to realize many things during these seventy plus pages. She realizes many things about Mr. Rochester’s character, as well as her own. She tries to force herself to see clearly what she really is like.
When Jane awakens one night and finds Mr. Rochester in a roomful of flames, she quickly extinguishes them. When he asks her what happened she tells him of the evil laugh she heard before she came to see what was going on. She relays her thoughts that Mrs. Poole is the one who started the fire. Mr. Rochester seems to agree, yet he wishes this realization to be kept a secret. I agree with Jane’s questions on this subject. Why would Mr. Rochester wish this knowledge to be kept a secret? Why would he not punish Mrs. Poole or get rid of her? I found this to be interesting because there were so many questions, all of which just add to Mr. Rochester’s shiftless character.
At the end of chapter sixteen and through chapter seventeen, Jane realizes that she is in love with Mr. Rochester. This is something that I slightly expected, however it was still surprising. Jane and Mr. Rochester seems to have many differences. Jane comes across as a gentle and caring person, while Mr. Rochester comes across as a hard and unforgiving person. I, for one, would not think a pair such as this would come together. However, it appears, at least at the very end of chapter seventeen, that Mr. Rochester just might relay her feelings. I find this whole thing surprising and also confusing because Mr. Rochester seems to feel for Jane in some places but not at all in other places. He ignores her and barely speaks to her at some points, and then at other times he requests her company for hours and even goes so far as to leave his company in order to follow and Jane and request her to stay, even though he has ignored her the entire night. This relationship seems very confusing to me, and also to Jane. It will be interesting to seem what events take place associated with this part of the book, as well as with the fire.