Miss Jane and Miss Eyre: From student to teacher in Jane Eyre

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Published: Mar 9, 2021

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Noelia Galán Rodríguez
UNED
Spain
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6662-7269
Vol. 7 (2020), Articles, pages 61-72
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17979/digilec.2020.7.0.7102
Submitted: Nov 1, 2020 Accepted: Dec 1, 2020 Published: Mar 9, 2021
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Abstract

Jane Eyre is considered to be one of the most significant Victorian novels within the English literary canon as well as a governess novel. However, apart from her experience as governess, it must not be forgotten that, first of all, Jane was a student. Education has shaped the protagonist’s life and the plot of the novel making it one of the main topics of Jane Eyre and other Charlotte Brontë’s literary works such as The Professor (1857) and Villette (1853). The main aim of this essay is to study how education has shaped Jane Eyre both as a student and a teacher and how it has affected the outcome of the novel. In order to do so, a close reading of the novel is carried out along with a sociocultural background of Victorian society.

Keywords:

governess, education, role model, Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë

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