Shelby White
There are many instances in Jane Eyre where Charlotte Bronte
uses or alludes to other literary works. One work in particular, Samuel
Johnson’s fable, Rasselas, has
important
implications for the novel. Rasselas
is the book Helen Burns is reading when Jane first encounters her
at Lowood.
Bronte did not choose this work at random. She was familiar with
Johnson’s
works, and she relied on the contemporary Victorian reader’s knowledge
of it, as she clearly states the title rather than just alluding to
it. A
knowledge of Johnson’s famous work is especially important in
understanding
the relationship between Helen and Jane. Many aspects from Rasselas
come out through Helen in the novel. Themes in Rasselas
are evident throughout Bronte’s novel, and understanding these
similarities
gives insight into aspects of the novel, especially in regards to such
things as Jane’s quest for permanent happiness.
Charlotte Bronte was known to have read Johnson’s works. In 1834, in
a letter to Ellen Nussey, a long time
friend
of hers, Bronte wrote: "You ask me to recommend some books for your
perusal…For
Biography, read Johnson’s lives of the Poets, Boswell’s life of
Johnson…"
(Bronte, Letters 1:129-132). In another letter, this time to a
man
she met on a trip to
Relying on her own knowledge of Samuel Johnson’s works, as well as the knowledge of her Victorian readers, Bronte uses Rasselas to foreshadow events in Jane Eyre. While the contemporary Victorian reader may have been aware of Johnson’s work and what its impact is on the story, the modern reader may not be aware of the connections between Rasselas and Jane Eyre.
The History of Rasselas Prince
of
Abyssinia is a story about a young man’s search for happiness. Rasselas
is a prince who is unsatisfied with a life of having anything and
everything
he has ever wanted. He wishes to find a way to escape from his home
in
The group travels from
Nekayah is distraught for several months
without Pekuah,
and even blames herself for the kidnapping. Over time, her grief
lessens,
but she then hears word that Pekuah
has
been found and will be returned for a ransom of two hundred ounces of
gold. Pekuah
is finally returned and the group decides to continue on their journey.
They encounter a highly knowledgeable and esteemed astronomer who
claims
to have the ability to control the seasons. Yet he lives in isolation
and
is not happy. They also encounter a very old man whom all believe is
the
happiest of all. Yet the man is very lonely and feels that there is no
more in life for him to learn or see. The group decides that in their
youth
is the source of happiness in life. Each decides what would make
him/her
truly happy. Pekuah decides that a
life
in the convent would make her truly happy. Nekayah
feels that knowledge would be her source of happiness, and she wishes
to
learn at a women’s college where she can gain knowledge from her elders
and teach those younger than herself. Rasselas
feels that having a kingdom of his own where he can dispense justice
and
oversee the government would be his source of happiness. With this
conclusion,
all decide to return to
Jane and Helen’s first encounter is based on Rasselas; it is in fact this book that draws Jane to Helen and gives her the courage to speak to her. Rasselas stands out in Jane’s mind as "a name that struck me as strange, and consequently attractive" (59; ch. 5). No further knowledge about the contents of the book is given in the novel. When Jane asks Helen what it is about, Helen merely replies, "You may like it" (59; ch. 5). When Jane is offered the book to look at, she pushes it aside as uninteresting:
…a brief examination convinced me that the contents were less taking than the title: "Rasselas" looked dull to my trifling taste; I saw nothing about fairies, nothing about genii; no bright variety seemed spread over the closely-printed pages. I returned it to her…(60; ch. 5)With a knowledge of Rasselas, the Victorian reader would have known that it was a story of searching for happiness. Jane decided against her original plan of borrowing the book from Helen after she flipped through the pages. The book contained no fairies, so it was not the usual fairy tale that Jane was accustomed to reading. However, if she would have examined the book further, she would have seen that it was a fairy tale, but one that was more true to life than the one she knew.
In chapter six, the second encounter between Jane and Helen takes
place.
Helen has just been humiliated in front of the class, and Jane finds
her
"absorbed, silent, abstracted from all round her by the companionship
of
a book, which she read by the dim glare of the embers" (65; ch.
6). When Jane asks "Is it still ‘Rasselas’?",
Helen tells her it is and that she is almost finished reading it.
The use of this work at this point in the novel and as a basis of their friendship also foreshadows and emphasizes the differences between Helen and Jane. Talking about the way that Miss Scatcherd treated Helen, Jane says "And if I were in your place I should dislike her: I should resist her; if she struck me with that rod, I should get it from her hand; I should break it under her nose" (65; ch. 6). Helen, however, takes a different and seemingly opposite approach: "It is far better to endure patiently a smart which nobody feels but yourself, than to commit a hasty action whose evil consequences will extend to all connect with you--and besides, the Bible bids us return good for evil" (65; ch. 6). At this attitude, Jane is in disbelief: "I could not comprehend this doctrine of endurance; and still less could I understand or sympathize with the forbearance she expressed for her chastiser" (65; ch. 6). Helen is offering Jane a different outlook on life, an outlook that has been influenced, at least partially, by Rasselas. Imlac also presents this knowledge during his story to Rasselas about his travels outside of Happy Valley. Helen’s "doctrine of endurance" closely resembles Imlac’s statement to Rasselas in Johnson’s work: "Human life is everywhere in a state in which much is to be endured, and little to be enjoyed" (27; ch.6).
Many similarities between Rasselas and Jane Eyre are evident throughout the novel. The story of Rasselas takes place in an oriental setting. The orient and exoticism are mentioned throughout Jane Eyre. In the first chapter in the novel, Jane describes herself as sitting "cross-legged, like a Turk" (20; ch. 1). This instance takes place even before Bronte mentions Johnson’s fable in the novel, and occurs when we first discover Jane’s love for reading, as well as her willingness to stand up and fight against those who mistreat her. The oriental is also mentioned in chapter 17, when Jane recalls that Mrs. Fairfax described Blanche Ingram as having "the raven ringlets, the oriental eye" (164; ch. 16). Blanche is again described by the word “oriental” in chapter 18, as is Mr. Rochester, during their game of charades:
Seated on the carpet…was seen Mr. Rochester, costumed in shawls, with a turban on his head. His dark eyes and swarth skin and Paynim features suited the costume exactly: he looked the very model of an eastern emir…Presently advanced into view Miss Ingram. She, too, was attired in oriental fashion. (186; ch. 18)The oriental is also used with St. John Rivers. In chapter 34, Jane describes a day after Diana and Mary have returned to Moor House, in which she and St. John are sitting alone: "I sat reading Schiller; he, deciphering his crabbed Oriental scrolls" (388; ch. 34).
In using the oriental to describe a portion of the charade that
Blanche
and
There is something to be said about the fact that Jane refuses to go
to
Given the fact that Helen dies in the novel although she lives in such an enduring way also says something about the usage of Rasselas in Jane Eyre. While there is not any substantial writing about the topic, if Charlotte Bronte had agreed with the moral of Rasselas, that a life of virtue is desirable, Jane would have perhaps adopted Helen’s ways. Just as Imlac gives Rasselas a different view of life, so too does Helen for Jane. In another difference between Jane and Rasselas, Rasselas hears of Imlac’s journeys and way of life and decides to adopt it for himself. Jane hears of Helen’s choice of life, through endurance, and decides that this is not for her.
Like Rasselas, Jane throughout the
novel
contemplates various problems in life while searching for
happiness. According
to Sandra M. Gilbert, "Jane Eyre makes a life journey" (477).
She
goes from an unhappy home with the Reeds, to the charity school of Lowood,
to a governess job at Thornfield, to
Moor
House, where she is faced with the possibility of traveling with St.
John
Rivers for religious servitude. Yet she ends up back with
It can also be debated on whether or not the conclusion of Rasselas
resolves anything the group set out to understand and find. It appears
that it has resolved something, as each member of the group decides
what
would make them truly happy. Yet all return home, which seems to be why
the final chapter is titled as it is. While they do return home, as
Jane
returns to
There is also another connection between Jane Eyre and Rasselas.
In Rasselas, four companions
are
set out on a journey to learn about various states of life. In Jane
Eyre, there are also instances of four companions choosing various
ways of living. At
There is also another instance of four companions at Moor
House:
Bronte used Rasselas to foreshadow Jane’s future of moving from one place to another in search of happiness. Jane could have learned a lot from reading this book and might have even been able to use the prince’s experiences in the book in her life. This is not to say she does not learn about Johnson’s writing: themes of Rasselas come to Jane through Helen.
Jane and Helen are similar in that they both like to read, and do so in trying times. Jane, in the beginning of the novel, reads while hiding from her cousin John, whom she later lashes out against in "a fury" (24; ch. 1), leading to her episode in the red-room. Helen is reading after a time of humiliation, and turns to her learning of the Bible and her reading of Rasselas to handle her situation differently than Jane did at the beginning of the novel. Instead of fighting back against authority, Helen simply says, in regards to Miss Scatcherd, "Cruel? Not at all! She is severe: she dislikes my faults" (65; ch. 6). Jane later explains to Helen her views in regards to authority figures:
But I feel this, Helen: I must dislike those who, whatever I do to please them, persist in disliking me; I must resist those who punish me unjustly. It is as natural as that I should love those who show me affection, or submit to punishment when I feel it is deserved. (67; ch. 6)Bronte’s placement of Rasselas in Jane Eyre was intentional, and used as a way to foreshadow not only Jane’s movement throughout the entire novel, but her quest for happiness that leads her back to where she was happy in the first place. Rasselas is important in the relationship between Helen and Jane, and to Helen as a character in the novel. Bronte was able to use a work of art that obviously influenced her as an influence in the reading of her novel Jane Eyre. While little is known on Bronte’s own views of Rasselas, it is obvious that the usage of it in the novel serves a purpose of showing how each person has decide for themselves what makes them happy.
Works Cited
Bronte,
Bronte,
Gilbert, Sarah M. "Plain Jane’s Progress." Jane Eyre. Ed.
Beth Newman.
Johnson, Samuel. The History of Rasselas Prince of Abyssinia. 1759. Ed. Gwin J. Kolb. Chicago: AHM Publishing, 1962.
Moglen, Helene. Charlotte Bronte: The Self Conceived. New York: Norton 1978.
Laying the Last Minstrel in Jane Eyre