Family In Jane Eyre And Hamlet

In both William Shakespeare’s play, вЂ?Hamlet’ and in Charlotte BrontÐ"«Ð²Ð‚™s novel, вЂ?Jane Eyre’ the self is an extremely powerful notion. One of the main constraints and one of the main motivators in both texts is the importance and influence of the family. Both texts explore the powerful impact of the family, or perceived family, to define or shape the self and the extent of influence that the family can have to alter, prevent or encourage development of the self. This influence is used effectively by both authors to reveal and accentuate character growth. The movement in character growth is both physical and spiritual, revealing through a combination of both, the extent of family influence. The unusual and controversial representations of the family in both вЂ?Jane EyreвЂ? and вЂ?Hamlet’ allow a deeper and more complex analysis of the power and influence of the perceived notion of the family unit. In Jane Eyre, the setting, characters, motifs and symbols and concepts such as masculinity have a profound impact on the significance of the family. In comparison, to the eventual creation of a family for Jane, Hamlet portrays the destruction of the family unit. This is effectively conveyed through extremely powerful language use, use of symbolism, characters and interpretations of the destroyed family.

Jane Eyre is a classic coming-of-age novel, using the popular format of a character reaching maturity through a series of obstacles, similar to both Mark Twain's вЂ?Huckleberry Finn’, and J.D. Salinger's вЂ?The Catcher in the Rye’. However it creates a more complex picture through clever crafting of the novel incorporating the physical movement and growth of Jane with her spiritual development. One of the strongest influences on her movements is the notion of the family. As Jane is an orphan, she must вЂ?create’ her own family. Her choices reflect her need to find her own family. Jane Eyre is a novel which has no firm setting. As the locations change, Jane herself is affected in different ways. She is searching for the love and affection that she believes she will find in a family, which would include a sense of being valued, and of belonging. The novel begins with Jane as onlooker on the Reed Family. She is not included or wanted in the family, after the death of her uncle who wanted her to be part of the family. The concept of masculinity comes into play, as the responsibility of the family was heralded by the father. This masculine dominance was passed to her cousin John Reed, who hates Jane and makes life difficult and miserable for Jane. This illustrates the powerful link between the influence of male characters as being seen to represent the strength of the family, but it also reveals Jane’s repression by male dominance. Although this was common in the 19th century, BrontÐ"« conveys the struggle behind what was generally regarded as the accepted power of males within the family.

Several notable characteristics of Jane are demonstrated in the beginning chapters. She is seen as strong, fiery and as having a fierce sense of independence even at a young age. However this force is met with much restraint by the authority figures in her world. These restraints over her are wielded by various forms of Jane’s �family’; John Reed, Mrs Reed, Lowood, St John and others who attempt to crush her spirit. Jane’s strong sense of self has the reverse effect from that which was intended; she develops and matures through her powerful self conviction. She draws strength from the different family influences, rejecting Mrs Reed;

�I am glad you are no relation of mine: I will never call you aunt again as long as I live...you treated me with miserable cruelty.’ Jane Eyre (pg. 45)

However she creates positive role models in the form of Miss Temple and Helen Burns, who become a part of her created family at Lowood .They appear to have a strong maternal influence over Jane and their influence is positive, unlike most of her previous experiences. Helen and Miss Temple manage to install a further self growth in Jane. She transforms from an angry girl bent on self-survival into a mostly independent young woman. However, she still has a desperate need to be loved and be a part of a family, this need conveys that she is young and still developing a true sense of self;

�...to gain some real affection from you, or Miss Temple, or any other whom I truly love, I would willingly submit to have the bone of my arm broken, or to let a bull toss me, or to stand behind a kicking horse, and let it dash its hoof at my chest’ Jane Eyre ( pg.81)

BrontÐ"« creates Jane as a character who has never known a real family, and who goes out into the world to find love and devotion which she believes is what family represents. This quest is her motivation and encourages her sense of self to grow and develop as she overcomes the difficulties in finding her own sanctuary. However in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the protagonist is motivated by the complete destruction of his family and the play focuses on his valiant attempts to enact vengeance against his family. Hamlet is trapped in a dysfunctional, abstract world; almost everyone in it is interested only in their own brand of survival within the framework. The family structure is crucial to Hamlet’s warped sense of self and to the overall tragic message of the play. Hamlets family unit was broken by the death of his father, and by his uncle Claudius marrying his mother and becoming the King. A spirit appears to Hamlet which claims to be the ghost of his father. The ghost suggests the notion that Claudius killed Hamlets father. Hamlet believes himself to be honour bound to his family, to take revenge on his father’s murder. Jane Eyre seeks to create a family for herself, where as Hamlet destines himself to annihilate his family. His sense of self is warped and tortured by the influence of his family unit.

The motif of incest and incestuous desire is present throughout the play and is frequently alluded to by Hamlet and the ghost, most obviously in conversations about Gertrude and Claudius, the former brother-in-law and sister-in-law who are now married. The strongest overtones of incestuous desire arise in the relationship of Hamlet and Gertrude, in Hamlet’s fixation on Gertrude’s sex life with Claudius and his preoccupation with her in general;

�Why, she would hang on him ,as if increase of appetite had grown, by what it fed on: and yet,