The Purpose of Sati in Jane Eyre Essay - 2082 Words

The general image of Sati and the reasoning that surrounded it filled the Western imagination with repulsion as well as admiration. In the nineteenth century, Westerners publishing diaries of their travels always included their experiences when viewing Sati. Although these travelers, usually men, watched with horror, they also admired the courage and the dignity of the women involved (Hawley 3). What was known in England of Sati was from the accounts of the colonial officials and travelers who witnessed it (Courtright 28). It would not surprise one to assume that Charlotte Bronte, in her drive for knowledge and her stand on womens freedom, would have taken an interest in such an act; and indeed she incorporates it in Jane Eyre. In 1829,†¦show more content†¦Nothing has excited the attention of the Europeans than the burning of wives upon the funeral piles of their husbands (Perera 91). Another important aspect of the act of Sati was that it became an element in the vindicati on of British Imperialism . . . and was also used as a moral justification to the Britishers to impose their rule on India (Perera 92). With an attempt to distinguish between the old and the new, Charlotte Bronte creates the character of Bertha Mason as the exhibition of female repression and desire frequently found in the East. Bertha Rochester is the emblem of Eastern society, one which the British see as static and barbaric, and Jane Eyre is representative of the Western Civilization. In Reaches of Empire, Suvendrini Perera argues that if the barely human prisoner caged in the Thornfield attic is the truest expression of womens anger and aspiration . . . [it is overlooked] that she is also the racial Other incarnate - a bestial, violent creature with an inordinate sexual appetite, caught in the colonized West Indies and confined for her own good by a master who has appropriated both her body and her wealth (82). If the reader only sees Bertha as the surrogate of Jane, one neglects to take note of the enriching importance of the texts suppression of Bertha. Charlotte Bronte presents Bertha as a sexually vigorous wo man. This can be seen when Rochester indirectly describesShow MoreRelated The Bildungsroman Genre Essay4241 Words   |  17 Pagesby the English author Charles Dickens, and Emma (1926), by another English author, Jane Austen, can be analysed under this perspective. Througout Dickens’ novel, Pip, the main character, goes through many changes in his personality to eventually coming to terms with his own actions. Austen’s novel deals with a female character, Emma, a rich young woman who learns how to balance power and propriety. The purpose of this paper is to analyze these two novels as pertaining to the bildungsroman genre