분노 감정의 정치학과 『제인 에어』

Abstract

This paper tried to analyse how Jane Eyre experiences anger which had been oppressed and forbidden in her society as an ugly and dangerous emotion. In her early life stage, anger is very central feeling due to her experience of exclusion and violence as an orphan girl. At this point her anger serves as a power to fight against the oppressing power and make that power see her as a human being. At the Lowood school Jane is disciplined to internalize the traditional Christian value such as submission, perseverance, and self-denial. Not strict rule but good companions like Helen and Miss Temple who embody those values influence Jane to tame her anger. But their influences seem limited because Helen can not survive and Miss Temple disappears with her marriage. This implies that Helen's and Miss Temple’s way of life can not contribute to change the harsh school system. Rather, changes of their system result from public indignation, which shows Brontë’s advocacy for the positive energy of anger. In the beginning of Jane’s new career as a governess, she shows her awareness of the unjust condition of women’s lives under a patriarchal society. Her mention of women’s suffering and their suppressed rage is considered a kind of feminist manifesto. Along with this consciousness, there also exist her anxiety and fear of women’s fate which are repetitively shown through her dreams and paintings. The images of confinement, falling, and drowned death express her inner fear and anxiety of women’s fragile condition. This discomfort of Jane proves not groundless, but is essentially related to Rochester’s secrets. His secrets reflect his moral weakness as an Imperialistic English man. His moral defection does not just lie in the concealment of his bigamy to Jane but the fatal damage imposed upon his Creole mad wife, Bertha Mason. Although Bertha is the most unfortunate person, Rochester’s narrative centers on his own misery and his own hope for rebirth. Though Jane shows a little sympathy with Rochester’s mad wife at first, she can not enlarge more. Jane’s pity and sympathy go entirely for Rochester because she believes that Rochester sincerely and deeply loves her. Jane’s leaning to Rochester’s appeal to sincere love leads her to lose her critical perception and anger.