Laying the Last Minstrel in Jane Eyre :: Charlotte Bronte Jane Eyre Essays

Laying the Last Minstrel in Jane Eyre To find one work quoted multiple times in a novel, as is the case in Jane Eyre with The Lay of the Last Minstrel by Sir Walter Scott, should suggest to a reader that this quoted work can serve to shed some light on the work in which it is found. In this case, Charlotte Brontà « alluded to Scott’s work at appropriate moments in the novel, both because of similarities in the plots at those moments, but also, more importantly, because of the theme of The Lay of the Last Minstrel. The Lay of the Last Minstrel tells the story of two lovers, who despite overwhelming obstacles, end up together. This is possible only after the pride which contributes to their separation is vanquished. Use of a story with this theme serves to foreshadow the eventual marriage between Jane and Rochester, but only after their pride is no longer an obstacle. J. H. Alexander’s description of the themes in The Lay of the Last Minstrel in his article "On the Verbal and Thematic Texture" can easily be applied to a discussion of Jane Eyre. He writes that the "overt theme of the Lay [is] the quelling of barren pride" while added to that are "the apocalyptic abolition of all pride in human achievement and the insistance that true love is in its essential nature supernatural" (19). The ability to freely love one another is what enables Rochester and Jane to be together at the end, once pride is no longer an issue for either one of them. Brontà « gives their love a supernatural element in the way that Jane is drawn to Rochester after hearing him call out her name (409; ch. 35). Aside from the legal obstacle to Jane and Rochester’s marriage, pride is a major factor in keeping them apart. The first instance where The Lay of the Last Minstrel appears in Jane Eyre is the scene where Jane tells Rochester of the night that someone (she later learns it was Bertha) came to her bedroom and ripped the veil she was supposed to wear at Jane and Rochester’s wedding: "But, sir, as it grew dark, the wind rose: it blew yesterday evening not as it blows now – wild and high – but ‘with a sullen, moaning sound’ far more eerie" (279; ch. 25). She goes on to explain her uneasiness at his being away and her difficulty in falling asleep that night. Laying the Last Minstrel in Jane Eyre :: Charlotte Bronte Jane Eyre Essays Laying the Last Minstrel in Jane Eyre To find one work quoted multiple times in a novel, as is the case in Jane Eyre with The Lay of the Last Minstrel by Sir Walter Scott, should suggest to a reader that this quoted work can serve to shed some light on the work in which it is found. In this case, Charlotte Brontà « alluded to Scott’s work at appropriate moments in the novel, both because of similarities in the plots at those moments, but also, more importantly, because of the theme of The Lay of the Last Minstrel. The Lay of the Last Minstrel tells the story of two lovers, who despite overwhelming obstacles, end up together. This is possible only after the pride which contributes to their separation is vanquished. Use of a story with this theme serves to foreshadow the eventual marriage between Jane and Rochester, but only after their pride is no longer an obstacle. J. H. Alexander’s description of the themes in The Lay of the Last Minstrel in his article "On the Verbal and Thematic Texture" can easily be applied to a discussion of Jane Eyre. He writes that the "overt theme of the Lay [is] the quelling of barren pride" while added to that are "the apocalyptic abolition of all pride in human achievement and the insistance that true love is in its essential nature supernatural" (19). The ability to freely love one another is what enables Rochester and Jane to be together at the end, once pride is no longer an issue for either one of them. Brontà « gives their love a supernatural element in the way that Jane is drawn to Rochester after hearing him call out her name (409; ch. 35). Aside from the legal obstacle to Jane and Rochester’s marriage, pride is a major factor in keeping them apart. The first instance where The Lay of the Last Minstrel appears in Jane Eyre is the scene where Jane tells Rochester of the night that someone (she later learns it was Bertha) came to her bedroom and ripped the veil she was supposed to wear at Jane and Rochester’s wedding: "But, sir, as it grew dark, the wind rose: it blew yesterday evening not as it blows now – wild and high – but ‘with a sullen, moaning sound’ far more eerie" (279; ch. 25). She goes on to explain her uneasiness at his being away and her difficulty in falling asleep that night.