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Abstract：Through the comparison of Charlotte Bronte’s experience and Jane Eyre’s，it proves that any character and plot have the trace of the author. Therefore，the novel can be analyzed and understood better by another way，to analyze the writer’s life.
Key words： Charlotte Bronte，Jane Eyre，comparison
In the middle of the 19th century，with the publishing of Jane Eyre，Charlotte Bronte brought a wave of enthusiasm in literature，all about the struggle of an individual consciousness towards self-realization，about some lonely and neglected young women with a fierce longing for love，understanding and a full，happy life. Some one guessed that Jane was just Charlotte Bronte herself，and this book was her own autobiography，but she always stated that the only similarity between herself and Jane Eyre was that they were as small and plain as each other （Glen，2004）. However，this character is created by the writer’s imagination，so she must reflect something about her creativity. If there were a thousand writers，there would be a thousand different kinds of Jane. There are indeed many other similarities between the two except“small and plain”. In fact，all the elements of her life are most effectively transmuted into this powerful work of fiction. Her early trauma at Cowan Bridge，her hardship as a governess，and her love for Heger—all these experiences help shape the fictional autobiography of a heroine who，like Charlotte herself，seems small，plain，and decorous even while her apparently“unregenerate spirit” （Glen，2004）brought about“the most alarming revolution of modern times”. （Glen，2004）
In Jane Eyre， Charlotte Bronte presents a disquieting heroine，angry at injustice，and longing for incident，life，fire，and feeling，who insists on her own integrity，pursues her own career，and virtually proposes to a man. Jane looks so stubborn and strongly pursues a kind of equality between men and women. The most speciality is her concern with what marriage means for a woman within the depicted society—which one is more important，the passionate longing for relationship with each other or passionately defended independence. For the insight into this character，it may help to look at the society in which Charlotte Bronte herself lived.
Charlotte Bronte （1816—1855） was born in Thornton，Yorkshire，in the north of England，the daughter of an Anglican clergyman who moved with his family to Haworth amid the Yorkshire moors in 1820. After their mother and two eldest children died，Charlotte was left with her sisters Emily and Anne and brother Branwell to the care of their father，and their strict，religious aunt，Elisabeth Branwell，who seemed never to provide warmth to the children that they lost with their mother’s death. （Ferguson，1963） Through this period of experience，it is not difficult to understand why Jane’s childhood in Mrs. Reed is described so miserable. By all counts，Lowood is just like a place that Charlotte wants to memorialize— Clergy Daughters’school at Cowan Bridge，and her description in the novel is unfailingly accurate. In 1831 Charlotte went to school at Roe Head，where she later worked as a teacher. However，she fell ill，suffered from melancholia，and gave up this post. Despite Charlotte’s sense that as a teacher or governess she was in bondage，she knew that such jobs offered the only source of income to genteel but impoverished young women. As the unmarried daughter of a country clergyman with small means，Charlotte had to find a way of supporting herself. （Ferguson，1963） Marriage was always，of course，a solution to a spinster’s financial problems，but this independent young woman was determined to marry only a man she could respect，and though she had several proposals，none came from such a person. Inevitably，then，she was consigned to the schoolroom or the nursery. After teaching at Rod Head，she went on to several situations as private governess，and it is no doubt from these that she learned a truth that stands behind so many of the pained exclamations of her governess-heroine，Jane Eyre —“a private governess is not considered as a living and rational being except as connected with the wearisome duties she has to fulfill” （Sheng，1999）. The most impressive and classical plot in Jane Eyre is the love between Jane and Rochester. They overwhelm status，appearance，and all worldly things，finally reach happiness. Then why did Charlotte make the love story like this？ Why did she make the story of Bertha Mason Rochester—a fantastic subplot for which there was no real-life precedent？ The answer can be found in Charlotte’s life .
In the summer of 1842，Brontes went to a finishing school for young ladies called the Pensionnat Heger in Brussels. This tour really has deep effect on Charlotte and can be read in Jane Eyre. The Pensionnat Heger was a small but exceptionally enlightened educational institution，run by Constantin Heger，an impetuous but brilliant teacher，and his wife，Zoe. It was here，however，that Charlotte found herself involved in real life in the kind of romantic struggle that she had up till now only encountered in her Angrian daydreams. For perhaps within a few months of her arrival in Bussels，she began to fall in love with Mr.Heger，though，as a married man and a devout Catholic，he gave no sign of returning her feelings. At the end of a year，Aunt Branwell died and sisters returned to Hawort，and Charlotte could not repress her feelings. In the words of her fine biographer Winifred Gerin，she drawn as by a compulsion to return to Brussels，where she spent a year as a teacher at the Pensionnat and where both the charisma and the increasing coolness of the master she loves gave her what was to become essential material for Jane Eyre. After she returned back England，she wrote a series of pathetic letters to Heger，describing that her correspondence with him was now her“only joy on earth”（Gilbert，Gubar，1996）. But there was little or no response to either the school circulars or the love letters. Heger replied to Charlotte’s pleas for understanding at first with perfunctory friendliness and then with prolonged silence. She was hurt deeply and hard to recovery for a long time. From the point of this history，we can understand the love between Jane and Rochester. This unprecedented romance—combining an account of an independent woman’s dreams and desires with a fantasy about explosive madness—took the reading pubic by storm. Besides，the terribly crazy woman，Bertha Mason Rochester，is just like a person Charlotte herself wanted to be，who can destroy everything. Just because of her，Rochester losts every thing and the gap between him and Jane disappears. Maybe subconsciously，Charlotte wanted a kind of power to destroy all hindrances between her and Heger. Therefore，this kind of emotion is expressed through Bertha Mason Rochester.
Psychologically speaking，any character and any plot have traces of the author. Therefore， we really can understand Jane Eyre better through Charlotte Bronte’s social environment，experience and psychological conditions.
参考文献：
[1]Heather Glen.The Brontes [M]. Shanghai：Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press，2003.
[2]Rachel Ferguson.The Brontes Went to Woolworth’s [M].Bloomsbury：Bloomsbury Publishing，2011.
Key words： Charlotte Bronte，Jane Eyre，comparison
In the middle of the 19th century，with the publishing of Jane Eyre，Charlotte Bronte brought a wave of enthusiasm in literature，all about the struggle of an individual consciousness towards self-realization，about some lonely and neglected young women with a fierce longing for love，understanding and a full，happy life. Some one guessed that Jane was just Charlotte Bronte herself，and this book was her own autobiography，but she always stated that the only similarity between herself and Jane Eyre was that they were as small and plain as each other （Glen，2004）. However，this character is created by the writer’s imagination，so she must reflect something about her creativity. If there were a thousand writers，there would be a thousand different kinds of Jane. There are indeed many other similarities between the two except“small and plain”. In fact，all the elements of her life are most effectively transmuted into this powerful work of fiction. Her early trauma at Cowan Bridge，her hardship as a governess，and her love for Heger—all these experiences help shape the fictional autobiography of a heroine who，like Charlotte herself，seems small，plain，and decorous even while her apparently“unregenerate spirit” （Glen，2004）brought about“the most alarming revolution of modern times”. （Glen，2004）
In Jane Eyre， Charlotte Bronte presents a disquieting heroine，angry at injustice，and longing for incident，life，fire，and feeling，who insists on her own integrity，pursues her own career，and virtually proposes to a man. Jane looks so stubborn and strongly pursues a kind of equality between men and women. The most speciality is her concern with what marriage means for a woman within the depicted society—which one is more important，the passionate longing for relationship with each other or passionately defended independence. For the insight into this character，it may help to look at the society in which Charlotte Bronte herself lived.
Charlotte Bronte （1816—1855） was born in Thornton，Yorkshire，in the north of England，the daughter of an Anglican clergyman who moved with his family to Haworth amid the Yorkshire moors in 1820. After their mother and two eldest children died，Charlotte was left with her sisters Emily and Anne and brother Branwell to the care of their father，and their strict，religious aunt，Elisabeth Branwell，who seemed never to provide warmth to the children that they lost with their mother’s death. （Ferguson，1963） Through this period of experience，it is not difficult to understand why Jane’s childhood in Mrs. Reed is described so miserable. By all counts，Lowood is just like a place that Charlotte wants to memorialize— Clergy Daughters’school at Cowan Bridge，and her description in the novel is unfailingly accurate. In 1831 Charlotte went to school at Roe Head，where she later worked as a teacher. However，she fell ill，suffered from melancholia，and gave up this post. Despite Charlotte’s sense that as a teacher or governess she was in bondage，she knew that such jobs offered the only source of income to genteel but impoverished young women. As the unmarried daughter of a country clergyman with small means，Charlotte had to find a way of supporting herself. （Ferguson，1963） Marriage was always，of course，a solution to a spinster’s financial problems，but this independent young woman was determined to marry only a man she could respect，and though she had several proposals，none came from such a person. Inevitably，then，she was consigned to the schoolroom or the nursery. After teaching at Rod Head，she went on to several situations as private governess，and it is no doubt from these that she learned a truth that stands behind so many of the pained exclamations of her governess-heroine，Jane Eyre —“a private governess is not considered as a living and rational being except as connected with the wearisome duties she has to fulfill” （Sheng，1999）. The most impressive and classical plot in Jane Eyre is the love between Jane and Rochester. They overwhelm status，appearance，and all worldly things，finally reach happiness. Then why did Charlotte make the love story like this？ Why did she make the story of Bertha Mason Rochester—a fantastic subplot for which there was no real-life precedent？ The answer can be found in Charlotte’s life .
In the summer of 1842，Brontes went to a finishing school for young ladies called the Pensionnat Heger in Brussels. This tour really has deep effect on Charlotte and can be read in Jane Eyre. The Pensionnat Heger was a small but exceptionally enlightened educational institution，run by Constantin Heger，an impetuous but brilliant teacher，and his wife，Zoe. It was here，however，that Charlotte found herself involved in real life in the kind of romantic struggle that she had up till now only encountered in her Angrian daydreams. For perhaps within a few months of her arrival in Bussels，she began to fall in love with Mr.Heger，though，as a married man and a devout Catholic，he gave no sign of returning her feelings. At the end of a year，Aunt Branwell died and sisters returned to Hawort，and Charlotte could not repress her feelings. In the words of her fine biographer Winifred Gerin，she drawn as by a compulsion to return to Brussels，where she spent a year as a teacher at the Pensionnat and where both the charisma and the increasing coolness of the master she loves gave her what was to become essential material for Jane Eyre. After she returned back England，she wrote a series of pathetic letters to Heger，describing that her correspondence with him was now her“only joy on earth”（Gilbert，Gubar，1996）. But there was little or no response to either the school circulars or the love letters. Heger replied to Charlotte’s pleas for understanding at first with perfunctory friendliness and then with prolonged silence. She was hurt deeply and hard to recovery for a long time. From the point of this history，we can understand the love between Jane and Rochester. This unprecedented romance—combining an account of an independent woman’s dreams and desires with a fantasy about explosive madness—took the reading pubic by storm. Besides，the terribly crazy woman，Bertha Mason Rochester，is just like a person Charlotte herself wanted to be，who can destroy everything. Just because of her，Rochester losts every thing and the gap between him and Jane disappears. Maybe subconsciously，Charlotte wanted a kind of power to destroy all hindrances between her and Heger. Therefore，this kind of emotion is expressed through Bertha Mason Rochester.
Psychologically speaking，any character and any plot have traces of the author. Therefore， we really can understand Jane Eyre better through Charlotte Bronte’s social environment，experience and psychological conditions.
参考文献：
[1]Heather Glen.The Brontes [M]. Shanghai：Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press，2003.
[2]Rachel Ferguson.The Brontes Went to Woolworth’s [M].Bloomsbury：Bloomsbury Publishing，2011.