How far does psychoanalysis help us in our understanding of Charlotte Essay

How far does psychoanalysis help us in our understanding of Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre - Essay Example To be able to achieve the said objective, the definition, coverage and application of psychoanalysis is defined. The application of the concept of psychoanalysis is the main focus of the paper. Plot of the Novel The novel Jane Eyre is about the life of an orphan. The story started when Jane was still young and continued until her adult life. She is a girl who experienced cruelty at a young age in the hands of her relatives. Her aunt, Mrs. Reed is a wealthy woman who took Jane when she lost her parents. Jane’s cousin is another source of her trials as a child since he kept on bullying her. The only affection she had received was from the servant of the family, Bessie. The turning point of her life with her aunt happened when she had a fight with her cousin, John and was punished to stay in the room where her Uncle Reed died and she collapsed of fright. This led to Mr. Lloyd’s advice to send her away to school, a chance that let her leave the house. Her trials did not end in that situation though (Bronte chap.1-4). Included in the succeeding trials are the people she met in Lowood School namely the headmaster Mr. Brocklehurst and her new friend Helen Burns. Mr. Brocklehurst is the cruel, abusive, and corrupt headmaster of the school. Helen Burns on the other hand is a character of opposing characteristics of being both strong and a martyr when it comes to the issues within the school. Another turning point in the life of Jane occurred when an epidemic killed most of the students and the headmaster lost his job due to mismanagement of the school. When better management ruled the school, her life is at its best years, 6 years as a student and 2 more years as a teacher. She then looked for other adventures (Bronte chap.5-10). The last phase of the novel occurred in Thornfield where Jane Eyre met her better half Roschester. Although this is the case, there were hindrances again in the form of the discovery that Rochester is still married to Bertha, who was secretly kept inside the house. She left the place and experienced another set of trials such as being a beggar (Bronte chap.11-28). A family of 3 siblings then helped her. She later discovered that they are relatives and she received news about her family and her inheritance. The story ended with Jane’s realization that she really loves Rochester and went to have another chance with him. Although things changed with him being blind and without one hand, they were able to have glorious years together and were blessed with a son (chapter. 29-38). There are multitude of themes in the novel which are related to the different experiences and factors in a person’s life such as love, religion, relationship, gender issues and social stratification. Freud’s Psychoanalysis The concept of psychoanalysis which explored the ‘workings of the human mind’ had been established by Sigmund Freud in the late 19th century in Vienna. It is based on the clinical data and information gathered from observing patients with neurosis. The concept of psychoanalysis became one of the foundations of the theories and principles of psychology based on two points. One point presented by Freud is that majority of the human mental activity occurs without a person’