Raney: No Jane Eyre, but Term Paper

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Ironically, although Jane begins her titular novel as a child, dependant upon the good and not so good will and promise of the Reeds to her father, Raney is utterly emotionally dependant upon her mother for her opinions, as well as financially and socially dependant, even as she is ready to be married to Charles. Marriage, at the beginning of the tale for Raney, thus is merely a continuation of her childlike life, moving from her parental to a patriarchal home. Jane, in contrast, fears losing her sense of self through marriage, a sense of self she has had since she was a child. Before Jane nearly enters into a bigamous marriage, Jane notes her guise in the mirror. "I saw a robed and veiled figure, so unlike my usual self that it seemed almost the image of a stranger. 'Jane!' called a voice, and I hastened down." (http://www.literature.org/authors/bronte-charlotte/jane-eyre/chapter-26.html) This foreshadows how the first marriage to Rochester would be a loss, rather than a gain of status for Jane.

In contrast, Raney is so childish in her beliefs, she says, "I never thought of anyone as becoming" a vegetarian, as in "changing over," but rather that vegetarians were born, in other words, that people were born into their lives and belief systems and never altered their modalities of living. (6) but the other women around her are not so naive. "I hope your journey is as happy and fulfilling as ours," says one woman to Raney, regarding marriage. (7) Marriage in both texts is indeed a journey, and a fulfilling journey for the central, titular protagonists. However, in the case of Raney, Raney must give up her old assumptions and comforts to be fully fulfilled as Charles' wife. By going to a marriage counselor, the two of them reconcile their differences in a humorous way, but not ultimately in a fashion that satisfies the reader that the equation is equitable -- Raney must give up a great deal of her past to become the match of Charles, as his companion, as well as an independent person.

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It is strange, thus, but true, that the older novel of romance emerges, for all of its sexual decorousness, as the more precocious one, in terms of female independence regarding morality and marriage. In contrast to Raney, to become a true and fit wife, Jane must remain a full human being. Jane must remain true to her principles and not go through the first, false marriage she is nearly forced into by Rochester. Although she loves him, the governess, initially lacking friends, family, or financial support, is driven to leave the comforts of home and go out into the emotional and literal wilderness, whereby she gains an inheritance, finds true friends and family, and then can enter into a more full alliance with the now blinded but eligible Rochester.

But Raney's journey only comes after becoming a newlywed, and becoming counseled as to how to be a better wife to Charles. Even though she is schooled into how to let loose some of her more conventional assumptions about femininity, ultimately she does so in the service of the institution of marriage, rather than to formulate her own independent identity.

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