Jane Eyre Lecture
Jane Eyre (1847)
‘Who in the world cares for you? or who will be injured by what you do?’
Still indomitable was the reply — ‘I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself.’
The romantic passion with which Charlotte Brontë’s most famous heroine is forever associated is on full display in this passage from the third volume of Jane Eyre, in which Jane wrestles with her conscience, tempted by Rochester’s appeal that she defy the moral codes of their society and live with him out of wedlock. The struggle with Rochester himself is expressed in thrillingly melodramatic terms – and yet we are aware all the time that the truly momentous conflict is within Jane’s own self. Does she want to abandon her own principles and become Rochester’s lover? Are the obstacles in her way ‘mere human law’, as Rochester asserts, or profound religious scruples – or something else entirely?
Jane Eyre might be best remembered now as a love story, but at its heart is Jane’s regard not for Rochester, but for herself. It is her insistent self-assertion that shapes the novel, and challenges us to reconsider what we mean when we describe it as quintessentially ‘Victorian’.
Live online lecture and seminar with Dr Clare Walker Gore, Lucy Cavendish College, University of Cambridge. This is a repeat lecture, previously given as part of Clare’s Victorian Women course.
Saturday 7 September 2024
14.00-16.00 British Summer Time
15.00-16.00 Central European Summer Time
Afternoon in India.
Late evening in Japan.
Morning in the Americas. Please check the time in your time zone.
Lecture fees
£32.00 full price (includes 20% VAT)
£27.00 students and CAMcard holders (includes 20% VAT)
Optional further reading
Juliet Barker, The Brontës: A Life in Letters (2016)
Deirdre David, ed., The Cambridge Companion to the Victorian Novel (2006)
Claire Harman, Charlotte Brontë: A Fiery Heart (2016)
Linda H. Peterson, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Victorian Women’s Writing (2015)
Sally Shuttleworth, article on Jane Eyre and the Rebellious Child, British Library website
Sally Shuttleworth, article on Jane Eyre and 19thC Women, British Library website
Charlotte Brontë
Zoom link
We will send you a Zoom link by email approximately 24 hours before the lecture. If the link does not arrive, please let us know by email in good time, at least an hour before the session begins, so we can re-send.
Recording
The lecture will be recorded and you can listen again for 48 hours after the live event. The seminar is not recorded.
If you cannot attend a course you have booked
Please note that, because places are limited, we cannot usually give refunds if you cannot attend a course. But if you contact us in advance, we might be able to transfer your booking to a different course.