Universität Duisburg-Essen, Fach: Anglistik
Hauptseminar, Seminar: Charles Dickens
Sommersemester 2003

Two versions of Bildungsromane:
Jane Eyre and David Copperfield

by: Oliver Blaha

Table of Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. The Bildungsroman Genre – Roots and definition 1

3. Jane Eyre as a Bildungsroman 2

4. David Copperfield as a Bildungsroman 12

5. Jane Eyre and David Copperfield – Differences and similarities 21

6. Conclusion 27

Bibliography

1. Introduction

This essay deals with two well-known texts of the Victorian age, Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, published in 1847 and Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield (1850). Both novels give an autobiographical insight into the first three decades of the protagonists’ lives. Jane and David, the two first person narrators look back on their lives, giving very detailed descriptions of the experiences they have made at school, in their professional and their private life.

This essay will show how Jane and David’s development is presented in the novels and will examine in how far the texts can be classified as Bildungsromane. The second part of this paper gives a definition of the Bildungsroman and detects the roots of the genre. The third chapter deals with the development and education of Jane Eyre with a major focus on Jane’s struggle with the oppressive patriarchal society and its representatives who try to manipulate her way towards maturity, self-definition and equality. The fourth chapter takes a look at David Copperfield’s development and gives a close analysis of the main issues, class and sexuality that have a crucial impact on David’s formation of self. The second last chapter then attempts to combine the analyses of the two novels on the basis of the definition of the Bildungsroman genre, which is given in the next part of the essay. Similarities and differences between the texts will be worked out by taking a close look at the central issues of both novels again.

2. The Bildungsroman genre – roots and definition

The Bildungsroman genre has its origins in German literature. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s novel Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre (1795, Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship) is one of the best-known German Bildungsromane and serves as a kind of prototype of the genre. The term itself dates back to the very beginning of the 19th century but was not introduced into literary criticism until 1906, when Wilhelm Dilthey used it in order to describe Goethe’s novel. (Schellinger, 1998. p. 119)

The word Bildungsroman consists of the terms Bildung and Roman. The latter is the German word for novel, Bildung means education or formation. Therefore the word Bildungsroman is, in most cases, translated into English as ‘novel of formation’ or ‘novel of education’.

According to Suzanne Hader the Bildungsroman is “a novel of all around selfdevelopment.” (Hader, 1996) Her definition of the genre seems to be quite a useful one for this paper, as it introduces four central characteristics of the Bildungsroman that do apply to both novels. Hader states: “the Bildungsroman is, most generally, the story of a single individual’s growth and development within the contest of a defined social order.” (Ibid.) In order to get the protagonist on the journey of self-development, “some form of loss or discontent must jar them at an early stage away from the home or family setting.” (Ibid.) Hader describes the way towards maturity and the full formation of the self as “long, arduous, and gradual, consisting of repeated clashes between the protagonist’s needs and desires and the views and judgments enforced by an unbending social order.” (Ibid.) At the very end of the novel “the spirit and values of the social order become manifest in the protagonist, who is then accommodated into society. The novel ends with an assessment by the protagonist of himself and his new place in that society.” (Ibid) In chapter four it will be shown whether this definition applies to Jane Eyre and David Copperfield and it will furthermore serve as the basis for the comparison of the two novels.

3. Jane Eyre as a Bildungsroman

The story of Jane Eyre is presented like a journey through the life of the protagonist Jane, who finds, at the end, her place in society, which is, in Victorian terms, a very unusual or maybe even revolutionary one. The novel shows Jane’s long way towards maturity, selfmastery and independence. According to Robin Gilmour, the protagonist’s development can be divided into “five stages, each with its symbolic house: childhood at Gateshead, school at Lowood, early womanhood and romantic love at Thornfield Hall, sisterhood and independence at Moor House, marriage at Ferndean.” (Gilmour, 1986. p. 64). The different places in the novel also represent the obstacles Jane has to overcome in order to achieve her personal freedom and, eventually the marriage with Mr. Rochester as equals. Gilbert and Gubar see Jane Eyre as

“a distinctively female Bildungsroman in which the problems encountered by the protagonist as she struggles from the imprisonment of her childhood toward an almost unthinkable goal of mature freedom are symptomatic of difficulties Everywoman in a patriarchal society must meet and overcome: oppression (at Gateshead), starvation (at Lowood), madness (at Thornfield) and coldness (at Marsh End).” (Gilbert and Gubar, 1979. p. 339)

In each section Jane’s final goal to be an independent woman is threatened in some way. Jane is tempted more than once to give in to social pressure and to live the life of a normal Victorian woman, which basically means to be the extension of a man who takes all the decisions for her. Jane constantly has to defend her independence against the men’s world’s efforts to force her into the Victorian standards of how a woman should behave. But “Jane tests the limits of social, moral, and psychological possibility, discovering the kinds of power which are in fact available to a woman.” (Moglen, 1978. p. 107) The depiction of Jane’s rebelliousness and anger towards society makes the novel quite a revolutionary piece of work, as it challenges the social norms and values concerning femininity throughout the book.

Jane’s journey of self-development begins at Gateshead where she passes the first ten years of her life. It is the “starting point where she encounters the uncomfortable givens of her career: a selfish older ”brother” who tyrannizes over the household like a substitute patriarch, a foolish and wicked ”stepmother”, and two unpleasant, selfish ”stepsisters.”” (Gilbert and Gubar, 1979. p. 342) At Gateshead Jane learns how the Victorian society works. She is repeatedly made aware of the fact that she lives in a rather patriarchal society where women do not count much. Her inferiority caused by her being a woman, is even strengthened by her lack of any money of her own. It is Miss Abbot who makes this clear to Jane:

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