Jane Eyre as a coming-of-age story Charlotte Bronte's classic, Jane Eyre, is a "coming-of-age" story. The protagonist, Jane, travels from the innocence of childhood to the maturity of adulthood. During this journey, Jane faces the battle between education and containment, where she attempts to learn about herself and the world. However, he must constantly fight some sort of containment, be it actual physical or mental containment. This battle between education and containment can be seen by following Jane through her different places of residence, including Gateshead Hall, Lowood Institution, Thornfield, Moor House and Morton and Ferndean Manor, where she is, finally, fully educated and escapes the feeling of containment which he maintained throughout the novel. The story begins when Jane lives with the Reed family in their home at Gateshead Hall. Here, the theme of nurture versus containment develops immediately, as Jane is kept confined indoors on a cold winter's day. The other children (Eliza, John and Giorgiana) are "grouped around their mother in the living room" (Bronte: 39) while they are being educated, as Jane had been excluded from the group. Jane tries to educate herself by reading Berwick's History of British Birds, but is once again held back from her attempt at enlightenment by the abuse of John Reed, who chastises her and throws the heavy book at her. Angrily, Jane shouts, “You are like a murderer – you are like a slaver – you are like the Roman emperors” (Bronte: 43). In this passage, Jane compares John Reed to a slaveholder because, like a slaveholder, he deprives Jane of her attempt at education and keeps her repressed. Subsequently, Jane is blamed for the whole incident and... middle of paper... part of the modern woman, as she manages to find a perfect balance between both, the spiritual and the physical, which is what she thinks. truly wanted in life. Works cited and consulted Beaty, Jerome. Reading Jane Eyre badly. Columbus: Ohio State UP, 1996. Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1991 Bronte, Charlotte. "Letters of Charlotte Bronte". New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1971.Dowta, Dr. Allyson. Women and the written word. Trenton: Prentice Hall, 1992. Fraser, Rebecca. The Brontes. 1st ed. New York: Crown Publishers, 1988.Gates, Barbara Timm, ed. Critical essays on Charlotte Bronte. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1990. Jane Eyre. Dir. Franco Zeffirelli. Perf. William Hurt, Charlotte Gainsborough and Anna Paquin. 1996 Jane Eyre. Dir. Giuliano Aymes. Perf. Timothy Dalton, Zelah Clarke. 1983