In Jane Eyre, each episode that Charlotte Brontë recounts from Jane's life tells of a new struggle, always featuring a man and his patriarchal institution: John Reed's Gateshead, Brocklehurst's Lowood, Thornfield of Rochester and St. John's Moor House. In all circumstances, these men attempt to confine Jane to an inferior role as a woman. Looking back on her life, she writes: "I have never known a medium in my relationships...between absolute submission and determined revolt." Because of this tireless opposition to overwhelming power, Jane often uses images and descriptions of slavery to characterize these relationships. But his use of slavery as an analogy evolves. Beginning as an ironic term of empowerment, Jane quickly rejects the perception of herself as a slave and ultimately reaches a point of feminist enlightenment in which she realizes that she is naturally free. Therefore, the metaphor of slavery describes one's own path to overcoming the oppression that threatens one's inherent freedom. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on 'Why violent video games should not be banned'?Get the original essay Jane first introduced the motif of slavery during her time in Gateshead, where, combining her own revolutionary passion with these destitute souls, she is proud to declare herself a slave. After a painful round of bullying, she screams at John Reed: "You're like a murderer, you're like a slaver, you're like the Roman emperors!" (11) She writes: “like any other rebellious slave, I felt resolute” (12) and “my whole heart [was in] insurrection! (15) Jane's dramatization of her struggle in epic proportions and her sentimental description of how the insurrection squeezes her heart both paint a romanticized picture of herself as a slave. She is absolutely thrilled with the role. The rhetorical use of inflammatory and exclamatory phrases also indicates the extent to which Jane derives her power from this typically powerless condition. Indeed, when she finally stands up to her oppressors, she feels “her soul beginning to expand, to exult, with the strangest feeling of freedom, of triumph” (37). At this point in the novel, Jane exultantly presents herself as a slave, indicating her own satisfaction as a depressed and abused loner. It also elucidates Jane's feelings towards her oppression as a whole at this point in her progression: although it causes her great pain, it also satiates her, providing her with strength and direction. In the dusty and decrepit corridors of Lowood, as the metaphor of slavery becomes imbued with an air of melancholy, Jane's outlook on her cruel enslavement also transforms into a vision of morose, desolate sadness. One incident demonstrates this most convincingly: the unjust punishment inflicted on Jane by Mr. Brocklehurst. Forced by this tyrant of a schoolmaster to perch silently on a stool in front of the school, Jane is tired and ashamed. Yet, passing through it, Helen Burns remarks that “it was as if a martyr, a hero, had overtaken a slave or victim and imparted strength to him in transit” (67). The image of our “slave” in this passage is completely different from that of Gateshead. The fact that Helen is portrayed as a savior figure who helps and pushes Jane to continue her punishment shows that Jane lacks her previous determination as a "rebellious slave". Today, Jane is a struggling victim, not a passionate rebel. It is also important to note that the powerful person in this example, Helen, is a character of marked passivity, suggesting that it is the tireless insurrection ofJane which makes her helpless. In both cases, she no longer derives the same power from her slave status as in Gateshead. She renounced exclamations for quiet thoughts, writing: “I desired freedom; for freedom I panted; for freedom I said a prayer; it seemed scattered in the wind then blew weakly” (85). The division of this sentence into several independent clauses separated by semicolons indicates the desperate nature of his struggle. The brevity of the clauses forces them to be delivered in a breathless, tired manner that suggests exasperation and despair, as if the speaker is barely able to muster his thoughts to express them. But at the same time, the punctuation forces a fairly rapid reading of the sentence, suggesting an unwelcome nature to the thought. Jane's victimized sadness and desire for freedom suggest that the metaphor of slavery and its oppression has grown to become sources of depression and weakness; she is overwhelmed under their power. At Thornfield, Jane expresses with more fervor than ever her desire to be free and independent of all tyranny and, in accordance with this, she denies the analogy with slavery. As Rochester and Jane return home after a day of shopping, she notices that "his smile was such as a sultan might...best upon a slave whom his gold and precious stones had enriched" (269). Jane reacts harshly: “I vigorously crushed his hand, which was still chasing mine, and threw it back red with a passionate squeeze” (269). This example elevates the metaphor to a physical level: Rochester's treatment of Jane as a sex slave is equated with the physical act of preying on her. The ferocity of Jane's tangible rejection also represents the figurative passion with which she refuses Rochester's perceived attempts to enslave her. Although this slavery is a monetary dependence and not a cruel punishment, Jane always rebuffs him, saying: "I won't stand you an inch of a harem...so don't think of me as the equivalent of a harem." (269). This example of slave imagery marks another shift in the use of metaphor: it is the first time that Jane herself does not present herself as a slave; rather, she watches someone else make the connection. This suggests that Jane has driven the analogy from her own mind, or at least denied her position as a slave. This doesn't even seem valid anymore. Jane's cessation of thinking of herself as a slave – and her refusal to be seen as such by others – can be seen as a reflection of her disavowal of oppression, as it accompanies a denial of Rochester's inferior treatment . The final development of the metaphor is Jane's realization that she is a naturally free woman and not a slave. When St. John proposes marriage, Jane is dismayed, gasping: "Oh! That would never be enough!" (407) She “would often suffer, no doubt, attached to him” (407). Yet, in considering his offer to join him in his missionary work, she makes an important discovery: she writes: "As a vicar, a comrade... I should always be able to turn to my intact self: my natural feelings, without slavery ..." (407) As a wife, Jane would be oppressed and confined, but as a mere companion, her "heart and mind would be free" (407). Jane is not a slave, she has freedom. The only reason she could be considered a slave is because men try to hold her down and mistreat her with their power and money. Jane's decision not to marry St. John but rather to enter into a marriage with Rochester based on equality is a translation of her overcoming not only the figurative metaphor of,