简爱心理分析.docVIP

Psychological Analysis on Jane Eyre’s Childhood Personality Development Introduction Jane Eyre is the heroine of Charlotte Bronte’s novel of the same name, but unlike to heroine of other novels, she doesn’t have attractive appearance as well as wealthy family. She describes herself as “poor, obscure, plain and little”[1], but she also sees herself as “I have as much soul as you and full as much heart.”[2] True, Jane Eyre is not a perfect woman, with character of obstinacy, but all the readers, from 1847 to now, are all impressed by her pursuit of love and freedom. Most people just regard Jane Eyre as a fictitious character, and take it for granted that Jane Eyre’s disposition is fixed by the author. However, after I finished the book, I found that Jane Eyre’s personality had undergone a long process of developing, especially during her childhood in Gateshead and in Lowood School. According to the theory of Modern Developmental Psychology, a person’s personality is a psycho-physiological process. At different stage people go through different experience and therefore caused “psychological changes, emotional changed, and perception changes”, all these changes would have long-term impact on personal characteristic development. In my essay, I will apply Jean Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development, which placed great importance on Modern Developmental Psychology, to analyze Jane Eyre’s personality development through analyzing two main characters—Mrs. Reed and Helen Burns, who, from my point of view, exert profound effect on Jane Eyre’s personality developing during her childhood. I. Mrs. Reed Before Jane Eyre turns ten, she was brought up as an orphan with little care by her aunt—Mrs. Reed in Gateshead. Naturally, Mrs. Reed becomes the guardian to her. According to Jean Piaget’s theory, 5 to 10 year-old children are going through “Heteronomous phase” in moral development. In this moral understanding, “rules handed down by authority figures (such as parents, teachers,