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Examine the irony behind the “disabling” of Rochester at the end of Jane Eyre. Do you believe that the fire truly disables Rochester, or is he better off for having had this experience? Explain your answer. Your answer should be at least 250 words.

User Anhtran
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Step-by-step explanation:

The irony in the story relies on the principle that though we may think things are perfect, they aren't. The fire was not directly disabling Rochester, but it was instead the events surrounding the people in the fire. This caused Rochester to lose his sight and one of his hands. This wasn't a bad experience in his mind because it brought him back to Jane. They were" Jane and Edward have literally and figuratively become one pair of eyes in that Jane is tasked with navigating for blind Edward, and in that, they begin to see the world and each other through a shared comprehension. In this respect, it does not matter who is physically blind. That Edward is the "chosen one" is not a commentary on his "bad" soul, nor does it suggest what Georgina Kleege terms Jane's "rise to power" (70). Their coming together is a journey of learning to see spiritually, and they do so through sharing Jane's eyes. Jane Eyre, then, works as a feminist novel. It suggests that women and men grow and learn together equally; the book also normalizes disability by revealing the shades of disability present in all of us. If it is not only the madwoman and blind man who is disabled but Schneck 9 also Jane, the "perfect" protagonist, then disability is not so strange, not so "ther" as Victorians thought it to be; all struggle with blindness and deafness and madness. Jane and Edward'ssjourney to happily ever after involves overcoming metaphorical blindness (in regards to each other), with Edward'ssphysical blindness serving as a tool that perpetuates their success, demanding, "The hard work of acceptance—not only, or not even, of the monstrous other but of the innately strange self."

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User Amira
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The irony of the story relies on the principle that nothing is truly perfect in life. It was not the fire that directly disabled Rochester but the events that surrounded the people who were in that fire which caused Rochester to lose his eyesight and one of his hands. This was not entirely a bad experience because it ultimately brought him back to Jane.

User Celena
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