Help with a Jane Eyre question?

Question

What is the diction like in jane eyre? I have to describe the diction in the novel and the only thing I've come up with so far is that it is very descriptive and focuses a lot on places, and reading into people's faces and thoughts. how would you describe the diction of jane eyre? any ideas would be helpful thanks!

Answer 1

The use of diction in Bronte's Jane Eyre creates a surreal one.  Diction, refers to the writer's or the speaker's distinctive vocabulary choices and style of expression. The novel takes place in England around the 1840s, during the Victorian era.Jane Eyre is written in the first person, and told from the viewpoint of its main character, Jane Eyre. As part of her first-person narrative, Bronte uses one of the oldest conventions in English fiction: this novel is allegedly a memoir written by a real woman named Jane Eyre and edited by Currer Bell (Charlotte Bronte's pseudonym). The style of the book is simple but flowing.

In Jane Eyre, when Jane meets Mr. Rochester for the first time while walking back to Thornfield, Bronte's eloquent use of diction transforms reality into a fantastic rather than absurd world.

a lion-like creature with long hair and a huge head: it passed me, however, quietly enough; not staying to look up, with strange pretercanine eyes, in my face, as I half expected it would, The horse followed, — a tall steed, and on its back a rider. The man, the human being, broke the spell at once. (95)

Jane describes a fantastic "lion-like" creature with "long hair" and q***r "pretercanine" eyes that quietly passes by her. Furthermore, after this mystical beast passes her, she claims the "spell" was broken when the man comes. These words help to create a surreal and imaginary world. Using language both Bronte and Carroll distort reality.

Diction

The diction in Jane Eyre is chosen to add to the overall dark and foreboding mood of the novel. This masterful use of diction enriches the experience of the reader as the book progresses. When Jane first meets Mr. Rochester, he is described using words such as "dark," "stern," "ireful," and "thwarted." These words fit with the ominous nature of the scene and also characterize Mr. Rochester. The use of the word "thwarted" is especially interesting in its indication that Mr. Rochester has been somehow broken or disappointed. Another example of excellent use of words occurs in the passage quoted in the previous section. Beyond cold and warmth imagery, active verbs such as "whirled" and "crushed" are used to show the violent change that has occurred in Jane's life. Brontë's diction make Jane Eyre more meaningful and enjoyable.

http://www.amazon.com/review/R1MHZG1PWWY...

'Jane Eyre' is a book set further back in time and the language used in it is more 'old style', eg. 'And if I were in your place I should dislike her.' In modern language we would say that more like: 'If I was in your place I wouldn't like her.'

'Jane Eyre' there are longer sentences, there are also more colons, semi-colons, and comers used were we might use full stops. Eg. 'My attention was now called by Miss Smith desiring me to hold a skein of thread: while she was winding it, she talked to me from time to time, asking me weather I had ever been to school before, weather I could mark, stitch, knit, etc; till she dismissed me, I could not pursue my observations on Miss Scratcherd's movements.' That was one of the sentences from 'Jane Eyre'.

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/janeeyre/