When I read “The Soul Selects Her Own Society”, I have a strong feeling that that Jane may have felt something like the feeling that this poem expressed at a moment. In my opinion, the scene that Jane told Mr. Rochester that she had have as much soul as him and they are equal. (Chapter 23) Jane said, “I am not talking to you now through the medium of custom, conventionalities, nor even of mortal flesh; —it is my spirit that addresses your spirit; just as if both had passed through the grave, and we stood at God’s feet, equal, —as we are!” “It is my spirit that addresses your spirit”, this sentence shocked me a lot. I suddenly realize the communication between Jane and Mr. Rochester is the communication between soul and spirit. Not the appearance and custom make them to attract each other, it is the soul. Jane also said she was obscure and plain. In my opinion, Jane attracted Mr. Rochester because of Jane’s strong, active and independent spirit. I think this is communication between soul and spirit. So, when I read “The Soul Selects Her Own Society”, the first sentence is “The Soul Selects Her Own Society”. The first sentence makes me suddenly to understand that Jane admired Mr. Rochester’s soul and spirit, not the appearance, status, and property. Exactly, this is the soul selection. The soul chooses the partner (lover). This is similar to Dickinson’s idea and Dickinson’s idea help elucidate feelings Jane may express explicitly. Therefore, I think Jane may have felt something similar for this sentence.

—Yu Qing Wu

Jane Eyre’s character of self- integrity is brought into light by Emily Dickinson’s The Soul selects her own Society. The first two lines of the poem states “The Soul selects her own Society, Then Shuts the Door” (Dickinson 1-2). Here, the soul alludes to Jane Eyre’s uncanny characteristics. A mix between perseverance and resilient, Jane Eyre’s unique attributes are shaken by none. In the second stanza, it states that the soul is unmoved even in the presence of an emperor eventually kneels to her (Dickinson 5-8). Here the emperor is a direct reference to Rochester who eventually acknowledges Jane’s ideas. After Rochester proposes to Jane, he takes her shopping. He attempts to shower Jane with expensive jewelry and outerwear. Feeling untrue to herself, Jane rejects Rochester’s gifts. She says “And then you won’t know me, sir: and I shall not be your Jane Eyre any longer, but an ape in a harlequin’s jacket, a jay in borrowed plumes” (Bronte 232). Jane claims that it is unnecessary for Rochester to indulge her with these gifts for the fear that her own true self might be lost to materialism. Unwittingly, Rochester eventually conforms to Jane’s wishes. The notion of “ample nation, choose one” (Dickinson 9) illustrates the many encounters that Jane had with Mrs. Reed, Mr. Bocklehurst and even Rochester who would obstruct Jane’s character and steer her from her own path. “Then close the valves of her attention, like stone” (Dickinson 11-12). However, in all of these instances, Jane is unwavering like a rock.

-Benny Chan

In Emily Dickinson’s poem, ” I Dwell in Possibility”, the concepts of hope and optimism are prevalent. Being able to think of the “Chambers as the cedars” or the “everlasting roof” as the “Gambrels of the sky” is not an easy task to do. Such mundane things do not turn into fantasies without our being able to actively think of them as much more than what meets the eye. Rather, we must be able to set aside the adversities in this life, so that we may embrace our ability to look at the brighter side of things even in times of distress, and develop an imagination that can sometimes be the only factor keeping us afloat.

In a scene from Jane Eyre, when Jane finally reaches the Thornfield mansion and is taking in the scenery from the balcony, she describes what she sees in a rather unexpected way. Based on her long term experience with emotional, and sometimes physical, abuse as she was growing up, it would make sense for anyone to assume that Jane would be bitter about things in her life, and to look at things in a negative way, as would most people in her shoes. However, when Jane describes looking out from the balcony over the gates, one would not be able to deduce her unfortunate upbringing. It is in this way that I see the connection between Jane and Dickinson. Both take situations in which most people would not see a beauty in, simply because the way they think about ordinary things is not always in the best of manners, and are able to shift the perception of these situations to reflect and build upon the feelings of hope and optimism that linger within their hearts.

“I dwell in possibility” automatically reminded me of the excerpt from Jane Eyre we went over in class. At first glance when reading this poem i had a completely different interpretation of it from what i gathered after reading it over a few times. In my opinion from the way i see this poem i have interpreted that Dickinson is discussing her feelings of being locked or feeling like a bird in a cage, or in this case, in a house. She speaks of her experiences of feeling trapped inside the closed doors and windows of this “house”. As the poem comes to an end she describes herself spreading her hands to gather paradise. What is this paradise? Emily dickinson had her own idea of what her paradise to break through her feelings of being trapped was. I believe that in a way this poem allows you to reach out inside you to find your own paradise or what helps you escape from your cage.

Jane had her own sense of escape as well. Thornfield was her paradise. All her life she was tied down into one place, she didn’t have a sense of belonging. The only places she had resided in were locations where she was sent to, such as Mrs. Reed’s residence after her family died, and then Lowood. For once she was breaking out of her own “cage” and chasing a new experience, the pleasure of finding her own place in the world. When Jane first reaches Thornfield and looks around she immediately realizes that this is the place where she wants to be. When looking at the view she overcame feelings of sublime as she came to realize all the desires and wants that she looked over her whole life. She wanted to chase experiences, power, capability. Thornfield was her way out of being trapped in her own mind for so long, she was finally able to let her desires go free.

-Jyoti Bali

In the poem “Hope’ is the thing with feathers” Dickenson describes beautifully the feeling of being hopeful. She compares hope to birds which in this case are the “thing with feathers”. I believe, the reason why she chose to compare hope to birds its because birds are free creatures that wonder in the sky freely and continuously. The same way as hope stays in our souls all the time and we cannot have control of it. Even when we say that “we lost hope” its just a word of mouth because we can never really lose hope.

Dickenson is basically trying to say that hope stays and lives within us till the end of our journey in this life. It can be found in the strangest places and in the most so called “hopeless people” because its is something that we have no control over. We are just born with hope and we carry it with us through our whole lives.

There is always something to hope about in life. Its a feeling that keeps our soul warm and that pushes us to go forward and have faith that tomorrow its going to be a better day.

Dickenson’s poem connects with Jane Eyre because everything about Jane is connected to hope. Jane hopes that one day men and women will be treated equally, she has faith in God, she wishes that people will not judge each other from their social class, she hopes that Mr. Rochelle will accept her for who she is, she hopes that her dreams and goals will be accomplished etc. The main idea is that both works are based on hope. Jane’s situation is different but when you analyze throughly her state of mind she is just a hopeful girl trying to fit in and trying to be accepted by the people surrounding her.

In the poem “I dwell in the Possibility” by Emily Dickinson, Dickinson is talking about poetry. She compares writing poetry and prose to houses. She starts off by saying that poetry is limitless. “I dwell in Possibility”; she could write about anything and be open about anything. “A fairer House than Prose” Then in this line she compares poetry to prose. “More numerous of Windows- Superior – for Doors”; she says that poetry has more windows and doors than prose, this shows that prose is more limited, you can’t go “out of the box” when it comes to writing prose. Overall, the poem just expresses the power and freedom associated with poetry. Not only in writing it, but also in reading it. The readers don’t have to just imagine what is strictly being said in the poem. They also have the power to apply the poem to whatever situation they are going through.

This poem connects to a theme in Jane Eyre which has to do with feminism. All through her life, Jane had to fight against being dominated by the men in her life. Men such as Mr. Brocklehurst, and even Mr. Rochester. In chapter 12, she speaks of the things that women are restrained from, and what their standards are in society. She says, “Women are supposed to be very calm generally: but women feel just as men feel- and it is narrow-minded in their more privileged fellow-creatures to say that they ought to confine themselves..”. All through the book, Jane wants to break free from these stigmas. She wants to break free from the standard of society the same way a poem helps a writer break free from the constraints of prose. And she does break free by learning not to solely depend on Mr. Rochester’s love and money.

In Emily Dickinson’s piece, “Hope is the thing with feathers”, she really connects Jane Eyre whole depiction of hope. This concept of hope is reflected throughout the whole entire novel in various scenes. Not only does Emily Dickinson accurately depict Jane Eyre’s concept of hope but she also see how hope plays a vital role in an individuals life. It isn’t just any other feelings, it’s a feeling that can withstand almost anything and still persevere.

The scene that I found most related to this poem was the scene where Jane meet Mr. Rochester for the first time. Throughout her whole childhood she was both physically and mentally abused. However, she stood strong and kept her faith in hope. Moments such as the time she was shut in the red room or bullied in school serve as a tribute to “storm” in Emily Dickinson’s poem however she still manages to overcome it and meet her love Mr. Rochester (even though as of now it is not working out well). She was able to escape her struggles and overcome them through the power of hope.

In Emily Dickinson’s poem, “‘Hope’ is a thing with feathers,” she describes the abstract concept of hope with a concrete metaphor of a bird. This bird of hope is stalwart and omnipresent despite hardships and adversity and never asks for anything in return. I thought that this poem was helpful in understanding Jane’s feelings towards her world. One would think that, in Jane’s life situation, it would be easy and understandable to just throw your hands up in the air and give up hope. However, Jane never does this. While there are so many instances of this exhibited throughout the entire novel, I think that this struck me most in the beginning of the novel when Jane speaks to her captor and caretaker, Mrs. Reed, after the incident involving the Red Room. Jane has the strength to speak her mind and follow a new path because she holds that same feathered hope that Emily Dickinson writes of. For me, when I read this passage, I couldn’t fathom how a character so young and so tormented could possibly show such strength and perseverance, but, in reading “‘Hope’ is a thing with feathers,” it all began to come together. Jane wouldn’t have been able to create a new life for herself moving to Lowood, advertising herself and moving to Thornfield, and eventually falling in love and becoming more fully her true self without this steadfast hope that there is more for her in the world.

-Kelsey Luks

“Hope” is the thing with feathers

We’ve all hoped before, whether it’s to pass a test or to accomplish greater things. I think the poet used “hope” because it is that feeling that entwines our stomach. It appears with tons of anxiety and then subsides soothingly.  Hope is used with feathers because it is that feeling that associates itself with something spontaneous, it is something that aids the spread of the wings. Hope gives us the encouragement.

A moment where I think Jane had a similar encounter was in chapter 10 when she cried with agony, that she wanted a new servitude. Although it would not have been liberation or exciting, she would still be free of Lowood. After spending eight years of her life in a school, she longed to know what existed behind the walls. She wanted her freedom, she wanted to accomplish things. She knew she could not ask for a lot, but she wanted a change, she wanted to see new faces and a new agenda. Lowood wasn’t what it used to be and it was no longer her place of tranquility. Then she did an ad to become a governess and the beginning of her new chapter began.

-D.Ramratan

After read“Hope”Is The Thing With Feather “by Emily Dickinson, this poem is saying that I feel like this poem’s idea has a lot of similarity with Jane Eyre. Jane Eyre is a woman who pursues to have a freedom, equality and self-respect life. She put these as her hopes. At Rochester’s house, she never felt inferior because of poverty and thought that everyone in here are equal. Because of this, Rochester felt she was a very special woman and fell in love with Jane. On the day of married, Jane knew that Rochester already married and his wife still alive, she felt she had to leave, and said “Still indomitable was the reply: “I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself. I will keep the law given by God; sanctioned by man. I will hold to the principles received by me when I was sane, and not mad—as I am now. Laws and principles are not for the times when there is no temptation. . .. They have a worth—so I have always believed; and if I cannot believe it now, it is because I am insane—quite insane: with my veins running fire, and my heart beating faster than I can count its throbs”(Jane pg284). Jane thought her self-respect has been deceived, although she still likes Rochester, but, she can’t accept Rochester  married and if she continue to live with Rochester, she will be despised by others and lose her “hope”, too. She did not want to have this life without any respect. So, she did not seek any compensation and decide to leave and to continue to pursue her “hope”.

-pingsheng chen