Plato states that, “Because it does not tell the truth, imaginative literature must shut down readers’ rational faculties, to appeal to their emotions; the effect of such literature, then, is to weaken the minds of its readers.” The effect of Jane Eyre, on the contrary, is to actually develop these faculties and to use the emotions induced to strengthen the mind of the reader.

Though the events contained within the novel Jane Eyre are fictional, they are realistic in nature. During the reader’s perusal of the novel, he or she is able to conclude through rational thought that none of the events are completely impossible, though they may be improbable. It is this illusion of a real-life story that helps to encourage the strong emotions attributed to Jane Eyre, ranging from curiosity, to horror, to despair, to hope, to adoration. Part of the allure of Jane Eyre is the knowledge that the story is possible and may occur at some point in one form or another.

In addition to inciting emotion in its reader by a link of commonality of character and personality, Jane Eyre also urges the development of said reader’s rational faculties through its imaginative plot line. Though outwardly a romantic novel, Jane Eyre interweaves a large amount of mystery into the events of the character’s lives. The reader becomes tangled in a spiderweb of unknown connections and chance events that appear to lead at first to one conclusion but then branch off into another direction. As the reader becomes emotionally attached to the characters, he or she will find the necessary association of names and faces, of events and places, to be absolutely addictive. It is nearly impossible to stave off the need to use logic and common sense in order to solve the mysteries surrounding the main players of the tale, and so the reader is constantly thinking of ways to connect wayward strands to the constantly spinning web of story. Jane Eyre actually uses emotion to lure the reader into developing his or her rational faculties through suspense and tantalizing clues, instead of first blocking these faculties so as to impose upon the reader a tome of shallow feelings and uninteresting plot twists.

And while its events and characters may be fabricated, the elegant language most certainly is not. Jane Eyre is not only a fine example of compelling storytelling, but it is also a masterpiece which exhibits the english language at its finest. Jane Eyre is unflawed by commonly-made errors and reads easily with flowing sentences and the correct grammar that has been lost in recent years of english speaking. The mind of the reader, therefore, is not weakened by the mistakes of today’s speech. The language of Jane Eyre, then, aids in the development of emotion by twining the reader in a style capable of freeing the mind, if not of influencing the reader to consciously appreciate the finer nuances of the english language. Jane Eyre uses neither impossible illusions nor poor writing skill in its successful ability to cause emotion and to ensure an enjoyable reading experience.

Jane Eyre is a novel strong and capable in its ability to induce real emotion by way of realistic events and not by fantastical impossibilities that numb the reader to the sadness and joy of real life. It uses said emotions to urge the reader to develop his or her skills of logic and reasoning, and its excellent use of language and syntax can also cause the reader to raise his or her standards for a correct use of english. This masterpiece is a well-rounded example of imaginative literature that appeals to the opposing forces of emotion and logic in order to actually strengthen, rather than weaken, the minds of its readers, thereby disproving Plato’s statement on at least one account.