The Subtle Truth of Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre

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The Subtle Truth of Jane Eyre

The role of a woman in Victorian England was an unenviable one. Social demands and personal desires were often at cross-purposes. This predicament was nothing new in the 19th century, yet it was this period that would see the waters begin to stir in anticipation of the cascading changes about to shake the very foundation of an empire on the brink of global colonization and industrialization. The question of what role women would play in this transformation came to the forefront.

Charlotte Brontë's female bildungsroman, Jane Eyre, attempts to spotlight many of the issues of the "woman question" facing this period and to draw a balance between a woman's social role and her need for personal freedom. Simply stated, Jane Eyre's childhood and her transition into adulthood are characterized by two competing needs: the one to love and be loved, and the other to be somebody in her own right, a woman of achievement and integrity, with an outlet in the world for her passions and her energies.

We are frequently reminded that Jane is a passionate woman-an often dangerous quality for the Victorian female-and through her passion, Brontë delivers to us a message which, if it came by means of a sober treatise calling for a reversal of the status quo, would frighten us with its indignation, but appears softened with the venting frustration of a misfortunate orphan trying to find her station in life. The message, however, is clear to all who choose to acknowledge the truth delivered in its passion:

It is in vain to say human beings ought to be satisfied with tranquility: they must have action; and they will make it if they cannot find it ... Women are supposed to be very calm g...

... middle of paper ...

... novels, that is happily, and yet the reader seems to take away something more than just a warm feeling of romance: there is a sense of justice in Jane Eyre. We are drawn back to Jane's insistent plea: "women feel just as men feel: they need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts, as much as their brothers do...."

Charlotte Brontë engaged various facets of what came to be known as the "woman question" in Victorian England, but the longevity of Jane Eyre's appeal rests in its subtle truth and justice that "it is thoughtless to condemn [women] if they seek to do more or learn more than custom has pronounced necessary for their sex" (114).

Works Cited

Brontë, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1975.

Gilbert, Sandra A and Susan Guber. The Madwoman In The Attic. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1979.

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