The novel Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë, depicts the coming of age of a woman who encounters great hardships, obstacles, and heartbreak. During the Victorian era women were subordinate to men and often times lacked the same opportunities and privileges that society and the family structure gave to men. Although society and the family structure of the Victorian era treated men and women differently, men were also oppressed, experienced suffering, and had to overcome poverty, but due to the masculinity that men were forced to portray during the era often times the hardships of men have been overlooked when analyzing the men in Jane Eyre. The characters John Reed, St. John Rivers, and Edward Rochester suffer various forms of lack and poverty that contributes to their oppressive and suffering nature precipitated by societal and family structure as well as being impoverished by their circumstances throughout the story even though they come across as having wealth and power.
John Reed becomes greatly oppressed and suffers, due to societies expectations and the Victorian family structure. In the beginning of the book John Reed is portrayed as a young pompous tyrant who has the sense that when he comes of age he will have everything of the Reed fortune. When explaining to Jane her position in the Reed house John says, “…they are mine; all the house belongs to me, or will do in a few years”(Brontë). Because the social and family power structure during the Victorian era maintains that the eldest boy, or in this case the only boy, inherit the families belongings John Reed is led into suffering, poverty, and ultimately death. Without the guidance of a father John Reed is raised as a “‘Wicked and cruel boy...like a murderer…like a slave dr...
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...nd the re-union of Mr. Rochester and Jane Mr. Rochester can finally be in the relationship he always desired, but at the cost of his hand and eyesight; adding even more to his suffering, but at least now he has his true love to be by his side.
Throughout Jane Eyre the three male characters: John Reed, St. John Rivers, and Edward Rochester endure suffering caused from society and the family power structures. Although males during the Victorian era, and especially these three men, were exhibited as having power and or wealth, they had a flaw that caused them to suffer in some shape or form. John Reed ultimately dying, St. John moves to India and essentially has a loveless and delusional attitude towards life, in addition Mr. Rochester and the new Mrs. Rochester are united and become equals.
Works Cited
Brontë, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. New York: Penguin Classics, 2006.
Jane Eyre has a rough start to her foundation, to begin she is orphaned at a young age. This sets up many problems for the young girl and her fragile identity. The people around worsen the situation as Jane grows. They challenge her patience, integrity, and intelligence. As a female Jane must deal with the caste system of her time as a threat, and as an orphaned child she must deal with the cast system as an obstacle. The family of Reeds that she lives with reminds her everyday of her low position. “She suffers precisely because she knows the value of caste; She may be poor, but she does not want to belong to the poor” (Bell 2). This makes Jane want to thrive more because she realizes the odds against her. Originally, Jane comes from a middle-class family but when her father dies she is left to the pity of the Reeds. The Reeds mistreat Jane and she grows to long the outside world. Jane clearly shows her position when she says, “ It is as natural as that I should love those who show me affection, as submit to punishment when I feel it is deserved”.
During the novel Jane encounters two important men and through these men has two proposals of marriage, one from Rochester whom she loves and the other from her cousin St John Rivers. The two men are portrayed very differently, as are their marriage proposals. This essay will compare and contrast St John Rivers and Edward Rochester.
Jane Eyre is born into a world where she is left bereft of the love of parents, family, or friends, but instead surrounded by hateful relatives. She resolves to attend school to begin her quest for independence. This theme is seen through Jane’s behavior when she renounces her relation to her aunt Mrs. Reed, ignoring the nurse’s orders and leaving her room to see Helen again, and when she acquires the courage to speak her opinion to Mr. Rochester.
The story begins with a young Jane Eyre who is essentially neither loved by anyone nor independent in nature. At this point in the story, the reader discovers that Jane is an orphan and is being supported by the Reed family. This discovery is made through the portrayal of John Reed when he is taunting Jane about her social status. John claims that since it is his family who supports Jane, it is their choice to dictate the circumstances under which she lives. In this case, Jane is not allowed to play with the younger Reed children or read a book that belongs to the Reeds. The fact that6 Jane is an orphan living under someone else's roof displays that she has not yet gained her independence.
Jane’s quest to find a sense of belonging follows her from the beginning, to the end of the narrative. Ever since Jane was a child, she was taught that she would never be accepted into society. From the start, she was never considered a member of the Reed family. They belittled her and treated her as if she were a servant, making sure she knew that she was not a part of their family. “They will
Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre chronicles the growth of her titular character from girlhood to maturity, focusing on her journey from dependence on negative authority figures to both monetary and psychological independence, from confusion to a clear understanding of self, and from inequality to equality with those to whom she was formerly subject. Originally dependent on her Aunt Reed, Mr. Brocklehurst, and Mr. Rochester, she gains independence through her inheritance and teaching positions. Over the course of the novel, she awakens towards self-understanding, resulting in contentment and eventual happiness. She also achieves equality with the important masculine figures in her life, such as St. John Rivers and Mr. Rochester, gaining self-fulfillment as an independent, fully developed equal.
The novel, Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte, has a plot that is filled with an extraordinary amount of problems. Or so it seems as you are reading it. However, it comes to your attention after you have finished it, that there is a common thread running throughout the book. There are many little difficulties that the main character, the indomitable Jane Eyre, must deal with, but once you reach the end of the book you begin to realize that all of Jane's problems are based around one thing. Jane searches throughout the book for love and acceptance, and is forced to endure many hardships before finding them. First, she must cope with the betrayal of the people who are supposed to be her family - her aunt, Mrs. Reed, and her children, Eliza, Georgiana, and John. Then there is the issue of Jane's time at Lowood School, and how Jane goes out on her own after her best friend leaves. She takes a position at Thornfield Hall as a tutor, and makes some new friendships and even a romance. Yet her newfound happiness is taken away from her and she once again must start over. Then finally, after enduring so much, during the course of the book, Jane finally finds a true family and love, in rather unexpected places.
The story of Jane Eyre is very much about the status of women in the
Jane Eyre was an orphan left to depend on unsympathetic relatives who mistreated her. As Millicent bell explains in her article “A Tale of the Governess,” “With the Reeds she suffers not only the dependency of childhood and female hood, but the excruciating humiliation of the poor relation.” The cruel treatment she received from her family members caused her to have no sense of belonging.
Jane Eyre is a classic English novel which follows the development of a young woman in the mid 1800's. Jane grows to be a smart, self supporting, independent woman. This becomes a struggle for her as she was brought up to live in the lower-class. Throughout this novel, Jane tries to show that class and gender should not affect personality. This novel explains Jane’s struggle against societal expectations of class and of gender.
Similar to many of the great feministic novels of its time, Jane Eyre purely emerges as a story focused on the quest for love. The novel’s protagonist, Jane, searches not only for the romantic side of love, but ultimately for a sense of self-worth and independence. Set in the overlapping times of the Victorian and Gothic periods, the novel touches upon both women’s supposed rights, and their inner struggle for liberty. Orphaned at an early age, Jane was born into a modest lifestyle, without any major parent roles to guide her through life’s obstacles. Instead, she spent much of her adolescent years locked in imaginary chains, serving those around her but never enjoying the many decadences life has to offer. It is not until Jane becomes a governess that many minute privileges become available to her and offer Jane a glance at what life could have been. It is on her quest for redemption and discovery that she truly is liberated. Throughout Charlotte Bronte’s classic novel Jane Eyre, the story’s protagonist Jane, struggles to achieve the balance of both autonomy and love, without sacrificing herself in the process.
Charlotte Brontë composed her novel Jane Eyre during the Victorian era; a period of history where Patriarchy set the expectations of men and women. The effect of this social system resulted in women suffering discrimination simply because of their gender. Sigmund Freud, in his essay entitled, “The Relation of the Poet to Day-Dreaming,” articulated that women were only capable of having erotic wishes dominate their “phantasies,” and even their ambitious “phantasies” were rooted in erotic wishes (177). The predominating thought concerning women during this era was that, due to their nature, longed to marry—tending to the needs of her household. Those who were not fortunate enough to marry (due to appearance or social status) were to become governesses. Ms. Brontë, through her protagonist Jane Eyre, clearly depicts the struggles of an indigent young woman who is forced into near slavery. This tale is articulated well by Adrienne Rich in her essay entitled, “Jane Eyre: The Temptations of a Motherless Woman,” when she states that Jane wants to “choose her life with dignity, integrity, and pride” (471). Even though Charlotte Brontë depicts a woman who will not be bound by the mores of her society, she is not so exuberant as to have her protagonist proclaim “I am woman, hear me roar.” The toning down of Jane’s demeanor can be attributed to satisfaction of the critics, but Brontë also expresses that the societal expectations, or the patriarchal rights of men, produced a similar negative effect on men. From John Reed and his self-righteous attitude, to Rochester’s internal battle in regards to the treatment of women, Charlotte Brontë demonstrates that sexism—inherent in a patriarchal society—has an adverse affect on both men and women.
The construction of Jane Eyre as a seemingly flawless and strong character serves two purposes in the text. The primary purpose is to display the Victorian struggle for women against patriarchal dominance. The patriarchal systems of dominance and control within the Victorian society were the sole machinery that advanced the colonial interests of the male gender against the female gender. In Jane Eyre, the female gender is portrayed as particularly weak and lacking in the necessary strengths that are required to pursue their interests. Jane Eyre becomes a rebel within the system by articulating open and consistent defiance against the status quo. Her travails, challenges, successes and final triumph signify the determined shift by the author in portraying women as different beings other than the weak and fragile characters that were consistent with the Victorian meta-...
Women, in all classes, were still living in a world which was misogynistic and male-dominated. Their purpose in life was to produce male heirs and maintain the home by hiring and overseeing servants. It was also taboo for one to marry significantly below one’s social class. This is one reason that Jane is not a conventional heroine for the society of her time. Although, as a governess, she is not considered to be as low as a housemaid, she is still part of the hired help in the house. This is why it is unconventional for her and Mr Rochester to be in a relationship. Yet this is not as peculiar as how Jane Eyre ends their relationship due to her sense of betrayal. It would have been considered extremely foolish for a working-woman’s sense of betrayal to end and turn down a man of great wealth.
The novel, Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë is about a female character battling society's conservative view on women's rights and roles in civilization. Jane Eyre was written during the Victorian Era when women were seen less than equals to men, but more as property and an asset. At the end of the era was when feminist ideas and the women's suffrage movement began to gain momentum. In the novel, Jane encounters three male characters, Mr.Brocklehurst, Mr. Rochester and Mr. St. John Rivers, who try to restrict her from expressing her thoughts and emotions. In Charlotte Brontë's novel, Jane Eyre, Victorian ideology influences today's society by making women seem inadequate to men. Brontë wants to convey that rather than conforming to other's opinions, women should seek freedom and break free of the barrier that society has created for them.