The Feminist and the Stereotype
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, published under her surname, Currer Bell, featured the character of Jane Eyre, an outspoken, independent, and unapologetic woman in a time where such a thing was mostly unheard of and socially unacceptable. In contrast, Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte falls into the trope of a socially ostracized and emotionally wounded male hero. When comparing the two, it becomes clear that Jane Eyre is the better protagonist. Firstly, Jane was revolutionary for her time, being an independent woman in the Victorian era, something which cannot be said for Heathcliff. Additionally, Jane undergoes character development and has a character arch which is not present in Heathcliff.
In doing so, she became one of the most prominent early feminist writers. Early on, Jane is characterized to be outspoken, this we can see in chapter four, when she confronts the aunt that has terrorized her by locking her up in the Red Room, “I am glad you are no relation of mine. I will never call you aunt again as long as I live. I will never come to visit you when I am grown up; and if any one asks me how I liked you, and how you treated me, I will say the very thought of you makes me sick, and that you treated me with miserable cruelty” (Bronte, 4. 40) This is the reader’s first real look at Jane’s character, initially showing how even as a little girl, she is unafraid to stand up to people when she knows they are in the wrong. For a woman to be this unapologetic and outspoken in the Victorian era would have been almost unheard of, making Jane Eyre a truly revolutionary character. Jane is also shown to be opinionated in chapter 12, “Women are supposed to be very calm generally: but women feel just as men feel; they need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts, as much as their brothers do … It is thoughtless to condemn them, or laugh at them, if they seek to do more or learn more than custom has pronounced necessary for their sex” (12.129) and chapter 14, “I don't think, sir, you have a right to command me,
In the beginning of the novel, Jane is unhappy, unheard, and unappreciated. This can also be seen in the fact that she is reading a bird book in the first scene. Jane wishes to be like the birds in the book, so she can be free from her relatives who cause her immense emotional distress. When she finally has the opportunity to leave both Gateshead and Lowood, she begins to thrive and develop as a character. There is a strong correlation between the time she spends away from Gateshead and Lowood and her growth as a character. By the time her and Mr. Rochester begin interacting she is already a fairly confident young woman. This is shown when Jane makes it clear that she is primarily her own person before she is Rochester’s love interest. After she discovers he is already married to Bertha, she leaves to preserve her own character as opposed to degrading herself enough to become his mistress. Love him as she may, she loves herself more. This cannot be seen in Heathcliff, as he consistently sacrifices any opportunity to grow as a character for the opportunity to be with Catherine in any and every way. When Heathcliff returns to find Catherine has married Edgar, he is set on a path of vengeance, similar to that of a child in tantrum. While Heathcliff’s actions are understandable as a child who was abused and
In Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre there are many occasions in which there is motifs about division and bias relations. Money was a major division between people in the Victorian Era. Family made people rise in the standings with others, If your family was rich or well known, then you were going to be well known and well liked. There are many situations in which Jane is thought of as poor and worthless, as well as having no family.
Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre may be superficially read as simply a sweet romance in which Jane ends up with the man of her dreams after overcoming many obstacles and challenges. But doing so misses the much deeper—richer—messages of Bronte's lasting masterpiece. A more thoughtful reading reveals this novel, especially its heroine Jane, challenging centuries-old gender roles which assume male supremacy, characterizing men as the dominant, more privileged gender, while women are oppressed into inferior and submissive roles. Of course this Victorian novel portrays the expected gender roles of both men and women in 19th century England, but Jane rises out of the patriarchy challenging the social roles assigned her with a personality marked by sass and self-assurance . Ms. Bronte, through Jane, ultimately demonstrates that women can live their lives on equal terms with—or independent of—men.
To finalize my point about Charlotte Bronte's intent in describing Jane Eyre, the parallels between Bronte's life and her character Jane need to be examined. Bronte herself experienced "a period of depression and ill health" (Rollyson 5) Bronte was known to feel "keenly the solitude of her existence." (25) "The most basic facts of Bronte's life reveal a history of loss of guile similar to Jane's" (26) The name that Jane Eyre was originally published under was "An Autobiography". From this one can deduce that Bronte cared to make more than a surface feministic point in her book.
Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre focuses on the life of a young orphan named Jane Eyre. In the beginning of the novel Jane is living with her aunt, Mrs. Reed at Gateshead Hall, where she is treated horrible by not only Mrs. Reed, but her children as well. Later in the story Mrs. Reed takes to Jane to the Lowood Institution, a charity school run by the a man named Mr. Brocklehurst. While at Lowood, Jane meets Helen Burns, who befriends Jane and ends up helping her learn how to endure personal injustices and believe in God. When Jane is 18 she starts to advertise for a job as a private tutor. After doing so, Jane gets hired to be a governess to the young Adele Varens at Thornfield manor where she meets the love of her life Mr. Rochester, the master of Thornfield manor.
The novel Jane Eyre, written by Charlotte Bronte, is about Jane who is a strong, independent women who went from being an orphaned, isolated ten-year-old to excelling at school and becoming a governess.The character Blanche Ingram is intended to marry Edward Rochester, the man Jane loves. Throughout the first half of the novel Bronte uses Blanche Ingram as a foil to Jane, to reveal her true persona. This is evident firstly by appearance, where Blanche is described as beautiful and Jane plain, their different inner characters, the way they connect with Adele and finally how they express their feelings towards Edward Rochester.
Jane Eyre, written by Charlotte Brontë, was published in 1847 by Smith, Elder & Company, in London. This year is exactly ten years into Queen Victoria’s sixty-four year reign of the British Empire. The Victorian Era was renowned for its patriarchal Society and definition by class. These two things provide vital background to the novel, as Jane suffers from both. Jane Eyre relates in some ways to Brontë’s own life, as its original title suggest, “Jane Eyre: An Autobiography”. Charlotte Brontë would have suffered from too, as a relatively poor woman. She would have been treated lowly within the community. In fact, the book itself was published under a pseudonym of Currer Bell, the initials taken from Brontë’s own name, due to the fact that a book published by a woman was seen as inferior, as they were deemed intellectually substandard to men. Emily Brontë, Charlotte’s sister, was also forced to publish her most famous novel, Wuthering Heights, under the nom de plume of Ellis Bell, again taking the initials of her name to form her own alias. The novel is a political touchstone to illustrate the period in which it was written, and also acts as a critique of the Victorian patriarchal society.
...she tells him of the Rivers family and, most notably, about St. John Rivers whom she refused to marry because of his lack of love or appreciation of her. Jane then marries Rochester realizing that he is who she wants. Jane has done a tremendous amount of soul searching while away from Thornfield and she now feels able to make the lifelong commitment of marriage as she has gained the moral, religious, and personal capabilities to differentiate between good and bad, right and wrong, in her many experiences throughout her life. Jane Eyre remains true to her own personal code of conduct throughout the novel. Her strength and courage can be an inspiration to readers no matter what the age, gender, or generation in which they live. The morals to which Jane adheres to are what make Jane Eyre a timeless classic to be enjoyed and learned by every individual.
Jane Eyre has been acclaimed as one of the best gothic novels in the Victorian Era. With Bronte’s ability to make the pages come alive with mystery, tension, excitement, and a variety of other emotions. Readers are left with rich insight into the life of a strong female lead, Jane, who is obedient, impatient, and passionate as a child, but because of the emotional and physical abuse she endures, becomes brave, patient, and forgiving as an adult. She is a complex character overall but it is only because of the emotional and physical abuse she went through as a child that allowed her to become a dynamic character.
At the start of Jane Eyre, Jane is living with her widowed aunt, Mrs. Reed, and her family after being orphaned. Jane is bitterly unhappy there because she is constantly tormented by her cousins, John, Eliza, and Georgiana. After reading the entire book you realize that Jane was perfectly capable of dealing with that issue on her own, but what made it unbearable was that Mrs. Reed always sided with her children, and never admitted to herself that her offspring could ever do such things as they did to Jane. Therefore, Jane was always punished for what the other three children did, and was branded a liar by Mrs. Reed. This point in the book marks the beginning of Jane's primary conflict in the novel. She feels unloved and unaccepted by the world, as her own family betrays her.
In the beginning of the novel when Jane is a child she is very subdued and distant, but then she opens up and becomes vulnerable because of Mr. Rochester's influence. The reader has only seen the vulnerable side of Jane once before, when her dear friend Helen Burns passed. After Helen’s death Jane shows her first evidence of sadness. Jane learns that Helen is sick and wishes to see her. Jane starts showing her vulnerable side when she learns that Helen will die, “‘No, no, Helen!’ I stopped, distressed. While I tried to devour my tears...” (Brontë 97). She tries to prove that she is strong by hiding her feelings, even though getting stronger by releasing her emotions is what she should be doing. She does not show much more evidence of emotion until much after, when she meets Mr. Rochester. When she has known Mr. Rochester for some time, she starts to open up to him. When Jane and Rochester finally reveal their feelings for each other the tree in back of Thornfield Hall, they show sides of themselves that the reader has never seen. Jane narrates her thoughts and feelings of the event: “‘And so,’ thought I, ‘could I with you.’ I should have said so, perhaps, but a livid, vivid spark leapt
In Charlotte Bronte’s novel Jane Eyre, the author juxtaposes the representations of femininity of Bertha Mason and the title character to champion Bronte’s ideal conceptualization of independent women.
Bronte’s feminist ideas radiate throughout the novel. There are many strong and clear examples of these ideas in Bronte’s protagonist, Jane, her personality, actions, thoughts, and beliefs. From the beginning of the book, Jane’s strong personality is quite clear. She often gets in trouble, arguing with her cousins, and defying Bessie and Miss Abbot, as well as her aunt. She is not afraid to speak her mind and is dogmatic and assertive about her ideas. Some of the best examples of this characteristic can be found in the first few chapters of the book: after being blamed for provoking her cousin John, Mrs. Reed orders her to be locked in the “red room”. Jane “resisted all the way,” and “like any other ...
Jane was brought up enduring a life of struggle and hardship that she was able to gain wisdom from and see beauty in. Bronte places Jane in situations where she is able to prove her resilience such as placing Jane at the Moore house because she wanted her to see the nature of the world and to show the reader that life comes with surprises. After rising from this fall, she arrives at Moor House where her skills she learned at Marsh End are tested. Jane learns throughout her adventure that she has to take matters into her own hands. Jane desires to be favored in this world. She’s never found the “feeling of isolation” pleasing, so when she falls into Marsh End she is obviously miserable being alone with people who did not care about her. Jane not only cherishes approval but also likes to have a high status in society. She does “not like to belong to poor people,” and to be dropped into their class. Jane knew what she would be striving for, to succeed in life, and she knew that it came with new faces, under new circumstances. Jane was ready to handle any environment in her quest for establishing her individuality. Bronte novel can be interpreted in a number of ways, however the feminist approach is the most valid because its conclusions are drawn after analyzing a Marxist criticism, psychological criticism and many other criticisms that continue to be relevant in the lives of many
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.
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-...