Sydney Voss-Kernan
Ms. Connors
AP English Language
March 20, 2014
Jane Eyre: The Heroin Feminist
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.
In nineteenth century Great Britain, women’s status and rights are almost non existent. She cannot vote, she cannot own property, she cannot get divorced. Everything she has— even her body—belongs to her husband. Women who come from humble beginnings are constrained into the occupations of household servants, farm laborers or factory workers in order to survive. “The only ‘genteel’ professions open to middle-class women [are] governess, school teacher or companion to a wealthy woman with its awkward status between servant and lady” (Thaden 66). The only reasonable way for women to obtain any social position or economic security is to be married into it. Unlike most middle-class boys who receive an education to prepare them for a profession, mo...
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...inist heroism by refusing to address him as “Master Reed”. Jane admits to being “habitually obedient to John” as conventional society would have (Brontë 13). John stresses his superiority over Jane both physically and verbally: “Now I’ll teach you to rummage in my bookshelves; for they are mine, all of this house belongs to me” (Brontë 14)! Janes inferior position is highlighted when John throws the book at her. Janes reaction solidifies her as a strong willed girl when she declares him “a murderer—[...] like a slave-driver—[...] like the Roman emperors” (Brontë 15)! She attacks him physically and verbally casting herself as a key heroine in her fearless approach. Jane proves herself exceptional for her time by shattering the conventional role of women, silent and submissive, to a voice raged with passionate defiance against the patriarchal society” (Simpson 12).
Jane is a spirited woman, and her emotions give her a strength of character that is unusual for a female heroine of this period. Rather than being nervous and oversensitive, Jane expresses her feelings through anger. The first example of this occurs at one of the pivotal moments of her life, when John Reed hits her. "'Wicked and cruel boy!' I said. 'You are like a murderer- you are like a slave-driver- you are like the Roman emperors!' I had read Goldsmith's History of Rome, and had formed my opinion of Nero, Caligula, etc. Also I had drawn parallels in silence, which I never thought thus to have declared aloud." Jane realizes for the first time that she need not be passive and accept her fate; instead she fights back, losing control, and her actions are a blur in her memory. "I don't very well know what I did with my hands, but he called me 'Rat! Rat!' and bellowed out aloud," she says.
Even Jane’s aunt, whom she knew in her childhood, was a very regal and effeminate woman. Even though she is a proper lady, she treats Jane as though she was trash, which proves again Brontë’s point that femininity does not equate to kindliness or the true embodiment of the female spirit (Brontë 14). All the females who maintain typically feminine qualities are held in much less regard than the women, like Jane Eyre, who contain masculine traits.
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.
Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre entails a social criticism of the oppressive social ideas and practices of nineteenth-century Victorian society. The presentation of male and female relationships emphases men’s domination and perceived superiority over women. Jane Eyre is a reflection of Brontë’s own observation on gender roles of the Victorian era, from the vantage point of her position as governess much like Jane’s. Margaret Atwood’s novel was written during a period of conservative revival in the West partly fueled by a strong, well-organized movement of religious conservatives who criticized ‘the excesses of the sexual revolution.’ Where Brontë’s Jane Eyre is a clear depiction of the subjugation of women by men in nineteenth-century Western culture, Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale explores the consequences of a reversal of women’s rights by men. This twentieth-century tradition of dystopian novels is a possible influence, with classics like Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and George Orwell’s 1984 standing prominence. The pessimism associated with novels of this genre—where society is presented as frightening and restrictive—exposes the gender inequality between men and women to be deleterious.
Jane Eyre was written in a time where the Bildungsroman was a common form of literature. The importance was that the mid-nineteenth century was, "the age in which women were, for the first time, ranked equally with men as writers within a major genre" (Sussman 1). In many of these novels, the themes were the same; the protagonist dealt with the same issues, "search for autonomy and selfhood in opposition to the social constraints placed upon the female, including the demand for marriage" (Sussman). Jane Eyre fits this mould perfectly. Throughout the novel, the reader follows Jane Eyre on a journey of development from adolescence to maturity to show that a desire for freedom and change motivates people to search for their own identity. Jane begins to form her identity with the aid of many characters she encounters at Lowood, Thornfield, and Marsh End. Miss Maria Temple, who was Jane's first significant female encounter at Lowood, functions as a role model and an influence for Jane. Miss Temple's character displays the breakdown of the Great Chain of Being, but in a more gentle way than Rochester or Jane herself. She defies Mr. Brocklehurst and his hypocritical ways only as far as she will still retain shelter and her place as a teacher. To Jane, Miss Temple embodies all of the qualities that a woman should. Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar write, "Miss Temple, for instance, with her marble pallor, is a shrine of ladylike virtues: magnanimity, cultivation, courtesy - and repression" (Gilbert 344). While Miss Temple seems to show Jane what she should become, she also introduces her to control over her emotions. Unlike Jane, whose self-assertiveness permits her to give in to passionate confrontations, Miss Temple would "never allow `so...
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.
In this excerpt from Jane Eyre, Jane focuses her feelings toward men and how they are depicted as imprisoning women in the novel. At the beginning of the quote, Jane relates how she cannot help but make it known her position on the way women are treated. The author, Charlotte Brontë, uses Jane as a symbol to show the problems women faced during the 19th century. “Then my sole relief was to walk along the corridor of the third story, backwards and forwards, safe in the silence and solitude of the spot, and allow my mind’s eye to dwell on whatever bright visions rose before it—and, certainly, they were many and glowing; to let my heart be heaved by the exultant movement . . .” (115). This example certifies the point Jane is attempting to make
cannot be the business of a woman's life, and it ought not to be. The more
Throughout Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, Jane faces several conflicting feelings about her role in the world. Jane struggles with her acceptance of Mr. Rochester’s authority, which is exemplified in chapter 20 when Jane is told by Mr. Rochester to care for the bleeding Mr. Mason. While Jane does what Mr. Rochester asks, she questions herself and his power over others, showing how she faces a dilemma in how to properly feel about the situation. By using tools such as repetition, symbolism, and irony, Bronte conveys the period typical struggle that women faced against authority figures in finding a place between submissiveness and independence.
"I often wonder how you can find time for what you do, in addition to the care of the house; and how good Mrs. West could have written such books and collected so many hard works, with all her family cares, is still more a matter of astonishment! Composition seems to me impossible with a head full of joints of mutton and doses of rhubarb."
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...
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.
Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre represents the role of women in the Victorian era by giving the reader an insight into the lives of women from all social classes. Jane Eyre therefore represents figures of the Victorian time yet the character of Jane Eyre, herself, can be seen as very unconventional for the Victorian society.
Throughout the early 1800s, British women most often were relegated to a subordinate role in society by their institutionalized obligations, laws, and the more powerfully entrenched males. In that time, a young woman’s role was close to a life of servitude and slavery. Women were often controlled by the men in their lives, whether it was a father, brother or the eventual husband. Marriage during this time was often a gamble; one could either be in it for the right reasons, such as love, or for the wrong reasons, such as advancing social status. In 19th century Britain, laws were enacted to further suppress women and reflected the societal belief that women were supposed to do two things: marry and have children.