Society and Status in Charlotte Bronte´s Jane Eyre

545 Words2 Pages

Marxism in Jane Eyre In Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte portrays the strict, hierarchical class system in the early 1800s in England. Bronte develops a complex character, Jane, to put a crack into the strict hierarchical class system. Bronte does this to challenge the class system in England which required everyone to stay put in his or her class position. Bronte does this by questioning the role of the governess and whether she should be considered upper class, because of her higher education, or lower class, because of her servant-status within the family. Bronte also puts in question the relationship development between two people of different classes, such as Rochester’s and Jane’s. Charlotte Bronte demonstrates that class boundaries are not finite and that individuals can transcend them. Since the beginning of the novel, Jane's ambiguous class status is evident. Jane is a poor orphan living with relatives who despise her. John Reed, Jane’s cousin, states that Jane is “a dependent . . . you ought to beg, and not to live here with gentleman's children like us" (Bronte 101). John cl...

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