The Victorian Female Role in Jane Eyre
During the Victorian era, many changes were born in English society. Ideals about power, wealth, religion, society, and women were shifting. The novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë encapsulates these changes, especially in the area of women’s roles and feminism. The novel criticizes the set ‘role’ of women that had existed for so long, one of being submissive to men, being a caregiver and mother, or one of stereotypes such as the ones described by teacher Tim Gillespie: “temptresses, virgins, or victims” (107). The main character, Jane Eyre, indeed serves in a stereotypical role as a governess (a female, live-in teacher) but her personality and actions prove her to be anything but the average Victorian
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As a result of this outburst, Mrs. Reed slaps Jane and walks away without another word. Jane’s actions (outlined above) are contrary to how typical young women of the Victorian period behaved. Her outbursts, first towards John Reed, and later towards Mrs. Reed, are early examples of Jane’s struggle against the oppressive Victorian female role. “Brontë emphatically draws attention to the punishment for striking out against oppression-- containment. In the words of Joan Z. Anderson, a faculty member at Saint Patrick’s High School, the red room ‘perfectly represents [Jane’s] vision of the society in which she is trapped’ (Gilbert and Gubar 340)” (1). Like Jane, Mrs. Reed is also subject to expected feminine roles, although unlike Jane, she adheres to the trappings of her gender. Despite the fact that Mr. Reed is dead, Mrs. Reed is still vulnerable to carrying out his wishes. This is demonstrated by how powerfully Jane’s reminder of Mrs. Reed’s promise to her dying husband about caring for Jane distresses Mrs. Reed: “Her usually cold, composed grey eye became troubled with a look like fear; she took her hand from my arm, and gazed at me as if she really did not know whether I were a child or fiend” (Brontë 35). Although Mr. Reed is dead, he still “...continues to dictate her behaviour even from the grave” (Anderson 1). Mrs. Reed’s son also portrays the role of male dominance in her life: John gambles away much of the Reed fortune and wrecks his own life with alcohol, while simultaneously devastating his mother’s life. When she finally stands up to him and refuses to pay any more of his debts, John kills himself, which leads to Mrs. Reed’s fatal stroke. Ironically, even though she briefly
Ultimately, as a woman, she is a limited agent and can only do so much indecently. Jane breaks off from the domestic sphere to which she is confined
Mrs. Reed likewise separates Jane from the Reeds’ social circle by confining her to the nursery while her cousins spend their days in the drawing room (22) and calling Mr. Lloyd, the apothecary for “ailing servants,” instead of the family physician for Jane’s illness (15), thus placing her among the servants. However, the servants too reject Jane from their group—Miss Abbot told Jane that she is “less than a servant” because she does “nothing for [her] keep” (9). Jane thus
Jane develops a *find quote about jane thinking her crush on Rochester is childlike* but is morally derailed when it is revealed that Mr. Rochester has been hiding his feral wife in the attic. This presents Jane with the arduous decision of choosing to stay with her love or to leave in the night. Jane chooses the latter the author, Emily Brontë writes, ***find quote**. Though this must have been a difficult decision, Jane choose, out of her selfless nature, to pursue an uncertain and dangerous path just to preserve a principled world. This is not only an impressive response when she was tested but it is a display of feminism.
It is ironic that Jane is seen as the guilty party in the incident with John Reed because John started the fight when he slapped Jane. Then when John’s sisters, Eliza and Georgina, go to “tattle tale” on Jane, their mother blames Jane for the whole situation. Jane compares John to a “murderer,” “slave-driver,” and “Roman Emperors” (Bronte 9). During this comparison, she is implying that he is a very cruel and awful person. That he would beat her and boss her around.
One of the cornerstone aspects of Charlotte Bronte’s novel Jane Eyre is classism, focusing on Jane’s and other character’s struggle to live meaningful and fulfilling lives in a society deeply rooted in class divisions and social norms. Examining the story through a classism lens illuminates our understanding of the manner in which “power” operates in the novel and allows us to develop a rich, unique framework for understanding the mindsets of the characters and their circumstances. From the beginning of the novel, Bronte immediately establishes society 's prevailing class and power hierarchy, and as the story progresses, Jane’s growing sense of will leads her to have to make critical decisions about what she truly values and what life path she will follow. Bronte initiates her story immediately immersing the reader in the societal class divisions of the Victorian society. The first segment of the novel that can be explicated through a classism lens is Jane’s experiences at Gateshead and Lowood.
Jane requests to return to the Reed house, after learning about her cousin’s suicide and her aunt, Mrs. Reed’s, illness; however Rochester questions, “And what good can you do her… you say she cast you off,” Jane replies, “Yes, sir, but that is long ago; and when her circumstances were very different: I could not be easy to neglect her wishes now” (Brontë 227). Jane looks beyond that Mrs. Reed “cast[ed] her off,” implying that she has grown to let go of grudges and developed a mature mentality. The irony of Jane’s inability to “neglect her wishes,” infers how the injustice treatment of Mrs. Reed unaffectedly brings Jane to look past the situation by visiting the Reeds in a time of sorrow. In addition, Rochester attempts to convince his wedded Jane to stay with him, after learning about his mad wife; Rochester claims that his father had “sent [him] out to Jamaica, to espouse a bride already courted for” him but only so his brother and father to get “thirty thousand pounds,” Rochester further admits to Jane that “you know now that I had but a hideous demon. I was wrong to attempt to deceive you…
Jane Eyre is described by one critic; Clarke “as the classic Cinderella: poor, despised and mistreated”. For Jane to achieve her dream of independence from patriarchy she must rebel, therefore her alienation can be seen as a deliberate decision to distance herself from the repression of the 19th century society. In contrast some locals see Agnes as a ‘witch’ reflecting the stereotypical and superstitious view of Agnes’s evil deed. Reinforcing how Bronte and Kent present their female protagonists as outsiders, refusing to abide by societies conventions. Therefore they’re choosing their own repressive fate; reinforcing the idea rebellious women are not accepted in society.
During the Victorian Era, it was difficult for women to achieve a respectable position. However, an author, Charlotte Bronte, obtains respect in the world of English literature, even as a woman. She depicts her struggles as a female author in her books, and even brought in altered versions of her real-life experiences. Bronte’s accomplishments compliment the ideal of feminism, showing that the perseverance of women produces results. In the novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, interactions between Jane Eyre and characters show support for emotional equality between men and women.
First, Jane Eyre’s attributes displays women in our society who are still in search for meaning and love in their lives. Just like Jane’s spirit of passion despite abuse, these women continue to search for respect from other
The titular Jane in Jane Eyre struggles to free herself from the power of others to achieve independence throughout the course of the book. As a child, she fights against unjust authority figures, and as an adult, she spurs multiple unequal marriage proposals. Bronte, through Jane asserts that a woman should be independent from others. When Jane was young, she tried to free and defend herself from unjust authority figures. When Jane 's aunt unfairly confines Jane to the Red Room, Jane launches into a verbal diatribe against her aunt.
Jane Eyre is a novel where a modern view on gender roles get in the discourse of the traditional Victorian social hierarchy and patriarchal
The Victorian era, as depicted in Jane Eyre, was a time of extreme gender inequality and households being dominated by the patriarchs. Although a prominent change in attitudes towards this social matter could be seen towards the end of the Victorian era, the question arose know as “The Woman Question”. This short essay will address it in terms of what is was seen as, why it was asked and why it was an important part of the women’s lives. As mentioned above, the Jane Eyre milieu was Victorian. This meant that women and men were not treated in the same manner.
Jane goes against the expected type by “refusing subservience, disagreeing with her superiors, standing up for her rights, and venturing creative thoughts” (Margaret, 1997, p. 325-346). She is not only successful in terms of wealth and position, but more importantly, in terms of family and love. These two needs that have evaded Jane for so long are finally hers. Adding to her victory is her ability to enjoy both without losing her hard-won independence. Everybody has the rights to pursue happiness, to pursue the true spirit of life, which can be seen from Jane Eyre’s struggle for independence and equality.
Charlotte Bronte takes us on a journey from the point which Jane Eyre, the protagonist lives with her aunt and cousins whom very much dislikes her in Gateshead to her going to a boarding school in Lowood, after which she becomes a governess in Thornfield where she falls in love with Mr. Rochester her employer whom she later finds out is married to a mad woman by the name of Bertha Mason, upon her discovery of this she picks up and leaves Thornfield, she then ends up at Marsh End where he meets her relatives. The novel carries us through ever important event in her life, which introduces us to new aspects of her personality, up until her eventual marriage to Mr. Rochester. The novel fits this theme as its protagonist chooses individualism as she refuses to take the role subservience as that of a traditional female of the Victorian era society, she stands up for her rights and want she believes in, she ventures in her own unique thoughts, and stands by her views even if it means disagreeing with those superior to her. Jane comments on the role of women in society and the greater constraint imposed on them. V.S Naipaul’s
The reaction to the novel showcases how women were treated in the 17th century with a reviewer in The London Quarterly Review stating that the character, Jane Eyre was “destitute of all attractive, feminine qualities” and