Gender Roles In Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre

If we look back on the 19th century, we see masterpieces like Jane Eyre that dared to shatter the standard of the quintessential Victorian woman, obedient and tucked away at home. In an article by the National Endowment for the Humanities, Charlotte Brontë, the author of Jane Eyre, was described as dissatisfied by a culture that

  The Victorian era in England marked a period of unprecedented technological, scientific, political, and economic advancement.  By the 1840s, the English had witnessed remarkable industrial achievements including the advent of the railways and the photographic negative.  They had witnessed the expansion of the Empire, and, as a result, were living in a time of great economic stability.  Yet they had also seen thousands of people starving-and dying-due to the Irish potato famine and poor conditions and benefits in British factories and witnessed the entire order of society questioned as the working classes began to demand representation in Parliament.    The English also experienced biological

In its simplest form, Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre tells the story of a young woman, Jane Eyre, who grows up poor, makes the decision to be independent, does so, and, eventually, marries rich. The novel follows her from her childhood to her reunion with the love of her life and she, throughout it, deals with classism and sexism and exhibits her own form of feminism. By the end, it becomes clear that, with this semi-autobiographical novel, Charlotte Bronte was providing a criticism on society’s discrimination toward those of a lower class, a subtle argument against the male-dominated society’s treatment of women, and an even subtler call to action for women to find their own agency outside of the men in their lives. On another end, however,

Charlotte Bronte created one of the first feminist novels--Jane Eyre--of her time period when she created the unique and feminist female heroine, Jane Eyre. Throughout the novel, Jane becomes stronger as she speaks out against antagonists. She presses to find happiness whether she is single or married and disregards society’s rules. The novel begins as Jane is a small, orphan child living with her aunt and cousins due to the death of her parents and her uncle. Jane 's aunt--Mrs. Reed--degrades her as she favors her biological children. Jane 's aunt--Mrs. Reed--degrades her as she favors her biological children. Her cousin--John Reed--hits her and then Mrs. Reed chooses to punish her instead and sends her to the room in which her uncle

Charlotte Bronte’s novel Jane Eyre embraces many feminist views in opposition to the Victorian feminine ideal. Charlotte Bronte herself was among the first feminist writers of her time, and wrote this book in order to send the message of feminism to a Victorian-Age Society in which women were looked upon as inferior and repressed by the society in which they lived. This novel embodies the ideology of equality between a man and woman in marriage, as well as in society at large. As a feminist writer, Charlotte Bronte created this novel to support and spread the idea of an independent woman who works for herself, thinks for herself, and acts of her own accord.

During the victorian age, it was expected of a woman to be submissive and do what is told. However, Charlotte Brontё, a feminist of her time, went against society’s standards for women and spoke up about such injustice. Brontё went against traditional victorian etiquette when she developed a strong, independent, protagonist female main character, Jane in Jane Eyre, a coming of age novel, who did not follow proper victorian behavior.

Femininity runs throughout the work of Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. A variety of figures illustrate behaviors that Jane observes growing up. There are a number of positive role models that portray how to be a woman not just in the 19th century but in modern-day time. On the flip side there are role models that exemplify socially and morally unacceptable traits. Jane is a growing embodiment of both the good and bad mystique. But is there a right way to be a woman? The good of one person reflects on the rest of the population. What more for a woman to act one way and have it represent the rest of her kind? During Jane’s childhood, Mrs. Reed and Ms. Temple establish two distinct platforms of femininity. One platform values the virtues of compassion

People have many different takes on various aspects of the book Jane Eyre. In Chris Lewis’s “Separate Spheres and Women’s Status in 19th Century England,” and Charlotte Bronte’s “Jane Eyre,” are completely different types of literature. Lewis’s piece of work is a lecture on the restriction of female life in the late 18th to the early 19th century. Charlotte Bronte’s work was a gothic novel written to show that women are able to do as much as men can do, and maybe do even better. Both pieces of literature come together through the ideal of feminism.

Charlotte Bronte’s “Jane Eyre” can certainly be seen as a novel about rebellion. The titular character does not neatly fit into what an ideal woman in the Victorian era should be. Many of her actions throughout the novel can be seen as rebellious, from her confrontation of her aunt as a child to her questioning of certain religious practices. Perhaps most importantly, Jane faces many different forms of patriarchal society throughout her life, and rebels against all of them in a unique way. Bronte has Jane rebel against both the patriarchal based expectations for a Victorian woman and various patriarchal figures in the text.

Throughout Jane Eyre Charlotte Brontë uses the character Jane as a tool to comment on the oppression that women were forced to endure at the time. Jane can be seen as representative of the women who suffered from repression during the Victorian period, a time when patriarchy was commonplace. Brontë herself was affected by the time period, because according to Wolfe, she was deprived “experience and intercourse and travel.” (70) Thus Jane offers a unique perspective as a woman who is both keenly aware of her position and yet trapped by it despite repeated attempts to elevate herself and escape the burden placed on by her different suitors. Although superficially it seems that Jane wants to break away from the relationships that further

Jane Eye is a novel by Charlotte Brontë published in the 1800s. This novel is about a young orphan who is treated poorly. She can no longer live with her Aunt and Uncle when she finally blurts out her feelings to them and as a result is sent to boarding school. She is very successful in school and achieves great grades. After her education at barding school she becomes a teacher. She then leaves her teaching job and tutors a young girl. When Jane is out one night a man is on his horse and the horse falls and the man, Mr. Rochester, the owner of the house where she tutors, fall in love. They get engaged and on the day of the wedding the wedding is interrupted and a couple of men claim that Mr. Rochester is already married. He admits this is true and they all visit Mrs. Rochester. Mr. Rochester wants Jane to forget the fact that he is married and move with him to France and act as if they are married. Jane refuses and runs away. She is taken in off of the streets by the River family and lives with them and they help her find a

By analyzing how Rochester describes his mentally ill wife, Bertha Mason, we see how she becomes a perfect exemplification of a “freak”. After the discovery of Bertha is made, Rochester takes Jane to the attic to prove how mad his wife in fact is. He says This is my wife. Such is the sole conjugal embrace I am ever to know---

The purpose of Bronte's novel is to demonstrate that women could go beyond the oppressive limitations of their environment and find fulfillment.  Jane's cries for love are mistaken as evil outburst by those who wish to keep women repressed.  Oppression of women was so great that women even in the home were expected to be nonproductive.  The ideal or perfect Victorian women were ones who adopted an image of repose or idleness, basically to show the world they could.  Nervousness and fainting were expected in women, and certain disagreeable topics or bad news could cause such traits to erupt.  By trusting in her passion, by trusting in her own abilities, and by making her own decisions, Jane is able to overcome the agony all around her.  Homeless, starving, and misjudged, Jane is

In Charlotte Bronte’s novel, Jane Eyre, the author reveals the independent, mature, and strong values of the protagonist, Jane Eyre, in the male dominated and hierarchical society with the use of first person point of view, selection of detail, and dialogue. The use of dialogue in the novel verifies Jane Eyre’s independent and mature personality and values that separate her from the hierarchical society she resides in. When being insulted by her aunt that she does not fit in with the rest of the family, Jane replies “they are not fit to associate with me.” The reply that Jane gives to her aunt shows how she can stand up for herself by choosing not to back down in the argument.

Bronte’s feminist ideas radiated throughout her novel Jane Eyre. There were 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 and her lack of following social expectations were quiet clear. “Women of the Victorian era were not part of a man’s world, as they were considered below them.”(VanTassel-Baska, 4) The class divisions between a man and a woman were very distinctive. Jane however ignored this. When Jane first met Rochester, the whole scene presented a feminist portrait of Jane. A women walking alone in that era should never address a man, but Jane went out of her way to help Rochester stating that “if you are hurt, I can help” (Bronte, 98), Jane even let him place a hand on her shoulder. Jane believed that “women were supposed to be very calm generally, but women felt just as men felt” (Bronte, 116), which showed her perseverance and persistence in being independent and proving that men should be equal to that of women. This was of