Essay on Governess Relationships in Bronte's Jane Eyre

Readers learn early in the story that Jane Eyre does not fit contemporary society's idea of a proper woman.  As a child, Jane stands up to her aunt, Mrs. Reed, on more than one recorded occasion when Jane feels she has been treated unjustly (Brontë 28, 37).  At one point, Jane bluntly tells her aunt, "I declare, I do not love you: I dislike you the worst of anybody in the world except John Reed [Jane's cousin]" (37).  This was at best improper behavior for a child in Victorian society, and it was most definitely seen as improper by Mrs. Reed who grows to hate Jane, calling her "tiresome, ill-conditioned" and "scheming" (26).  But her aunt's reprimands and hatred do not deter Jane from speaking up in the face of injustice.

The novel in which Jane Eyre stars in can be seen criticizing many aspects of those times such as the role and nature of women, child negligence and social hardships for those in a lesser class. Jane Eyre’s alienation from society allows for a greater reveal of the story’s culture, values, and assumptions. It’s presented through the use of gender, class and character conflicts throughout the story. On multiple occasions, Jane is judged for the presented factors reflecting the type of society Jane lives in and what the times were like at that time.

The Victorian Era was known for its propriety, and for its social standards that could be as strict as the caste system in India. Citizens in England of low social regard faced many prejudices and limitations that could be almost insurmountable to overcome. Much like the caste system, people considered to be the dregs of society were often alienated and had little room for opportunity. In Charlotte Bronte’s novel Jane Eyre, the main character, Jane, suffers social prejudice because she is a simple governess, revealing much about the social stigmas about the working class during the Victorian Era. Jane’s social status limits her not only from being with the one she loves, but also hinders her endeavor to achieve true autonomy.

In Jane Eyre, both Jane and Edward keep breaking rules and boundaries that come their way. The rules of their society forbid their relationship, which should have prevented them from being together but it brings them closer. In the period of time that the book is set in, the difference in social classes are visible between the two. This creates the problems that arise as she feels the difference that separates them. Jane Eyre is not only an orphan; she is also poor with no permanent home and relatives. Edward Rochester is a man that is wealthier and much older than she is. This displays the two people that should have not been able to meet and fall in love the way they did. The boundary that they face later in the story is that as they are about to get married, it is revealed that he is still married to a mentally ill woman. These boundaries and rules that exist in both stories are the reasons to why their love prospers as they face them together and break though limits imposed upon them.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë depicts the rigid social structure and clear division between the upper and lower classes of Victorian society, in which wealth and status determined one’s beliefs, career, and treatment from those surrounding them. Those of the upper class did not typically converse or involve themselves with those viewed as beneath them; however, Jane Eyre fights the separation between the classes to which she has fallen victim at both Gateshead and Lowood school. Her refusal to conform to the hierarchy eventually leads to the meddling between the Victorian-era elite and peasant class, as seen through Jane Eyre’s romantic relationship with Edward Rochester, an upperclassman and

            Left orphaned and under the care of extended family, Jane Eyre faced oppression from a young age.  Though strong-willed and independent with an unusual (and considered unnatural by some) brand of spunk, Jane worked hard to appease her aunt, Mrs. Reed, while at the same time representing everything that a young woman of the time should have shunned according to cultural practices; "I dared commit no fault: I strove to fulfill every duty; and I was termed naughty and tiresome, sullen and sneaking, from morning to noon, and from noon to night" (Brontë 14).  Hints from nursemaid Bessie were of no avail to Jane, "You should try to be useful and pleasant, then perhaps, you would have a home here; but if you become passionate and rude, Missis will send you away, I am sure" (12).  Bessie's words prophesized Jane's future departure, but ten year-old Jane did

The ladies swoon over Adele while Jane sits on the side inspecting and criticizing each lady as she passes by. No one is unpleasant to her and no one seems to grab Mr. Rochester’s attention; which puts Jane at ease. Jane is content and almost enjoying herself while she participates in some activities and becomes amiable toward the party. This is an extreme fairytale-like revision without Blanche. There is no hostility, no conflict, no pain, but also no motivation. There is nothing to instigate Jane into taking any step toward Mr. Rochester. Nothing is threatening her or giving her a feeling of urgency or duty to “save” Mr. Rochester from some disastrous fate as well as herself and Adele. Originally, Jane confessed her love for Rochester because of her fear of being separated from him. Without Blanche, there is no threat or quandary in which Jane would feel the need to confess and affirm her place with Mr. Rochester. Jane is passive and feels outclassed, unworthy, and too young for him and is comfortable with just gazing at Rochester; so the likelihood of Jane accosting Rochester with her confession is extremely small when the situation is not unpleasant.

Lewis states that Victorian women “did not exist as legal beings in their own right” and depended entirely on male relatives (Lewis 2).Women’s lack of legal status impeded their independence and enforced their economic dependence on men, thus creating superfluity of problems in women’s lives. This reflects Brontë’s criticism of women’s dependence by revealing negative impacts this imbalance of power created. After leaving Rochester, Jane is forced to “[beg for] employment” because, without a man’s recommendation, potential employers “knew nothing of [her] moral character” (Brontë 334). Jane does not know of any male relatives and is unmarried, so she doesn’t have a man to rely on. While qualified to teach, she is forced into poverty in order to maintain morality; had she stayed with Rochester and thus maintained economic standing, she would have had to abandon her moral values.

The governess’ ambition, however, isn’t her only reason for wanting to please her employer. Multiple critics have specifically mentioned her fascination with her employer in a romantic way. James describes him as a “ rich...extravagant,” man who is “charming” with women, and the governess as a “fluttered” and “anxious girl” (James 149).

Social status has a way of dictating life to many people, like Jane Eyre, whose very existence was shaped from a demanding social hierarchy. Social norms are unwritten rules about how to behave, what is expected of us and what limits society has placed upon us. Each culture and even era has its own set of social norms. We are all judged by these rules and they are emphasized by the attitudes of our peers towards us and our families. The book Jane Eyre is written in a Victorian era.

In Charlotte Bronte’s novel, Jane Eyre, Bronte seemingly condemns the existing social hierarchy. Not only are the characters who are most concerned with the allure of fortune and rank portrayed as either deceitful or unethical, but even characters who’ve accepted their means of poverty and demonstrate honest moral natures are mocked. Rather than use the normal class structures, the book suggests that a person of impoverished means can be viewed as socially respectable with the condition that they maintain a sincere desire to better both oneself and their means of living.

A single woman with a very narrow income, must be a ridiculous, disagreeable old made!’ (p. 68 – 69). She also adds that ‘single woman, of good fortune, is always respectable’ (p. 69). This shows what Emma’s thought about a woman with no fortune. One of the reasons for Emma’s view is that Jane is an orphan who is left with no fortune, which means that she needs to work for her living or marry a man who could support her living costs. Being a teacher or governess was one of the only occupations in which nineteenth-century single women like Jane Fairfax could earn a living. However, Jane shows hatred towards being a governess when she talks about governess as equal to slave trade. For example, in a conversation between Jane and Mrs. Elton, Jane says ‘There are places in town, offices, where inquiry would soon produce something-offices for the sale not quite of human flesh, but of human intellect’ (p. 235).

We never lose sight that Jane is plain, ordinary, and not the sexually repressed spinster who cannot resist her sexuality, as portrayed in in the critic Mary Pooveys argument in her essay ‘The Anathematized Race’ (Reader p. 195) who states, ‘The figure who epitomised the Victorian domestic ideal was also the figure who tried to destroy it.’ (Reader, 195). On the contrary, Bronte used this uncertain profession for Jane to illustrate the difference in social class and to portray the story from both a servant’s and aristocratic point of view, (CD 3) whilst also depicting Jane’s journey from her humble beginnings to equal stature with the man she loved.

Men and women during the nineteenth century were thought to have completely different natural behaviors with men featuring characteristics ideal for the public world while women were suited for a private world. Women were generalized as being weak, emotional subordinates that were in all respects dependent on men (Radek). It’s important to recognize that women and men were expected to demonstrate, “traits [that] are generally polar opposites,” to one another in order for a marriage to function properly (Radek). Any woman that expressed a desire to break free from these expectations was ostracized for their defiance. The main protagonist, Jane Eyre, embodies a spirit destined to defy the social expectations of her time in a multitude of ways. Not only does Jane represent the strength and wisdom that women can display, she takes action striving for her own personal happiness. Despite a powerful love affair, she refuses to ever allow her desires to become, “completely controlled by the men,” in her life as society informed her to, but rather pursues what she believes will be the most beneficial for her own journey (Smith). A woman with the audacity to make decisions with this mindset is unheard of during this time which emphasizes the complexity of Jane as a character. Bronte utilizes this evolving character to contest the common stereotypes that modified the perception of women and created a society that provoked limitations upon

In most societies, an interconnection exists between wealth and power, giving a superior status to people from more affluent backgrounds and an inferior status to people from impecunious families. Jane Eyre was