Jane Eyre And Great Expectations

Love and Money as Presented in the Novels Pride and Prejudice and The Great Gatsby

In order to understand Vanden Bossche’s analysis, one must understand the Marxist lens’ origins. The Marxist literary lens derives from the beliefs of Karl Marx, co-author of the Communist Manifesto. Tyson defines Marxism as “‘[an] attempt to reveal the ways in which our socioeconomic system is the ultimate source of our experience’” (qtd. in Brizee). In other words, Marxism analyzes how wealth defines societal roles. In Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë illustrates themes of social class and rule through Jane’s struggle to adapt to her society. Furthermore, Marx analyzes conflicting ideologies within the social hierarchy. Conjuring his infamous prediction that the continuing rivalry between the classes will lead to a revolution, Marx claims the lower classes will usurp the powers of the middle and upper classes and create a society of equal intelligences and land ownership (Brizee). Similar to his revolutionary ideas, Marxists analyze how a novel supports or testifies

Throughout the novel Jane faces many obstacles created by the beliefs of the society. Jane overcomes each of these standards created by the society and becomes her own independent women. The three societal standards in Jane Eyre are oppression, gender inequality, and social class. Jane knew what it was to be poor and be considerate before she became rich, thus helping her overcome her struggle for social class. She overcomes the mistreatment she receives by standing up to those who inflicted it upon her. Jane also overcomes gender inequality in the novel by forcing Mr. Rochester to see her as an equal. Jane overcomes many barriers in her path and becomes a strong independent

Based on the ideas of Karl Marx, this theoretical approach asks us to consider how a literary work reflects the socioeconomic conditions of the time in which it was written. What does the text tell us about contemporary social classes and how does it reflect classism? Jane Eyre depicts the strict, hierarchical class system in England that required everyone to maintain carefully circumscribed class positions. Primarily through the character of Jane, it also accents the cracks in this system, the places where class differences were melding in Victorian England. For example, the novel questions the role of the governess: Should she be considered upper class, based on her superior education, or lower class,

The theory of Marxism was founded on the ideas created by Karl Marx, he stated that materialism has become part of our nature and that it has created grounds on how we live in our reality. Marxist criticism argues that literature shows a reflection on reality, specifically how the power of social institutions have affected not only the economic world but the mind and ideals of society. Through literature we can see the mental difference in characters based on their social standing. The difference in class is referred to as socioeconomic; Marxists believe that the socioeconomic divide is much stronger than that of race, gender, religion and intelligence. We see through the difference in class levels that the poorer characters tend to have issues that revolve around the word that they live in; while more wealthy characters tend to have more selfish problems. Marxist addresses the classes as follows: The Bourgeoisie, those who have and are fortunate; the proletariat, the have nots/ laborers. We will see through the stories of the characters from our literary works how the issues of the two classes differ, and how they affect the groups internally. I believe that this theory is important to literature because much of what Marxism creates a foundation on is how the literature that we study is a direct reflection of our reality, and through the study of this theory we can better understand this “reality” that we have found ourselves

Vladimir Lenin, a communist revolutionary displays the Marxist ideology by believing that “any cook should be able to run the country.” This quote reflects the view of evenly distributed power. According to the Marxist theory, it is best to eliminate social classes, for they spark class conflict and promote inequality between the upper class bourgeois and the lower class proletariats. The Marxist Lens mainly looks at economic power when providing arguments about the inconsistent treatment of people based on their social status. In Hamlet, Shakespeare demonstrates class differences by establishing characters that abuse their power and take advantage of others to get ahead, subtlety criticizing the bourgeoisie, and using what is occurring in society at the time to base the society within the play.

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

“The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles” (Mark 344). This is the famous sentence with which Karl Marx begins the first chapter of Manifesto of the Communist Party, by using the word class this would imply ordering people into societal groups. Karl Marx was referring to economic class, however, society can be grouped into many different classes, such as, economic standing, gender, or race. Each provides an interesting view on how different values have shaped history as is currently viewed. If viewed through the struggles of economic oppression, similar to how Karl Marx did, the major conflict is centralized within the relationship of each class to the means of production. However, Kate Millett and Charles Mills would argue that economic class is meaningless in political society, as Mills would argue that race is the most important, while Millett would say that gender is important. Regardless of the viewpoint that history is taken through Marx, Mills, and Millett would concur that the various classes need to be broken down in order to create a peaceful society. While divisions amongst the various societal classes creates oppression, it is in this oppression that society through the introduction of laws or the evolution of a society’s values, and these changes can be witnessed from where society was when Marx wrote in the mid-nineteenth century, and Mills and Millett’s writings towards the end of the twentieth century.

Jane Eyre, often interpreted as a bildungsroman, or a coming-of-age story, goes further than the traditional “happy ending,” commonly represented by getting married. Instead, the novel continues beyond this romantic expectation to tell full the story of Jane’s life, revealing her continual dissatisfaction with conventional expectations of her social era; as a result, many literary critics have taken it upon themselves to interpret this novel as a critique of the rigid class system present in 19th century Victorian society. One literary critic in particular, Chris R. Vanden Bossche, analyzes Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre through a Marxist lens, asserting the importance of class structure and social ideology as historical context and attributing this to the shaping of the novel as a whole. This approach of analysis properly addresses Brontë’s purposeful contrast of submission and rebellion used to emphasize Jane’s determined will for recognition as an equal individual.

Brontë and Steinbeck are arguably two of the most prominent writers in English literature, parted by a ninety year time span and a difference in pre occupations, which could be due to their difference in gender. Jane Eyre and Curley’s wife are two of most different characters but similarly both used drive the plot. Both characters struggle to fit into society; Jane is belittled by her Aunt Reed and being kept apart from the other children in the Reed household. Similarly Curley’s wife is looked down upon by the men on the ranch, where she is named a ‘tart’ and ‘rat trap’ she uses her physical appearance to get attention. Both texts show the inequality of society through isolation of the characters.

During the height of the Victorian Era, in which the books Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte, and the Importance of Being Earnest, by Oscar Wilde, it was not uncommon for more well-off households of the era to have at least one Governess hired to help keep the younger residents educated and orderly, and to keep the servants of the manor abiding by the constructs in which the Victorian era set out for them as consistently as possible. Therefore, because the Governess was so prominent within the rich classes in regards as a role in their house—like how the contemporary writer gains inspiration for satire of the rich from writing the stereotype of a tired and underpaid maid—the Victorian novelist used the role of the Governess to write in a

Historically, governments, the medical establishment, and religion have challenged and impeded women from attaining a sense of power or a position of authority in society. From witch hunts to the system of coverture to the current sexualisation of women in media, certain conventional gender roles and stereotypes have been imposed upon women. Women have been depicted as “natural desires”, “the lower sex”, “bossy”, “innocent”, “passive”, “sexual objects”, but never or not too often as “strong”, “powerful”, or “the equal sex”. In the 19th and 20th centuries, women were oppressed and deprived of the fundamental principles that a man was reserved to. From marriage and sexuality to education and employment, women were undermined and intended to play a subordinate role to men. This oppressive gender ideology was present in some of the most significant books that were published during the time period such as Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, and A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry. Because of stereotypical Victorian ideals of motherhood, marriage, and femininity, female characters are expected to sacrifice certain aspects of their life—whether it’s ambitions, passion, or the liberty of choice—to take on the roles of a typical housewife and mother. However the characters’ reluctance to conform to these ideals and to male dominance emphasizes their strong internal values and independence, a trait that was rare in women in the

Independence, the capacity to manage ones own affairs, make one’s own judgments, and provide for one’s self. Jane Eyre herself is a very independent woman. Throughout her life she has depended on very few people for very little. Charlotte Brontë wants the reader to learn that independence can open many doors of possibilities.

Charles Dickens (the author of Great Expectations) and Charlotte Brontë (the author of Jane Eyre) both grew up during the early 1800s. Growing up during the same time period, each author incorporated elements of the Victorian Society into these novels. Both novels depict the protagonist’s search for the meaning of life and the nature of the world within the context of a defined social order. In essence, the two novels encompass the all-around self-development of the main characters, by employing similar techniques. Each spurs the protagonist on their journey by introducing some form of loss or discontent which then results in the main character departing

Marx first sets up his arguments on class by referring to the historical class struggles. “Freeman and slave, patrician and plebeian, lord and serf,