Jane Eyre By Charlotte Bronte

Charlotte Bronte's, Jane Eyre takes place during the Victorian period of England. This gothic romance novel tells the story of an abused orphan, Jane, who later matures into a strong independent woman. The societal standards Bronte portrays in the novel consist of oppression, gender inequality, and social class. Throughout the novel, Jane overcomes each of these social norms and defies what every other person in the society believes.

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.

The Victorian Era encompassed a time of great discrepancy between the sexes, especially for women. The polarization of gender roles reflected on a basis of gender sexuality where men and women were granted certain advantages and disadvantages. Women were expected to realize a specific position in society based on morals of submission, passivity, and a complete lack of selfishness and independence. Constrictive notions such as these prevent individual expression and expansion. Therefore, while struggling to fill the pre-conceived expectancies of society, one forces true desires and happiness to pass as a scant priority. Charlotte Brontë's Victorian novel, Jane Eyre, explores the significance of individual fulfillment in an oppressive

Following the experiences of Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte, expresses many elements of gothic literature throughout her novel Jane Eyre. In her perfect understanding of gothic literature, she expresses the three types of evil commonly found in gothic literature, including the evil of the supernatural, the evil within or the instinctual evil motives of humans, and lastly, the evil because of societal influence. Jane Eyre experiences all of these three evils with her aunt and three cousins with her residency and return to Gateshead: Jane encounters the supernatural and the evil of societal influence as a child and she fully encounters the evil within upon her return.

“This book might have been written by a woman but certainly not a lady.” It is bildungsromane (Triska); a type of novel concerned with the education, development, and maturing of a young protagonist (Dictionary.com). Jane Eyre was a very shy, plain, and reserved person. Even though she had a very plain look she had a passion that wasn’t expected of her (Green). She also had hopes and dreams and aspirations. So I wonder, how might Jane Eyre react to the women of today?

Jane is taught at a young age to look down on people not of her caste, and to oppress them the same way that she herself is oppressed as a female orphan. Though Jane is not influenced directly by social status at all times, it is still a constant factor which Brontë makes evident. In Victorian England, a female must either be born or married into her social class, and this is what defines her. The character of Jane served to undercut the popular female stereotypes of fiction: the angel of the house, the invalid, or the whore (Brackett, 2000). Brontë creates Jane as her own force, in which she is neither the angel, invalid or whore, but a young lady who is intelligent and has pride and dignity. In this Victorian society, her unsubmissiveness and independence is her social fault, which Brontë pokes fun at (Brackett, 2000). Male Victorian writers cast women during this time as social, finagling creatures whose goals are to obtain as many friends as possible and throw the most elaborate parties. Brontë opposes this by creating Jane as an opposite of these “defining” characteristics, by making Jane a female who could are less about how many people adore her, a female who would actually enjoy a life with few companions. As mentioned before, Jane’s sense of dignity is evident. As Jane became Rochester’s governess, she is faced with the

Jane Eyre, in Jane Eyre, addresses many issues concerning gender inequality. Jong states, “She [Jane] must reject a variety of hypocritical masculine figures who feel it is their right to rule her” (155). As a child, Jane was often surrounded by male figures, John Reed and Mr. Brocklehurst, who constantly belittled her presence and kept her in a submissive mindset. Jane claims, “Women are supposed to be very calm generally: but women feel just as men feel; they need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts just as their brothers do" (115).

Our interest in the parallels between King Richard III and Looking For Richard is further enhanced by consideration of the marked differences in textual form. Evaluate this statement in the light of your Comparative Study of King Richard III and Looking For Richard.

Belonging, equality, and society verses self are all common ideas in the media. These themes will always be present in the world because humans are always searching for self-actualization, to be treated as equal or better, and to keep self-morals despite pressuring societies. The novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontё explores these themes. Authors tend to write what they know and these themes can reflect how Brontё viewed the world around her. Charlotte Brontё uses Jane Eyre to explore 19th century feminism, sense of belonging and family, and how to keep individual morals when society does not favor those morals.

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

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.

Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre emerges with a unique voice in the Victorian period for the work posits itself as a sentimental novel; however, it deliberately becomes unable to fulfill the genre, and then, it creates an altogether divergent novel that demonstrates its superiority by adding depth of structure in narration and character portrayal. Joan D. Peters’ essay, Finding a Voice: Towards a Woman’s Discourse of Dialogue in the Narration of Jane Eyre positions Gerard Genette’s theory of convergence, which is that the movement of the fiction towards a confluence of protagonist and narrator, is limited as the argument does not fully flesh out the parodies that Charlotte Bronte incorporates into her work. I will argue that in the novel

An obscure orphan governess, perceived to be too young, too penniless, too insignificant to control her own life, defied societal conventions of her time, and remains relevant to this day. Why does this poor, plain governess with no financial prospects or social standing matter in a modern feminist perspective? If she could speak, a modern feminist’s beliefs would likely shock her, so to interpret this novel as feminist, one must see it through the lens of the time and place Brontë wrote it. Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre was a feminist work in that Bronte expressed disdain for oppressive gender structures through the voice of Jane Eyre, and the actions of Bertha Mason.

Charlotte Brontë wrote Jane Eyre in 1847 during Britain’s Victorian era, a time when the societal culture was patriarchal, meaning men were considered to be superior to women in all parts of life. In general society was guided by etiquette and considered prudish, hypocritical, single minded, and arrogant. The culture of this era was defined predominantly by two main characteristics. First by the rigid caste structure, which prevented most from advancing beyond the station held by their families. Second, the extreme polarization of gender roles, especially in the upper classes. Men were expected to be honorable, enterprising, intelligent, loyal, and morally strong. However, women were expected to be chaste and in the constant company of a chaperone

The first point to be discussed with feminism in this literature, Brontë portrays Jane Eyre to be a very subtle Feminist. Jane's approach to feminism is not rebellious or outlandish at all. She lets her character speak for itself, .due to her harsh living environments she had to take that approach considering in the nineteenth-century, the quality of life as a women was entirely based on how beautiful women were and who they were married to. Along with a wealthy economic status, Jane however, had none of these things going for her. For example she was an orphan in this particular family named the Reeds, they are a very wealthy family and took her into an extremely toxic household which was very different to her past living environments, were later on corrupted her in the future to believe that all women should not be treated equal to but less than when compared to men. From the disrespect she received from Mrs Reed, and the bullying from her son John she was always able to stand up for herself no matter how bad or unfairly she was being treated. There were many instances were Jane was being treated unjustly. Ms. Reed would allow her children and even the maid of the house be disrespectful to her. Everyday Jane was being being compared to things like “little toad” (bronte 41). Conveying the message to the reader that just because Jane is not attractive nor wealthy that she does not deserve to be given the respect someone with those