Jane Eyre is one of the earliest English novels with a strong, female

One of the most famous passages from the novel comes from Jane’s very clearly feminist inner monologue. She states that “Women are supposed to be very calm generally: but women feel just as men feel…they suffer from too rigid a restraint…” (130). Jane, as a forward-thinking and progressive protagonist, exemplifies in every sense the essence of gender equality of her time. Bronte reveals the limitations experienced by the female sex and the effects of those limitations on her protagonist. By doing this, the author uses Jane to fulfill her feminist and pro-equality agenda. Another example of Jane’s inner monologue comes from her irritation with Rochester. When Rochester showers Jane with gifts soon after their engagement, Jane’s “…cheek[s] burned with a sense of annoyance and degradation” (309). She becomes increasingly irritated with Rochester because of the complete lack of respect Rochester has for her feelings due to his joy of becoming engaged. Because Jane is already considered inferior to Rochester because of her lack of wealth and her status as an unmarried woman, being pelted with lavish tokens of affection is less than an ideal situation for her. This imbalance between the two highlights the already sexist society of the Victorian era. After Jane’s engagement to Rochester, she recounts the fact that she “…could not, in those days, see God for His creature: of whom I had made an idol” (316). She becomes blinded by the overpowering love she held for Rochester, to the extent that she put him on a pedestal, seeing him as an “idol”, and not a human being capable of fallacies. Bronte uses this dangerous mental circumstance Jane is in to illuminate the clear disparity between men and women of the time. Jane’s infatuation with Rochester serves as an important device implemented by Bronte to further her argument against sexist Victorian

Ever since she was a child, Jane had always been outspoken and opinionated. Even though these two characteristics were not seen to be fit for a girl or women, Jane always had the confidence to do the opposite of what was expected of her. An example of this is in the beginning of the novel, when Jane fights back to her brutal cousin John Reed. John was a bully to Jane and in one specific scene, he calls her a rat and mocks her for being an orphan. He throws a book at her and her head starts to bleed. Jane says, “Wicked and cruel boy! You are like a murderer- you are like a slave driver- you are like the Roman emperors!” This was surprising because Jane was only a small child and small girls did not normally show anger or say harsh things like she had. After this scene, my opinion of Jane’s character had already began to form: she was one tough girl.

At first glance Jane Eyre may seem to be a young woman with semi-bad taste in men, but she is actually much more complex a character than that. Jane is driven by her craving for freedom, her desire to be useful, and her yearning to fit in somewhere. She is rich in character with a stubborn, strong willed, and passionate personality. She is not afraid to stand up for what she believes in, whether it is a family she wants to have, or a marriage that is unfair and without balance. As an adult, Jane is a level headed young woman, but as a child she let her passions get the best of her. She tones down this passion quite a bit as she grows older and gains more experience, and channels it into other areas of her life.

In the critical essay, “Almost my hope of heaven’: idolatry and messianic symbolism in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre,” Joshua analyzes the theme of idolatry and messianic symbolism in Jane Eyre. Joshua believes that Jane Eyre is a novel that revolves wholly on religion. He argues that, “one of the novel's purpose...is to show that human relationships are successful only if the partners in the relationship avoid the dangers of idolizing each other” (Joshua). I strongly agree with his opinion. One main reason Jane denies Rochester’s proposal is because she does not want to be inferior to him. When Rochester and Jane argue over whether or not Jane is going to let him order her around she says “‘I like to serve you, sir, and to obey you in all that is right’” (Bronte 250). From the beginning, Jane sees Rochester as a sort of messiah. Due to this, she refuses to marry him for she believes they will never truly be equals. However, as the novel progresses, Jane goes through internal developments that enable her to realize that her and Rochester can be equals. She realizes her self-worth and finds a balance between her principles and feelings. In one of the final passages of the novel, Jane says that her and Rochester have been married for ten years and she is “[her] husband’s life as fully as he is [hers]” (Bronte PAGE NUMBER). Here, we can see the Jane and Rochester are equals. This supports Joshua’s claim, for their relationship is only successful because of their equality. Rochester is no longer Janes “master” and she still remains her own-self.

The novel takes place during the Victorian Era when Jane is a young girl and carries on until she reaches adulthood. According to Kathryn Hughes, author of Gender Roles in the 19th Century (2014), the 19th century was what “Victorians thought of as ‘separate spheres’, only coming together at breakfast and again at dinner.” She also mentions that women were expected to occupy the domestic, private ‘sphere’, while men engaged in the public ‘sphere’. Despite such ideologies, Jane manages to succeed in breaking such views of women by becoming a governess, which allows her to engage in the public ‘sphere’ at Thornfield, and during her stay, she forms a respectable relationship with Mr Rochester. Mr Rochester takes walks with her and occupies their time by having meaningful conversations of which he leaves “both the choice of subject and the manner of treating it entirely” (Brontë. 2010. p 133) to Jane. At the end of the novel, he also tells Jane that he will “abide by your decision” (Brontë. 2010. p 454) as he confesses that he wants to marry. Jane’s occupation and relationship with Mr Rochester suggest that she did not live in ‘separate spheres’ as men. This suggests that Jane Eyre is a modern, feminist novel that was incredibly ahead of the 19th

At the start of the captivating novel titled, “Jane Eyre”, our main character Jane defies many of the stereotypes of Victorian women in the time. Charlotte Bronte, the author, sends a strong message of the types of behavior that isn’t very common for women to show. Throughout the exhilarating book, the readers travel through the life of a young orphan who blossomed into a strong woman.     During the Victorian period, women weren’t seen as much excepted the person who takes care of the home and children. Gregg Newby states ,in an article called “Expectations of Women in Victorian Society”, “In the eyes of society, women were ill-equipped to meet the demands of the outside world.

Mrs.Reed and John Reed abuse her physically and vocally as shown (Brontë,5)when John Reed hits her and she stands up for herself by talking back saying, “You are like a murderer- you are like a slave-driver- You are like the Roman emperors”. With time Jane grew and from those experiences had the strength to forgive those who hurt her most in her childhood, by doing so she came closer to her final and best self. After Gateshead she transitions to Lowood. Faced with humiliation and poor living conditions, Jane is faced with a different kind of personal test, one that she is not prepared for.

In Charlotte Bronte’s gothic novel, Jane Eyre, she uses Jane’s changing social status as a guide of Jane’s daily life decisions. Bronte starts off Jane in Gateshead, where she is treated like a burden of the house. Then, Jane goes off to Lowood, a boarding school for orphans, where she often gets punished by strict teachers and is treated harshly. After she leave Lowood, Jane works as a governess for Mr.Rochester, who treats Jane like an equal and falls in love with her. Jane is left broken hearted when she finds out that Mr.Rochester has a wife and becomes a beggar on the streets.

    The role of a woman in Victorian England was an unenviable one. Social demands and personal desires were often at cross-purposes. This predicament was nothing new in the 19th century, yet it was this period that would see the waters begin to stir in anticipation of the cascading changes about to shake the very foundation of an empire on the brink of global colonization and industrialization. The question of what role women would play in this transformation came to the forefront.

From the moment Jane Eyre was a young child, the only person she could depend upon was herself. The ones who meant the most to her had perished; her mom, dad, and Helen all passed away when she was young. With no real family, Jane had no option but to depend upon herself for support. Rohmah, who wrote “A Speech Act Analysis of Jane Eyre”, states, “The directives in Jane's speeches illustrate her willingness to be independent and not to be mastered by others.” Bronte created a character who wanted to be freed from the oppression of others since she was a child (Bell). From the moment she left Gateshead, she had been on her own. The ride from Gateshead to Lowood was the start of her independence. Jane was now responsible for herself. Even though she was sent to an orphanage, there was not much caretaking done there. From then on, the only person that she could put her trust in was herself. She felt the pain of rejection far too long in her younger years to just put her trust in anyone who came along (Bell). In chapter twenty-seven, Jane says, “I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself” (Bronte). This was a moment where Jane was truly struggling with the idea of marrying Rochester. Even in her weakest moments, she was able to remind herself how she had gotten this far in her life. Bell, the author of “Jane Eyre: The Tale of the Governess”, states, “She is threateningly intelligent, forthright to the point of bluntness, submitting herself mentally to no one, not even when she finally does improbably win a man's love.” When she does marry Rochester, it is not because she needs him to survive. It is because she simply wants to marry him. She left him and became truly independent. She found a new job and was able to provide for herself. In chapter thirty-seven before she took his hand in marriage, she

It is clear that Jane is terror stricken by John “He bullied me and punished me; not two or three time in the week, nor once or twice in the day, but continually: every nerve I had feared him and every morsel of flesh on my bones shrank when he came near.” (Bronte, 8). John’s abusive nature and his feelings of superiority towards Jane are evident. He disagrees that Jane should avail of the same privileges’ as he and his sisters do, he believes that Jane ought to be a beggar. He then proceeds to “teach” her a lesson by hurling the book at her head, at which point Jane has had enough and her rage and feelings of unjust outweigh her fear. Jane compares him to a murderer and attacks him verbally, physically and humorously mocks him, in turn displaying her aptitude by referring to the Goldsmith’s “History of Rome”. This is the first moment when Jane proves that she will not be compliant to any form of male oppression and her feministic beliefs will prevail. “From childhood on, she has asserted the innate dignity of individual people, and she has stood for an equality among men that transcends differences in material possessions and social rank.” (Benvenuto, 620). This summarizes Jane’s personality. The beginning of Jane’s relationship with Rochester was similar to her relationship with John Reed. Rochester is first introduced as a rude, arrogant and not

In the novel Jane Eyre, Jane is often taken forced to make life changing decisions. Her decisions not only affect her own life and those around her, but also provide a model of a modern woman who is free from the social expectations for women living in her era. From a young age, Jane was taught the mindset that she must be independent and fight for her place. She was neglected as a child while living at Gateshead and often left to fend for herself. She was frequently locked by herself in a room for hours on end and continually accused of being a liar. From fighting John Reed to leaving Rochester moments before their marriage, Jane always emerges as an individualistic figure that refuses to conform to anyone’s wishes except her own. The tough decisions she makes for herself end up benefitting her in her pursuit to break the cultural norm of women in society. Jane Eyre, though often oppressed and looked down upon by figures in authority over her, emerges as a symbol of freedom albeit facing manifold obstacles in her life.

Jane Eyre followed her passion with Mr. Rochester, the man she deeply fell in love with, and deprioritized the conscience, contributing to the great transformation of Jane, indicating the pursuit of women free rights. Eventually did Jane insist her choice of refusing St. John and embrace Mr. Rochester after she found his plight. She followed her own free will and reveals the author’s fight for women’s rights.

Edward Fairfax Rochester appears in the novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë as the protagonist’s employer main love interest. Jane’s first impression of him is that he is cold, prideful, and in her own words, “I am sure most people would have thought him an ugly man” (Brontë 140). She warms up to her employer during her stay at Thornfield Hall, however, and discovers a new side of Mr. Rochester she didn’t see before. He is a match with her in intelligence and wit, and seems to favor her presence above the others. Whenever the two meet, he “always had a word and sometimes a smile for me” (Brontë 155), and they converse with each other frequently. Their bond as master and employee grows into something more with each meeting. However, one obstacle stands in the way of their romance, namely in the form of Bertha Mason, Mr. Rochester’s still living wife trapped in the third floor of the house. Jane leaves Thornfield Hall, unable to put love before her faith, and Mr Rochester is devastated. Eventually, with much difficulty and sacrifice, Jane and Mr.Rochester are able to get married in the end, and live out the rest of their days in peace.

Jane is a penniless orphan, Mr Rochester a rich aristocrat. Looking pat the conflicts of Jane Eyre´s childhood and youth and focusing on her time as a governess for Mr Rochester, we can se three conflicts before the story reaches its climax. The first is Jane´s growing love for Mr Rochester from afar. In this conflict we are simply meet with rank and fortune as the separating force, something that can perhaps be overcome. But of course this is a film, and along comes a greater conflict before even the first is properly ended. Blanche Ingram is introduced as Jane´s rival, something Jane herself would think ridicules because she has nothing