In the film “The Real Charlotte,” based on the novel of the same title, written by Edith Sommerville and Martin Ross, Charlotte can be perceived in a variety of different ways. The film takes place during the 19th century, in an Anglo-Irish world, where there are social expectations of women to become a housewife and tend to their husbands needs, opposed to holding a job and social status. In this paper, there will be an analysis of how Charlotte’s true personality, priorities, and devious actions towards others is a result of her reacting against the patriarchal roles during the late 19th century of the Anglo-Irish world. Despite the fact that Charlotte is a smart and intelligent woman, as well as the daughter of “the Bruff estate agent,” she was denied the position of estate agent due to the fact that she is a female. This rejection led to Charlotte living a social-hungry life, where she is desperate and will go to any cost to rise in the social ladder and gain any type of power she can.
Charlotte presents herself to others in a very masculine way. She resumes the roles of a male, doing all the house repairs due to the fact that she views herself as an equal to them. She has her feet up on the desk at work and throws back alcohol in one sip, just as the men would do. She is straying far from the norm of what is socially accepted of woman during that time, reacting against what is expected of her.
A characteristic of Charlotte is she prides herself on her abilities and
During the 19th century female authors were commonly degraded especially when books had a sexual nature. A now notable biography from this period is Charlotte Brontё’s “Jane Eyre”, a detailed account of the life of a young girl that blossoms into adulthood having to face the challenges and social norms of the time. In many works of literature a character intentionally deceives others to either hurt or offer protection. In “Jane Eyre” a character intentionally deceives a loved one with the intention to protect everyone including himself. This particular deception plays a large role in developing the characters of the narrative and the plot development, contributing to the work as a whole.
Women, especially were inclined to be criticized or ostracized if they did not follow society’s gender roles. They were thought to be mothers and the main caretakers of the family. At the time, women were seen as delicate and feminine. Their work was found in the house with domestic duties. Charlotte Temple, by Susanna Rowson describes the ideal women and was specifically targeted to “factory girls” who left their homes in the farms to work in the city (Rowson, xii). Mrs. Temple, Charlotte Temple’s mother, decided not to let her grief consume her and instead focused on making her husband happy and taking care of her father after Charlotte left (Rowson, 56). If a woman was not committed to one man, then she was not the ideal woman. Mademoiselle La Rue, Charlotte’s teacher, was far from a role model. She was scandalous because she “eloped from a convent with a young officer” and she even had to hide it to get a job at the school (Rowson, 26). Moreover, women with no financial fortune were unfit to marry. Marriage was a financial transaction and a man’s success required that he married someone wealthy. Montraville’s father explains to his son that he would be happy if his son were to marry a woman with a fortune, but if he was to marry a woman with no fortune he’d be sticking her into the evils of a small income with a potential
Women who had no claim to wealth or beauty received the harshest of realities in America’s Victorian era. Author Charlotte Bronte – from America’s Victorian era – examines and follows the life of a girl born into these conditions in her gothic novel Jane Eyre (of which the main character’s name
In Charlotte’s Web E.B. White makes all the characters not act how they are depicted in society, and she shows this most with Charlotte. When
Charlotte lied to show Miss Hancock she was no longer the English loving grade seven in fear of being ostracized by her peers if they found out. Lastly, just like her mom, Charlotte began to care about her outer appearance. The new Charlotte wants not to be seen as her “skinny, pimply” (p. 76) self, now wanting people to see as pristine and perfect. This is because her mother’s influence has gotten to her, and now like her mother cares about her looks.
Cathy’s Gender during this time was more of a struggle in her becoming a successful ager since in the time of her childhood and young adulthood the roles in which people saw woman in were changing rapidly. This made it harder for Cathy to detriment for herself the way she saw herself as a person.
Miss Hancock is the better role model for Charlotte because of the impact she has on Charlotte, how Charlotte sees Miss Hancock, and her personality. Throughout the story, Miss Hancock positively impacts Charlotte’s life while Charlotte’s mom impacts Charlotte’s life negatively. Miss Hancock tells her students to “[not] think too hard [and][to] let your writing, your words, emerge from you like a mysterious and elegant blossom.” (218) After Miss Hancock gives her students some words of confidence, Charlotte produces an amazing metaphoric piece of writing about “[how][her] mother is a flawless, modern building created of glass and smoothest of pale concrete.” (219) and that “there are no comfortable chairs in the lobby.”
The complete transformation continues after she is abandoned, and as “once an object of desire”, Charlotte’s “emaciated appearance” enables her from being valuable in any way, as the main purpose for her capture, pleasure, is unable to be satisfied (76). The connection between Charlotte’s corporeal appearance to the society's culture and ideology, solidify the depletion of her worth throughout her stay in America. She is seen as an “object” of “desire” and with no appeal left, she is of no use to the men in the novel. Rowson’s final depiction of Charlotte’s loss of self reflects in her pregnancy and how the unborn child becomes an “innocent witness” and physical image of her worth and “heir to […] shame” (62). The body is bought for nothing and so is worth nothing to be respected and acknowledged. Charlotte is detached from humanity at the hands of others and is merely an object to be used when one
Initially, Charlotte is exposed to a classroom pressure that causes her to behave in a certain way. She and her classmates respect Miss Hancock at this time, which
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.
Throughout the story we see the protagonist struggle with the gender roles placed upon her by her society; specifically the role she is supposed to play as
Throughout the novel, it is apparent the most popular people are the ones with the lowest moral standards. This is evidenced through the negative relationship between Charlotte's declining morals and social ascension. When Charlotte first arrives at Dupont, she is appalled by alcohol and anything related to sex. As the book progresses, however, Charlotte changes. Soon after Charlotte becomes friends with Bettina and Mimi, however, she goes to the frat party where she meets Hoyt. Until this point, Charlotte stayed completely away from alcohol and was could not believe grinding was considered an acceptable thing to do in public. At this party, however, Hoyt easily convinces her to drink wine. After this Charlotte realizes that the more she drinks, the more fun she has, and the more people like her. This became clear less than three months later at the Saint Ray formal when Charlotte gets drunk and has sex with Hoyt, completely going against everything she believed in when she started school.
Charlotte is described as simple, plain, and petite and the daughter of a clergyman just like Jane. Whenever, Charlotte wanted to get away from her daily life, she would absorb herself
Charlotte is a neighbour and friend of Elizabeth, who is older and unmarried at the beginning of the story. She is simple in her values and does not question a women's role in society. Charlotte's main achievement in the story occurred when she was able to secure a proposal of marriage from Mr. Collins after he had been rejected by Elizabeth, who asked why she accepted. Charlotte explained "I am not a romantic you know. I never was. I only ask for a comfortable home; considering Mr Collins's character, connections, situation in life, I am convinced that my chance of happiness with him is fair, as most people can boast on entering a marriage state" By this Charlotte is questioning Elizabeth's values, believing she is over her head in her ideas. She is simply happy with what she has been dealt
The novel demonstrates both popular and familiar gender roles in the 19th century. Catherine Earnshaw, breaks through the stereotypes, and has a mesh of both feminine and masculine qualities. In the Victorian Era, men are seemed as superior to women. Her gender roles are beyond the social norm, as well as her husband Edgar, who is portrayed as more feminine. Catherine holds many masculine qualities such as being adventurous, extroverted, and determined.