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Social classes of victorian england
Jane Eyre and contemporary social class issues
Jane Eyre and contemporary social class issues
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Jane Eyre Social class distinction is very evident in Victorian England. This distinction is found not only in society, but also within the Anglican Church and its clergy. In Jane Eyre we are introduced to three Anglican ministers who represent different social classes. They are Jane Eyre’s father; the Reverend Brocklehurst, the administrator of Lowood Institution; and Reverend St. John Rivers, the curate of a small country parish at Morton and owner of Moor House. Comparing the way these clergyman are viewed by society establishes the adherence to the same social class structure within the church as is evident outside the church. Contrasting clergy from the same religious sect shows that class status was also reflected in some methods …show more content…
We learn of him as Jane does, through a third person. Jane hears a servant, Miss Abbott, discussing Jane’s lineage with another servant, Bessie. Jane hears Miss Abbott say about her father: " My father had been a poor clergyman, my mother had married him against the wishes of her friends, who considered the match beneath her; my grandfather Reed was so irritated at her disobedience he cut her off without a shilling" (37; ch. 3). Young girls, especially of the upper class, were supposed to follow their parent’s wishes in regards to whom they should marry. In choosing a clergyman from a lower social class, Mrs. Eyre sacrifices her social standing as well as her family’s care and support. The fact that Jane’s mother was banished for her marriage reflects the disdain felt by the upper class for marrying beneath their …show more content…
John Rivers is a blend of the two previously discussed clergyman. His social standing is of the upper class. We learn of his pedigree from Mr. Oliver, the wealthy father of the lovely Rosamond. According to Mr. Oliver, Rivers "was a very old name in the neighborhood, the ancestors of the house were wealthy; he considered that the representative of the house, if he liked, could make an alliance with the best" (362; ch. 32). Mr. Oliver believes that St. John is worthy of his daughter Rosamond. Jane observes that "Mr. Oliver evidently regarded the young clergyman’s good birth, old name, and sacred profession, as sufficient compensation for the want of fortune" (362; ch. 32). This acceptance of St. John as a husband to Rosamond is in contrast to the disinheritance of Jane's mother by the Reed family when she married Jane's father. One upper-class family sees the marriage as a step down in class and the other accepts it as a marriage of equals. This is true even though both men are of the same profession and neither one of them is wealthy. The difference is the class the clergyman comes from. It is a direct reflection of the priority given to social status over
Finally, Jane betrayed herself when she becomes a beggar “ Oh, for but a crust! for but one mouthful to allay the pang of famine! Instinctively I turned my face again to the village; I found the shop again, and I went in; and though others were there besides the woman I ventured the request--"Would she give me a roll for this handkerchief?" (Brontë, Ch. 28). She is without money and begs for whatever scrap of food she can get her hands on either a piece of the man’s bread or porridge meant to go to the pigs that a girl is about to
Hurwitz, John and Mark Peffely. “Persuasion and Resistance: Race and the Death Penalty in America.” American Journal of Political Science Vol 51.4 (2007): pp. 996-1012.
Sophocles. “Oedipus Rex.” The Heath Introduction to Drama. Ed. Jordan Y. Miller. Toronto: D.C. Heath and Company, 1996. 29-72.
Through the course of the novel, Jane Eyre is dependent on first her Aunt Reed, then Mr. Brocklehurst, and, subsequently, Mr. Rochester. As John Reed, her cousin, taunts her, she is “a dependent… [has] no money’” (Bronte 4), highlighting the complete control her Aunt Reed has of her life at this point. Her Aunt Reed chooses to send her to the frightful Lowood School and leads her Uncle John Eyre to believe her “’dead of typhus fever at Lowood.”’ (Bronte 217) While at Lowood, she is dependent on the dreadful Mr. Brocklehurst, a “personification of the Victorian superego,” (Gilbert and Gubar 343) who is the “absolute ruler of this little world.” (Rich 466) He uses “religion, charity, and morality to keep the poor in their place,” (Rich 466) rendering the students psychologically dependent on him. Finally, as a governess at Thornfield Hall, Jane Eyre is dependent on Mr. Rochester as his employee, required to acquiesce to his whims and to ask his...
Jane does not experience a typical family life throughout the novel. Her various living arrangements led her through different households, yet none were a representation of the norm of family life in the nineteenth century. Through research of families in the nineteenth century, it is clear that Jane’s life does not follow with the stereotypical family made up of a patriarchal father and nurturing mother, both whose primary focus was in raising their children. Jane’s life was void of this true family experience so common during the nineteenth century. Yet, Jane is surrounded by men, who in giving an accurate portrayal of fathers and masculinity in the nineteenth century, fulfill on one hand the father role that had never been present in her life, and on the other hand the husband portrait that Jane seeks out throughout the novel.
...d must end. Likewise, he uses ethos by using Socrates’ philosophy to justify the unjust of racism. Also, he uses pathos to convey guilt, so the clergymen can understand exactly what the African American community is going through. Using logos to justify his argument, Dr.King uses inductive reasoning through the word “wait” to show the African Americans have been waiting for many years. The purpose of Dr. King‘s letter is to persuade the clergymen that segregation laws are unjust. As a result, the impact of the African Americans waiting for over three centuries for justice is causing them to be impatient and create tension throughout the society.
(1995). The Difference between Piaget and Vygotsky: A Response to Duncan. Developmental Review, 15(4), 473-482. http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/drev.1995.1020
Many people have made astounding contributions to the school of psychology. One of them was Jean Piaget and his theories on the cognitive developmental stages. Jean Piaget was born in Neuchatel, Switzerland on August 9, 1896. He received a doctorate in biology at the age of 22. When he was younger, he became instantly interested in psychology and began researching and studying it. In Piaget’s research, he created an inclusive theoretical system for the development of cognitive abilities. His work was similar to Sigmund Freud, but Piaget focused on the way children think and obtain knowledge. At the age of ten, he wrote his first scientific paper. As a young teen, he was publishing papers in earnest. He was considered a great expert in the field.
Jean Piaget was one of the most prominent researchers of the 20th century in the field of psychology and human development. He concentrated his attention on the biological influences on the psychological portrait of the person and developmental stages. Piaget pointed out that the development of a person passes through certain stages; each stage can be characterized by specific features. He argued that learning about the world was possible through personal experience. However, his inspiration of developing the idea of cognitive growth and changes of people came while researching child behavior. Moreover, it is important to note that his research was based on the observation of behavior of his own three children (Berlin, Zeanah & Lieberman, 2008).
Bhattacharya, K. & Han, S. (2001). Piaget and cognitive development. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging Perspectives on Learning, Teaching, and Technology. Retrieved from http://epltt.coe.uga.edu/index.php?title=Piaget%27s_Constructivism
At the start of Jane Eyre, Jane is living with her widowed aunt, Mrs. Reed, and her family after being orphaned. Jane is bitterly unhappy there because she is constantly tormented by her cousins, John, Eliza, and Georgiana. After reading the entire book you realize that Jane was perfectly capable of dealing with that issue on her own, but what made it unbearable was that Mrs. Reed always sided with her children, and never admitted to herself that her offspring could ever do such things as they did to Jane. Therefore, Jane was always punished for what the other three children did, and was branded a liar by Mrs. Reed. This point in the book marks the beginning of Jane's primary conflict in the novel. She feels unloved and unaccepted by the world, as her own family betrays her.
Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre can be linked to many fairy-tales. Some of these tales such as Charle’s Perrault’s Bluebeard, Arabian Nights, and many more are actually cited in the text. Others are alluded to through the events that take place in the story. Jane Eyre has often been viewed as a Cinderellatale for example. There is also another story, however, that though not mentioned directly, can definitely be linked to Bronte’s novel. This tale is none other than Beauty and the Beast, which was part of one of Perrault’s compilations. Bronte uses the ideas and themes of Beauty and the Beast to reveal the importance of inner beauty and to make a point that it’s what’s inside a person that counts. The beauty that can be found through outward appearance is superficial. A person’s inner beauty as shown through the relationship of Jane and Rochester can overcome society’s ideas of what constitute being beautiful.
Jane Austen’s works are characterized by their classic portrayals of love among the gentry of England. Most of Austen’s novels use the lens of romance in order to provide social commentary through both realism and irony. Austen’s first published bookThe central conflicts in both of Jane Austen’s novels Emma and Persuasion are founded on the structure of class systems and the ensuing societal differences between the gentry and the proletariat. Although Emma and Persuasion were written only a year apart, Austen’s treatment of social class systems differs greatly between the two novels, thus allowing us to trace the development of her beliefs regarding the gentry and their role in society through the analysis of Austen’s differing treatment of class systems in the Emma and Persuasion. The society depicted in Emma is based on a far more rigid social structure than that of the naval society of Persuasion, which Austen embodies through her strikingly different female protagonists, Emma Woodhouse and Anne Eliot, and their respective conflicts. In her final novel, Persuasion, Austen explores the emerging idea of a meritocracy through her portrayal of the male protagonist, Captain Wentworth. The evolution from a traditional aristocracy-based society in Emma to that of a contemporary meritocracy-based society in Persuasion embodies Austen’s own development and illustrates her subversion of almost all the social attitudes and institutions that were central to her initial novels.
The way in which society tries to live today goes hand in hand with the quote "What really matters is on the inside, not the outside", which is often repeated, maybe because people want everyone to feel equal and no one inferior or maybe because a person just wants to feel better about his or herself so this statement is said. The story "Jane Eyre" completely contradicts this quote, especially during the social extravaganza, which was put on by Mr. Rochester and the Thornfield workers. The main goal during the era in which the book "Jane Eyre" took place was to be wealthy so you could be a part of all the so called finer things in life such as nice clothing, jewelry, money, large mansions, and so on. The social extravaganza which took place at Mr. Rochester's mansion contributed to the meaning of the book by helping explain the characters, setting, and plot of the story "Jane Eyre".
The author Jane Austen was writing in the most transformative eras of British history. Austen experienced the beginning of industrialization in England. The movie shows concerns over property, money and status that highlight’s the social scale of the eighteenth and early ninetieth-century England. The film shows the broad social class that included those who owned land as well as the professional classes (Lawyers, doctors, and clergy). Throughout this time there were strict inheritance laws. The law for owning property was that it would go to male children or male relatives rather than breaking it up ...