Examples Of Patriarchy In Jane Eyre

In addition to Warhol’s concept of “doubleness”, Linda Gill describes the patriarchally defined narrative of Jane Eyre. More specifically, she describes how it oppresses Jane. In her criticism, appropriately named “The Princess in the Tower”, she analyzes the patriarchy’s effect on Jane as a character and as narrator. Her main discussion is like Warhol’s, taking a feminist view of the creation and shaping of Jane’s character through the oppression brought on by the patriarchy. Throughout the novel, Jane is socially underneath every man she comes into contact with, and it is that fact that shapes her strong independence and will. “...the fact that Jane is consistently and repeatedly defined as passionate and ungovernable in spite of her calm

and controlled outward appearance speaks of the uncontainable desire which structures her subjectivity and interiority” (Gill, 2007). Jane doesn’t let herself be subject to the oppressiveness of the hierarchy within the patriarchy. Jane constantly highlights her strong will when speaking out against this hierarchy.“‘Master!

How is he my master? Am I a servant?’” (Brontë 1847). Onset in the second chapter, Jane’s ungovernable spirit remains constant throughout the novel. Even towards the end of the novel Jane is a strong and passionate character. However, despite all evidence of her feminine will, the patriarchy is still an oppressing factor. “…the woman is unquestionably represented as a subject with a rich interior life: she has desires, she speaks, she creates art. At the same time, however, in both texts—even in Jane Eyre—in the end, her subjectivity is one which can only thrive within the confines of the private realm: in particular, it is only granted if confined within his castle, in his home” (Gill, 2007). Even after all her triumphs and bouts of strength, Eyre’s social status is still determined by a man. The defining of Jane’s independence is still undermined by the oppressive nature of the Victorian patriarchy. In Jane Eyre, Jane is written as strong woman who is constantly the victim of the injustices that women face in the hierarchy of the Victorian patriarchy. However, through her distinct identity, Jane’s character does not become a victim of the patriarchy like so many women at the

time.
Lastly, a scholar by the name of Emily Griesinger draws the parallels between feminism and religion that shape Jane as a character. Griesinger, like the other scholars, believed that the patriarchy was the cause of many of Jane’s misfortunes, and that through them, her strength is highlighted. She is written as a character with a strong free will, and she gets her strong character from the feminist aspects of the narration (“the seeing” as Warhol describes it). As a character and narrator, Jane speaks with great wisdom. Warhol highlights how older Jane looks upon her younger self as she is narrating, often reminiscing on how she didn’t know why she suffered. “[Jane] comments about how much more they know now than then imply a commitment to realism, to representing how it “really was” for the heroine” (Warhol, 1996). Essentially, they are stating that what makes Jane Eyre unique is the doubleness of their character. First-person narration does play a large role of the characterization of Jane. Because of the narration, the reader is able to see Jane as a real person, telling the story of the struggles of her young self. Brontë writes Eyre as a woman who will not let her misfortunes define her. Griesinger’s criticism, like Warhol’s, takes a feminist view of the creation and shaping of Jane’s character. “I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will” (Brontë, 1847). Jane continuously fights the oppressive patriarchy that she lives under, and this fight is what shapes her strong will and character. What sets Griesinger’s analysis apart from the other essays is her draw on religion within the novel to make her point. She argued that because of the heavy presence of religion in the Victorian era, that Jane Eyre can not only be read from a feminist standpoint, but a Christian feminist standpoint. It clear that this novel can be analyzed from a religious view because of the heavy religious themes of not only the literature itself, but of the historical Victorian time period that the novel took place in. The Church of England and evangelism existed as early as the 1730s in Great Britain. The novel is a breed of “biblical feminism” that Griesinger writes of. “For modern readers, on the other hand, it is precisely Jane's refusal to abide hierarchies that underscores a sinful misappropriation of power on the part of the wealthy, upper class Rochester. Her angry outburst on the night he proposes exemplifies a "biblical feminism" in recognizing that regardless of custom and conventionalities that emphasize wealth, class, and gender, men and women stand at God's feet, in Jane's words, "equal—as we are!" (JE 338). On this basis and no other will Jane agree to marry the older, stronger, wealthier man Edward Rochester” (Griesinger, 2008). Jane’s constantly refusal to abide by societal norms is a strong character point for her. It’s that strong will that creates the oppression-driven independence of Jane as a woman. When religion steps in, Jane’s character is further strengthened, even early on in the book.“No? oh, shocking! I have a little boy, younger than you, who knows six Psalms by heart: and when you ask him which he would rather have, a gingerbread-nut to eat or a verse of a Psalm to learn, he says: ‘Oh! the verse of a Psalm! angels sing Psalms;’ says he, ‘I wish to be a little angel here below;’ he then gets two nuts in recompense for his infant piety.”
“Psalms are not interesting,” I remarked.
“That proves you have a wicked heart; and you must pray to God to change it: to give you a new and clean one: to take away your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”