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Women in 19th literature
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“I am no bird; and no net ensnares me; I am a free human being with an independent will.” (Bronte, Jane Eyre). This quote expresses Charlotte’s beliefs on women’s equalities. Charlotte Bronte was born in 1816. She was one of six children and lived in Yorkshire County England. She first worked as a governess in the Sidewick family then in the White family for only nine months. Charlotte wanted more for herself, and none of her jobs satisfied her ambitions. When she moved back home, she discovered her sister, Emily’s, poetry and decided to publish a selection of the poems all three sisters wrote. Some of this poetry is called: “Apostasy”, “Life”, and “The Teacher’s Monologue” (Charlotte Bronte: A Brief Biography). After this Charlotte knew she would write for the rest of her life.
Jane Eyre was the first novel of Charlotte’s and was published in 1847. She thought this book would have an enormous impact on society’s views. Charlotte disguised her identity so the publisher would think she was a male. With people thinking it was a male author; the novel became a success and was very popular. When her true name was revealed, the ratings went down because this novel challenged conventional thinking.
Although the public found out Charlotte was a female, Jane Eyre had already made an impact on society. No one believed a woman could write such a history making novel. “An eminent contemporary, indeed, has employed the sharp vivacity of a female pen to prove upon irresistible evidence that Jane Eyre must be the work of a man.” (Shirley p. 49). Other critics from The Times said, “With all its faults Jane Eyre was a remarkable production.”(Shirley p. 47). Charlotte’s novel influenced all, “man or woman, young or old, be that as it may, no ...
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...n to care about Jane. Throughout the novel Jane learns to gain love without sacrificing and harming herself in the process (sparknotes.com Love Versus Autonomy). She finally believes she is worthy of love and her quest comes to a happy end.
Although Jane Eyre is considered a classic, I was not impressed. I believe most of this novel was bland except for the part with Bertha. She made this novel a lot more appealing. Bertha is the main conflict and added more thrill to the book. In my opinion Jane Eyre might have been enticing in the late 1800’s, but not in modern days.
As an author of the time, Charlotte Bronte made an impact. She affected the way women authors wrote, she opened the door for change, and this is why Jane Eyre is a classic. With this novel, Charlotte made a lasting contribution to our literature today and began a change in the perception of women.
Jane Eyre is about a girl named Jane who struggles to find who she really is and with it what she really wants. “As a model for women readers in the Victorian period and throughout the twentieth century to follow, Jane Eyre encouraged them to make their own choices in living their lives, to develop respect for themselves, and to become individuals” (Markley). One of the reasons why this book gained merit was because of its striking presence within its time period. During the “Victorian Age” woman did not have much say in society, so this novel broke boundaries to societal norms that restricted woman from things they have today. “Brontë is able to enact this tension through her characters and thus show dramatically the journey of a woman striving for balance within her nature.
Jane Eyre, written by Charlotte Brontë, was published in 1847 by Smith, Elder & Company, in London. This year is exactly ten years into Queen Victoria’s sixty-four year reign of the British Empire. The Victorian Era was renowned for its patriarchal Society and definition by class. These two things provide vital background to the novel, as Jane suffers from both. Jane Eyre relates in some ways to Brontë’s own life, as its original title suggest, “Jane Eyre: An Autobiography”. Charlotte Brontë would have suffered from too, as a relatively poor woman. She would have been treated lowly within the community. In fact, the book itself was published under a pseudonym of Currer Bell, the initials taken from Brontë’s own name, due to the fact that a book published by a woman was seen as inferior, as they were deemed intellectually substandard to men. Emily Brontë, Charlotte’s sister, was also forced to publish her most famous novel, Wuthering Heights, under the nom de plume of Ellis Bell, again taking the initials of her name to form her own alias. The novel is a political touchstone to illustrate the period in which it was written, and also acts as a critique of the Victorian patriarchal society.
When we first meet Jane she is a young and orphaned girl with little self-confidence and hope of feelings a sense of belonging and self worth. It is unfair that Jane already feels lonely and desperate in such a cruel world as it is. Jane is open with her thoughts during her narration, “…humbled by the consciousness of my physical inferiority to Eliza, John, and Georgiana Reed” (Bronte 7). Jane already feels as though she cannot participate in everyday activities because she acknowledges that she is a weaker person. By Jane believing she is weak she is succumbing to her own entrapment. The novel opens with Jane feeling inadequate about going on a walk with her cousins and the novel ends with Jane embarking on a journey of her very own, this is not a coincidence.
Would you expect a person who has endured countless tragedies to still achieve a life of success? Charlotte Bronte is an inspirational woman of the 1800s. She had always found a way to have success even when the odds were stacked against her. Charlotte Bronte has written many poems and books beginning at a young age with the help of her siblings. Charlotte is an empowering force to women explaining that if you want something back enough you can always achieve it. Charlotte has had quite the journey filled with inspiration throughout her early life, later days, and even in the writings her poetry.
Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre chronicles the growth of her titular character from girlhood to maturity, focusing on her journey from dependence on negative authority figures to both monetary and psychological independence, from confusion to a clear understanding of self, and from inequality to equality with those to whom she was formerly subject. Originally dependent on her Aunt Reed, Mr. Brocklehurst, and Mr. Rochester, she gains independence through her inheritance and teaching positions. Over the course of the novel, she awakens towards self-understanding, resulting in contentment and eventual happiness. She also achieves equality with the important masculine figures in her life, such as St. John Rivers and Mr. Rochester, gaining self-fulfillment as an independent, fully developed equal.
Obligations arise as Jane is forced to stay with Mrs. Reed. With out being nurtured, Jane receives unnecessary abuse and still feels as if she is yet to find “home”. Frustration slowly builds up in Jane’s mind and she awaits the perfect chance to let it all out, “You think I have no feelings, and that I can do without one bit of love or kindness; but I cannot live so: and you have no pity” (33) With the anger and anguish built up inside of Jane, she finally finds a chance to move out, leaving behind a broken relationship with her aunt Mrs. Reed. Jane works towards living a better life, a more worthwhile life leaving what happened in the past, where it belongs. As Mrs. Reed becomes ill, she wishes to see Jane one last time before she passes away. This triggers the moral side of the Character Jane Eyre, and she is stumped on a decision she was to make, not realizing that her decisions will show her true character.
Jane Eyre is a novel, written in the Victorian era by the author Charlotte Bronte. Bronte uses different setting in order to show what the characters are feeling. The setting is often a reflection of human emotion. The setting also foreshadows certain events that are going to occur.
Jane Eyre’s inner struggle over leaving an already married Rochester is the epitome of the new "lovemad" woman in nineteenth-century literature. Jane Eyre is the story of a lovemad woman who has two parts to her personality (herself and Bertha Mason) to accommodate this madness. Charlotte Bronte takes the already used character of the lovemad woman and uses her to be an outlet for the confinement that comes from being in a male-dominated society. Jane has to control this madness, whereas the other part of her personality, her counterpart, Bertha Mason, is able to express her rage at being caged up. As what it means to be insane was changing during Bronte’s time, Bronte changed insanity in literature so that it is made not to be a weakness but rather a form of rebellion. Jane ultimately is able to overcome her lovemadness through sheer force of her will.
In the outstanding novel of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, the story is told of a romantic heroine named Jane Eyre who pursued independence during an era in which women were inferior to men. Jane proved her independence by demanding self-respect, becoming socially independent, and pursuing true love based on equality.
Moseley goes on to say, “Liberty and love are in some way at war in the lives of all of us.” It is not until Jane reaches personal liberation, that she is capable of loving someone else to a full extent. Throughout Jane Eyre Jane must learn how to gain love without sacrificing herself in the process. Orphaned at an early age, Jane becomes used to a lackluster lifestyle without any true value. It is not until she finds love and comfort in her friends at Lowood that her life begins to turn around. Upon meeting Rochester, Jane’s life was only as plain as she made it. She untwines in a world wind romance, ultimately finding the love she craved without losing her self-value.
But one writer was set out to write a novel. The writers name was Charlotte Bronte, who wrote Jane Eyre. Her determination to portray a plain yet passionate young woman who defied the stereotype of the docile and domestic Victorian feminine ideal. (Source 2) In the Victorian Era, there were lots of expectations placed on women.
It is very obvious now that Jane has matured and grown from a little girl with little self-confidence, to a mature and successful woman with self-confidence and experience. The obstacles she had to encounter throughout some of the stages of her life had made her stronger and her self-confidence had grown, also because of certain people in her life. Jane believed in herself and her morals, and as a result was so successful in her life and she was able to achieve a high position of self-confidence at the end of the novel. She developed self-confidence and maintained it my knowing her self-worth, and having faith in what she believes in.
There is no doubt Jane Eyre is a feminist novel because of Janes independence, her character, the feelings she has on independence and marriage, the symbolism, setting, and overall theme of the book. Janes independence is unusual for victorian times and is one part of her characteristics that makes her a feminist. With Janes view on marriage and being one of the first feminists it makes the novel very feminist. The author Charlotte Bronte
Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre represents the role of women in the Victorian era by giving the reader an insight into the lives of women from all social classes. Jane Eyre therefore represents figures of the Victorian time yet the character of Jane Eyre, herself, can be seen as very unconventional for the Victorian society.
My favorite character at this time in the novel, is Jane Eyre. A new chapter in her life was about to begin when she was accepted for the position as a governess, for a small child at Thornfield Hall. She has come a long way from her days abandoned by her cruel aunt and treated poorly by her cousins. After her school days at Lowood, she wanted a brighter and more independent life for herself. She has had the strength to be strong and