Jane Eyre Fallen Women Essay

The popularity of the tale of the “fallen woman” reached its pinnacle during the 19th century, when readers became fixated with its maneuvering of the deep-seated social anxieties inscribed in its model of moralizing through punishment. Focusing on women who had given in to seduction and living a life of sin, these stories reinforced women’s fears of unrepressed sexuality, increasingly unstable gender roles, and mounting class conflict. Indeed, the fallen woman was largely employed as a tool to warn women of the dangers of extramarital fornication and moral transgression; these characters would often double as social surrogates for more docile and virtuous female characters in the novel. An examination of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre (1847), Elizabeth Gaskell’s Mary

The author zooms in on the religious tradition of marriage and its position in the household as a means through which to discuss morality and class structure in the familial domain. Rochester first travels to Jamaica in order to marry Bertha, an affluent and attractive Creole, but becomes distraught with his marriage due to the upset economic balance. When he finally comes into money, the power turns to his favor and they are able to return to England, much to his wife’s dismay and mental detriment. Indeed, Bertha becomes fully insane as a result of the economic and social inequalities between herself and her husband. Her previously fragile mind reveals itself to be truly cracked and irretrievable; she indefinitely traps Rochester in their marriage, and in turn he literally encases her in the attic, ultimately establishing her infamous position as the “madwoman in the attic.” Certainly, the trope of the fallen woman can be retraced to anxieties over class structure and the role of women in the household; in addition to lying about her wealth, Bertha’s cracked mind prevents her from completing her duties as a