Jane Eyre Paves the Way for Women Advocacy and Class Expulsion

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Recommended: Representation of woman characters in Jane Eyre

“Prejudices… are most difficult to eradicate from the heart whose soil has never been loosened or fertilized by education: they grow there, firm as weeds among stones.” (Bronte 434)

The rights and responsibilities women hold in modern society significantly differ from those held in the Victorian time period. Although the transition was a long and slow fought battle it was heroines, such as Jane Eyre in Charlotte Bronte’s classic novel, Jane Eyre that paved the way. Through Jane’s individuality, Bronte critiqued the inclinations of the time, creating an alternative meaning to what beauty is by relating it to an internal depth. This criticism is not only suggested through the absence of internal beauty in narcissistic characters such as Georgiana, Blanch and Bertha, but also by its presence in well-rounded characters like Jane. Jane’s individuality contrasted that of a common domestic wife in her determination to earn her way and be seen as an equal in her marriage to Rochester. Through Bronte’s characterization in the given social context Jane’s unique qualities make her an admirable advocate for women’s rights, demonstrating a just response to sexual and class prejudices.
External appearances were of huge value in the nineteenth century, often interpreted as not only a sign of class but of character. Bronte’s writing disproves this outlook, arguing that it is an internal resonating beauty that determines moral nature and that intellect should be respected as a far more desirable trait than physical attraction. As agreed by critics such as Jen Cadwallader, “Charlotte used plainness and beauty to condemn an upper-class system of values which, by emphasizing the importance of a woman’s appearance, limited her ability to...

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...ponse to these circumstances, make her an admirable advocate for the fight against injustice.

Work Cited

Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. Ed. Richard Nemesvari. Peterborough: Broadview Press, 1999. (c. 1847). Print.

Cadwallader, Jen. "Formed For Labour, Not For Love: Plain Jane And The Limits Of Female Beauty." Bronte Studies, 34.3 (2009): 234-246. Academic Search Complete. Web. 2 Apr. 2014

Godfrey, Esther. “‘Jane Eyre’, from Governess to Girl Bride.” Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900 45.4 (2005): 853-871. Print

Owsley, Lauren. "Charlotte Brontë's Circumvention Of Patriarchy: Gender, Labour And Financial Agency In Jane Eyre." Bronte Studies, 38.1 (2013): 54-65. Humanities International Complete. Web. 22 Mar. 2014

Shapiro, Arnold. “In Defense of Jane.” Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900 8.4 (1968): 681-698. JSTOR. Web. 22 March. 2014.

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