Britain saw the Chartist movement expressed in mass demonstrations of riots, strikes and monstrous petitions in the 1840s. This was the animosity of workingmen under the economic misery caused by such time of industrialization and capitalism. The masses, pauperized by the new machines, united in rage to contend equality, demand universal male suffrage, and insist upon equal rights. Charlotte Brontë penned Jane Eyre living through such events and let it be read as they climaxed in what the nobility saw as a rampage of violence threatening to civilization itself. It is a plot of power and conflict, composed in a period of seismic political and social turbulence, and written in a manufacturing wool-town in the industrial North of England. The …show more content…
The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself” (Brontë 102). Jane’s rebellion against authority is similar to the poverty seen in the unfortunate reality of the industrialized world, where malnutrition citizens starve and are treated like the machines they serve, rather than honored as actual beings. She demands to know, “Do you think I am an automaton?- a machine without feelings?- and can bear to have my morsel of bread snatched from my lips…?” (Brontë 17). She claims to be her employer’s “equal” and he cannot deny it. Jane’s vow to “keep the law given by God; sanctioned by man”, is founded on and secondary to her sense of autonomous self-worth (Brontë 102). Therefore, individual human rights lie as the fundamental idea of Jane Eyre and the conservative commentators were not wrong to see them …show more content…
Nonetheless, she was apt to use potent and outrageous language and had embodied it. Her politics were a synthesis of reactionary conservatism with profound individualism, for as a workingwoman, she was mandatorily forced to earn livelihood in a time and world that oppressed single workingwomen as cheap labour. Marriage, as the “Saturday Review” stated, was “woman’s profession; and to this life her training- that of dependence is modeled”, unwed women have “failed in business”, and governesses are ill paid “because the wares they well are worthless”. Jane Eyre opposes strongly against this degradation of workingwomen by the elite. The Ingrams, a rich, high society family who abuse governesses in Jane’s hearing, are corrupt people - avaricious, asinine, and opinionated. The novel declines dutifulness to the wealthy and insists on the value and respect of honest labour. It demonstrates that servants and other help, silent and inanimate as their façade outwardly describes, watch, judge and curse their masters in the refuge of their luxurious homes. This truth, or even suspicion petrifies Mrs. Reed, who is identified by Jane’s unjustly livid childhood. Child abuse in benevolently charitable educational establishments is also uncovered by the novel- it lifts the lid on an appalling, unhinged, and hypocritical
Jane Eyre, written in 1847 by Charlotte Bronte, relates a tale of tragedy, mystery, and gothic romance. Covering the multiple issues of England in that time, Bronte writes of orphan treatment, social class, and Britain’s controversial law of prohibiting divorce in all circumstances. Orphaned at a young age and unwanted by her guardian Mrs. Reed, Jane searches for higher prospects in education at Lowood, eventually earning a position as a governess at Thornfield. Complications disrupt her life, when she becomes engaged to her employer, Mr. Rochester, and soon after discovers that he is already married to a lunatic. Leaving Thornfield, Jane finds a home with St. John and his two sisters. Eventually, she returns to her former employer, discovering Thornfield in ashes, Mrs. Rochester dead, and Mr. Rochester blind and free from wedlock. Flooded with motifs, Jane’s continual struggles between her passions and responsibility prevail as the main theme of Bronte’s entrancing narrative.
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, the protagonist of Charlotte Brontë’s novel Jane Eyre, is an outcast in the Reed’s home where she lives with her aunt Mrs. Reed and her children, Eliza, John, and Georgina, and Bessie, the nurse. The quote below reflects Jane’s insecurity about herself. As an orphan, Jane is mistreated by her relatives and her aunt purposely excludes her from the rest of the family. She is helpless and could not do anything to fix the situation. Jane submits herself to the abuses. Bronte could use Jane’s struggles to obtain equality and acceptance as the plot for the succeeding chapters of the book.
'In the largest sense, Jane Eyre is a protest novel. It is a protest against all that would stifle or repress the individual-against the inhuman treatment of human beings.'11
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.
Bronte is known as one of the first revolutionary and challenging authoress’ with her text Jane Eyre. The society of her time was male dominated, women were marginally cast aside and treated as trophies for their male counterparts. Their main role in life was to be a mother and a wife, “ Literature cannot be the business of a woman’s life……the more she is engaged in her proper duties, the less leisure she will have for it.” A quote from a letter Robert Southey wrote to Bronte. A clear sign of the mentality and opposition Bronte was up against. A woman’s “proper duties” of course being to tend and wait on her “master’s” every whim and need. Women during Bronte’s time had no clear voice, none that was of any merit, they were a silent category of society, silenced by their male oppressors. Bronte’s book was in fact written before the first women’s rights movement had happened, yet it puts forward an image of an independent strong character, of a passionate and almost rebellious nature. A character “refusing subservience, disagreeing with her superiors, standing up for her right’s, and venturing creative thoughts.” I put forward that Bronte throughout her text not only revises the themes of male power and oppression, but reconstructs them also. The text is a female bildungsroman of it’s time, sometimes subtly and sometimes overtly tackling the patriarchal view of women.
Similar to many of the great feministic novels of its time, Jane Eyre purely emerges as a story focused on the quest for love. The novel’s protagonist, Jane, searches not only for the romantic side of love, but ultimately for a sense of self-worth and independence. Set in the overlapping times of the Victorian and Gothic periods, the novel touches upon both women’s supposed rights, and their inner struggle for liberty. Orphaned at an early age, Jane was born into a modest lifestyle, without any major parent roles to guide her through life’s obstacles. Instead, she spent much of her adolescent years locked in imaginary chains, serving those around her but never enjoying the many decadences life has to offer. It is not until Jane becomes a governess that many minute privileges become available to her and offer Jane a glance at what life could have been. It is on her quest for redemption and discovery that she truly is liberated. Throughout Charlotte Bronte’s classic novel Jane Eyre, the story’s protagonist Jane, struggles to achieve the balance of both autonomy and love, without sacrificing herself in the process.
Savanna Dodson Ms. Nelson 200 Honors English 25 April 2024 The Use of Superstition and Science Bram Stoker’s Dracula is a timeless classic that dives into the depths of superstition. Set in Victorian England, it explores the impact of ancient beliefs and modern knowledge. The narrative Dracula is told through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles between multiple protagonists. The characters take turns trying to solve the mystery of Count Dracula and overtake him. As they struggle with the supernatural threat of Count Dracula.
Charlotte Brontë’s novel, Jane Eyre, is set in a Victorian England, where social class is a huge factor in life. Brontë is very critical of Victorian England’s strict hierarchy. the main character, Jane, is a governess. Her social position is very complicated in which she has to be sophisticated, educated, intelligent, and soft spoken but she is then talked down to as she is of a lower class. The job of a governess is to teach children, whether it be art, writing or reading english literature. Victorian society is very corrupt and in the novel Brontë truly captures and illustrates the challenges that Jane has to face as a governess. The novel also emphasizes the social gap between individuals and how big it really is. In Victorian society, the rich get the most out of life and life for the poor gets harder. No individual should judge or belittle another due to the very minor factor of social status, but it seems to be very important in Jane’s society. The message that Brontë expresses in the novel is that social class is a meaningless catalyst in the progression of relationships, creating giant gaps between individuals.
Bronte wrote Jane Eyre to emphasize her beliefs behind the purpose of women, and how society lacked to understand them as who they were created to be. The issue of lack of opportunity for women to engage in intellectual preparation and continuation is prevalent within the character of Jane. Expectation of women’s role was a social norm, with a lack of diversity or individuality. Bronte challenges this issue through the character of Jane, whom experiences a tug-of-war sensation between being herself, who she wants to be and should be, and what society wants her to be, and pushes her to be. Bronte was trying to explain that women have the same capability as men to be productive individuals of society, but they are held back from establishing their potential. The most unique understanding of Bronte’s challenge to society is the understanding that the characteristics and personality of Jane as a female is shamed and criticized, however these features are identical to those of a successful and representable man in
Jane Eyre is a classic English novel which follows the development of a young woman in the mid 1800's. Jane grows to be a smart, self supporting, independent woman. This becomes a struggle for her as she was brought up to live in the lower-class. Throughout this novel, Jane tries to show that class and gender should not affect personality. This novel explains Jane’s struggle against societal expectations of class and of gender.
Bronte’s Jane Eyre is brimming with feminist ideology rebuking Victorian-Era gender-roll ethics and ideals. As a creative, independent woman with a strong personality and will growing up during this period of female repression, Bronte wrote Jane Eyre as a feminist message to society. She criticizes the average, servile, ignorant Victorian woman, and praises a more assertive, independent, and strong one. She does this through her protagonist Jane, who embodies all of Bronte’s ideal feminine characteristics. She is a strong woman, both mentally and physically, who seeks independence and is in search of individuality, honesty, and above all equality both in marriage and in society in a world that does not acknowledge women as individuals.
The development of Charlotte Bronte's character, Jane Eyre, becomes vital to her novel Jane Eyre, and the other characters in which she is involved. She is an intelligent, plain featured, honest young girl whose reaction to her situations brings more depth to her personality. She is forced to deal with oppression, discrimination, and at times poverty, which disrupt her strong will, dignity, and desire for freedom. At the beginning, Jane possesses a passion for pride and the idea of freedom and these characteristics, along with her integrity, are tested continuously throughout the novel by the many personalities with whom she encounters. Living in a male dominant world Jane is expected to remain obedient and docile and her passion sometimes keeps her from being able to do this. She is a rarity among obeying female characters and we see this throughout the book.
Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre is set in the mid nineteenth century, during the Victorian era where class and gender roles are clearly defined in the patriarchal society. The general ideology of the era expresses the idea that if gender categories were not maintained as binary oppositions, catastrophic chaos would likely ensue (Gill, 109). Throughout the novel, Jane is faced with the issue of oppression. The typical characteristics of an ideal female in Victorian society would include submissiveness, simple dress, low ambition, longing for a male love interest and passiveness. Bronte clearly shows her stance on this Victorian ideology as Jane often challenges those social institutions and changes her place in society, although she often settles for the status quo for certain periods of time. Jane plays the typical role of a Victorian woman through much of her life, but through subtle shifts in power Bronte challenges these Victorian norms by way of Jane’s education, unlikely rise in social status from teacher to governess and her relationship with a seemingly unattainable man.
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.