Portrayals of Prostitution in Jane Eyre

Portrayals of Prostitution in Jane Eyre

Bronte paints many parallels between the characters in the novel and the trade of prostitution. One of the main characters that Bronte attributes poverty to is the character of Jane. Jane’s poverty is intrinsically important to the plot of the novel because Bronte uses Jane’s poverty to allow the reader to picture Jane as a virtuous woman, such as when Jane flees from Thornfield to escape the entrapment of Rochester. The reader is urged to feel sympathy for Jane as she adheres to her strict, virtuous moral codes and does not allow herself to succumb to temptation. Jane exhibits her desperate situation when she has fled from Thornfield and is struggling to sustain herself. Jane states, "Once more I took off my handkerchief-once more I thought of the cakes of bread in the little shop. Oh, but for a crust! For but one mouthful to allay the pang of famine!" (Bronte, ch.28; 323). The language used in the passage shows that Jane is in a state of desperation and she still does not resort to prostitution, even though in many respects she does not have another choice. Jane is at a point in her life where she must do something to sustain her life, but Jane never even contemplates prostitution as an option to enable her to obtain money or food. In Victorian society Jane’s poverty and subsequent life would have rendered her a prime candidate for taking up the trade of prostitution. The description given by Vicinus of the woman most vulnerable to fall victim to the trade of prostitution is similar to Jane’s life. Jane is a domestic servant in her roles as a governess at Lowood and Thornfield and she has no familial ties.

One of the dominant distinctions of a Victorian prostitute was her dress or "love of finery." When the love of finery is introduced Bronte veers off the course of identifying Jane with the likeness of a prostitute. The Victorian prostitute is associated with the love of fine dresses, like that of the upper-class society. The prostitute's dress denoted her as a disgraceful and immoral character because she wore the type of dress that was not associated with her class. Valverde states, "…What was or was not finery depended upon the socioeconomic status of the wearer" (Valverde 169).

The love of finery is relentlessly associated with the Victorian prostitute, but Jane portrays an image of plainness in the attire that she wears.