The Importance Of Blanche In Jane Eyre

In Jane Eyre, effeminate qualities are vilified and the most effeminate character, Blanche Ingram, is simply a gold digger who has no thoughts of anyone else unless there is something for her to gain. Blanche even denies Mr. Rochester when a ‘rumor’ is let out that his “fortune was not a third of what was supposed” and therefore ignores him (Brontë 351). Throughout Blanche’s part in the novel, Jane is jealous of her beauty and wealth of feminine qualities while her own androgynous and masculine traits grant her the chance to be with her beloved in the end. Even the lovable ward, Adele, is feminine in nature and therefore subject to ridicule in this novel. She is described as a thorough airhead with nothing more on her mind except the clothing

Even Jane’s aunt, whom she knew in her childhood, was a very regal and effeminate woman. Even though she is a proper lady, she treats Jane as though she was trash, which proves again Brontë’s point that femininity does not equate to kindliness or the true embodiment of the female spirit (Brontë 14). All the females who maintain typically feminine qualities are held in much less regard than the women, like Jane Eyre, who contain masculine traits. Masculine traits, especially in the character Jane Eyre, cause the novel Jane Eyre to be a forward thinking book in the terms of female empowerment. “Jane’s somber appearance, reflective of the lesson in androgyny given by Brocklehurst, boasts none of the pampered adornment of Jane’s coquettish rival, Blanche Ingram, or Jane’s highly feminine pupil, Adele” which adds to the masculinity of her character and definitely separating her from the rest of females in society (Godfrey 858). Jane Eyre is portrayed as a rather androgynous, if not masculine, character that was uncharacteristic of female characters of the time. When she

Austen, through her character, Anne Elliot, in her novel, Persuasion, upholds what an ideal female should be like and the men should accept a female and all her feminine traits. Brontë, on the other hand, in her novel, Jane Eyre, creates a female character, Jane Eyre, that overcomes gender roles and lives her life in androgyny and masculinity rather than in femininity. Both authors achieved the same ends, but both had extremely unique ways of creating a world where females, rather than just males, are able to be understood. Austen and Brontë stood against social standards of their day and created in two extremely separate characters, the same basic message that women are real human beings and have characters other than what their husbands or other men in their lives assign to