Women In Charlotte Bronte And Jane Eyre

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To be seen and not heard is the role women have had in our society for centuries. Women have been pushed into the background of a world that is predominantly male oriented. Forced into submissive roles and being rendered voiceless by men. For centuries women have struggled to break free and live their lives on their own terms. Plagued by constant questioning of their womanhood and a seemingly impossible task of finding their position in the world, Women were stuck in a never ending cycle of patriarchy ownership. To break the shackles of the patriarchy, many women wrote to have a voice in a world where they are voiceless. Dramas, poems, novels and other literary works by women was an outlet for their reflections, accomplishments and thoughts for certain eras of time, often giving their honest opinions on social norms in many subtle ways. Novels like Jane Austen “Pride & Prejudice” and Charlotte Bronte "Jane Eyre" each paint a picture of a woman who has broken away from the male dominated view of society and paved her own way into the life that they wanted. The two main characters lead complete different lives yet they have impacted women years later by their similar strength, inward goodness and dedication to their beliefs.
Charlotte Bronte and Jane Austen wrote their novels in different social climates and came from very different backgrounds. Little over three decades spanned the difference between Pride and Prejudice to Jane Eyre, nevertheless in spite of these disparities their stories can be compared by both having the plotline with a strong woman making her own decisions and finding her own way in life. Their strengths and convictions that eventually lead the heroines to marriages where they thought of by their husband to...

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...u have a right to command me, merely because you are older than I, or because you have seen more of the world than I have; your claim to superiority depends on the use you have made of your time and experience” (Bronte, 114)
Their relationship evolves from a platonic one to romantic one, Mr. Rochester proposes to Jane. But the wedding is cancelled due to the fact that Mr. Rochester is still married. Rochester asks Jane to be Mistress, She says no. Regardless of Jane love for him, her freedom is essential and she will not forfeit her honesty and self-respect. “Farewell! Was the cry of my heart as I left him. Despair added Farewell, forever!”(Bronte 272) Instead of taking a life of comfort, she runs away. She becomes homeless and then finds a stable home. When she returns to marry Mr. Rochester, she is independent wealthy woman. “Reader, I married Him” (Bronte 382)

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