Women and the Poor in Victorian England in Jane Eyre

2308 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Patriarchy in Jane Eyre

How does Bronte explore the position of women and the poor in

Victorian England throughout her novel Jane Eyre?

Jane Eyre was Charlotte Bronte’s first successful novel. Published in

1847, Bronte presents us with critique of Victorian assumptions

regarding social class and gender. Way ahead of its time, Charlotte

Bronte (or publicly none as Currer Bell), caused much commotion

critically. In her novel Bronte explores many issues of Victorian

society such as women’s stature both generally and amongst poor in the

19th century. She also explores patriarchal male domination, and the

segregation and unspoken restrictions between the different classes

and stations.

Society in Britain in the 19th century was very different to today’s

women had a very different role back then as education was limited,

there were certain ‘requirements’ of being a ‘lady’ such as playing

the piano, sewing, drawing and speaking French. Also at this time

there was allot of poverty in great Britain and although Bronte

doesn’t delve into it she does keep a constant fear over Jane’s mind

of slipping in to it, which could easily have had been done with out

her determination, “if she were to turn you off you would have to go

to the poorhouse”.

Bronte opens ‘Jane Eyre’ with the setting of a “cold winter” and uses

pathetic fallacy in the first opening paragraph to deposit a mood,

“clouds so somber, and a rain so penetrating” , portraying the

loneliness and bitterness Jane may be feeling as she goes on to

describe her current position. Bronte’s first hint of discrimination

between the social classes is in the second paragraph as she talks of

the nurse, Bessie “humbled by the consciousness of my [Jane] physical

inferiority to Eliza, John ...

... middle of paper ...

...ne Eyre was frustrated and felt

helpless but as she self-develops and takes opportunities as they

come. She wants to try and make a difference, to prove to herself and

others that she doesn’t have to be what society dictates. Bronte’s

attitude to the position of women was confrontational as shown by

Jane’s unique character and challenging thinking. Bronte explores the

various factors which influence women’s position in society; class is

the dominating one whilst beauty or lack of it can make a difference,

“if she were a nice, pretty child, one might compassionate her

forlornness”. A good education is also an influencing aspect on

women’s position as this is their only weapon against the patriarchal

society of Victorian England. Bronte’s views on women’s equality with

men is accepted in western society now, but at the time these thoughts

were very radical.

Show More
Related

  • Percy Jackson And The Lightning Thief, Literary Merit?

    1135 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Jane Eyre Through Bronte's Eyes

    3631 Words  | 8 Pages

    ... than a servant, for you do nothing for your keep.” They also tell her that “to strike a young gentleman, your benefactress's son! Your young master.” The servants respect the Victorian patriarchal society, despite the fact that they are so badly treated through it. Brontë is trying to tell us that this system has been in form for so long, that people are thinking of it as natural, and insists that it should not be so. In Brontë’s opinion, everyone should have equality.

    Read More

  • Jane Eyre’s Mr. Brocklehurst Vs. Gwendolen

    903 Words  | 2 Pages

    Bronte’s main character, Jane Eyre, conforms to this unequal power dynamic throughout most of the novel. Therefore, Jane is portrayed as the direct product of Victorian society. Throughout the novel, the men Jane encounters hold the power and inevitably mold and shape her throughout the novel into their idealized standard of a woman. Mr. Brocklehurst, Mr. Rochester, and St. John each project their own image of the perfect woman upon Jane and each of them attempt to shape her to their idealized standards. Jane is left in the end to discover herself whilst in her search to be reunited with the love of her life, Mr. Rochester. Jane’s relationship with Mr. Rochester however focuses far more on romantic notions and brings to ...

    Read More

  • Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre

    1754 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Revision of Master Narratives within Jane Eyre and Wide Sargasso Sea

    2168 Words  | 5 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Poverty In Jane Eyre

    223 Words  | 1 Pages

    Poverty is known as the state of being extremely poor. Many people think that the days of extreme poverty have come and gone, but the real reality is that poverty is still a major issue. Jacob Riis noticed an extreme issue with housing conditions back in late 1800’s and unfortunately these kind of issues have not left our cities. Most people know of the struggles Detroit, Michigan has been going through since the steel industry left, however Milwaukee has been dealing with its own hardships of poverty.. Poverty has a number of trigger points in America that can launch citizens into a never ending struggle. A number of triggers that Milwaukee has are high unemployment, a decline in the manufacturing sector, and violence.

    Read More

  • The Oppressed Female in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre

    899 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë clearly demonstrates the relationship between sexuality and morality in Victorian society through the character of Bertha Mason, the daughter of a West Indian planter and Rochester's first wife. Rochester recklessly married Bertha in his youth, and when it was discovered shortly after the marriage that Bertha was sexually promiscuous, Rochester locked her away. Bertha is called a "maniac" and is characterized as insane. Confining Bertha for her display of excess passion reinforces a prevalent theme in Jane Eyre, that of oppressive sexual Victorian values. Bertha's captivity metaphorically speaks on the male-dominated Victorian society in which women are inferior and scorned for acts of nonconformism.

    Read More

  • Oppression, Suffering, and Poverty of Men in Jane Eyre

    1426 Words  | 3 Pages

    The novel Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë, depicts the coming of age of a woman who encounters great hardships, obstacles, and heartbreak. During the Victorian era women were subordinate to men and often times lacked the same opportunities and privileges that society and the family structure gave to men. Although society and the family structure of the Victorian era treated men and women differently, men were also oppressed, experienced suffering, and had to overcome poverty, but due to the masculinity that men were forced to portray during the era often times the hardships of men have been overlooked when analyzing the men in Jane Eyre. The characters John Reed, St. John Rivers, and Edward Rochester suffer various forms of lack and poverty that contributes to their oppressive and suffering nature precipitated by societal and family structure as well as being impoverished by their circumstances throughout the story even though they come across as having wealth and power.

    Read More

  • Limiting Social Factors In Jane Eyre

    651 Words  | 2 Pages

    n a society where the social paradigm where women were solely for the benefit of males and your class was your limiting social factor, Bronte challenges the norms of the 19th century through the creation of a heroine in Jane Eyre. Through her journey through Gateshead, Lowood, Thornfield, and the Moor House, we as readers witness Jane constantly being ostracised as she chooses happiness over what others feel she should do. She demands respect and is not afraid to be passionate or rebel for what she believes in. Bronte titles this novel as a autobiography and uses it to combat her own life conflicts. She writes under a pseudonym of a male knowing that if she wrote as a women, her work would not be taken seriously. Charlotte uses Jane Eyre and

    Read More

  • How are Women Presented in "Jane Eyre"

    928 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the novel Jane Eyre, written by Charlotte Bronte, women are presented in a wide range of different ways. As Jane is the main character in the story I will be concentrating on how she is presented and particularly, the control men and some women have over her throughout the novel. Right at the very start of the story it almost instantly becomes apparent that Jane is in a place where she is incredibly inferior and has no control over the situation herself, in the second paragraph Jane tells us she is ‘humbled by the consciousness of my physical inferiority to Eliza, John and Georgiana Reed’ this sentence clearly states she is inferior and therefore automatically presents Jane as being different from her cousins, and accepted by them, immediately we begin to feel sympathetic towards Jane and are interested as to why she is inferior to her cousins. In the next paragraph Jane then informs us that her cousins and aunt were all sitting around the fire, however Mrs Reed had ‘dispensed (Jane) from joining the group’, this not only shows us again how disliked Jane is, but also how harsh and cold her Aunt is almost instantaneously.

    Read More

  • Jane Eyre Essay on Social Class

    569 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Percy Shelley And The Sublime/Beautiful

    1126 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Jane Eyre Research Paper

    288 Words  | 1 Pages

    Jane Eyre, the female lead of Brontë’s novel Jane Eyre, in several customs exemplifies the traditional womanlike character of nineteenth century literature, but in others, she disrupts the frame abruptly and deliberately. Her physical characteristics unaccompanied challenge all undeclared rules portrayed by different authors of the time. While confined in the red room of her Aunt Reed’s mansion, Jane stares into the viewing glass and labels herself as a “strange little figure…with a white face and arms speckling the gloom, and glittering eyes of fear moving where all else was still” (Brontë 20). In the same passage, she accounts for her features as being “half fairy, half imp” (Brontë 20). In nineteenth century fiction novels, “fairies” were

    Read More

  • Mary Wollstonecraft's Treatment Of Women In Jane Eyre

    783 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the interaction between people, it is crucial that each party’s development of beliefs remains independent of the other’s person as a whole, and is instead focused upon the logic of the argument itself. True rational discourse may only be achieved when the two parties grant one another their utmost respect. This basic guiding principle of reasonable discussion is necessary in avoiding falling into the trap of ad hominem attack or becoming dismissive of another’s ideas simply by the judgement of their appearance. In the past, and still in the present, attacks on the opponent’s person rather than his or her ideas have been rampant, especially in politics. In the time of Mary Wollstonecraft, however, being a woman was reason enough for one’s thoughts to be entirely dismissed. Wollstonecraft

    Read More

  • Role of Women in Jane Eyre

    1506 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

More about Women and the Poor in Victorian England in Jane Eyre

Open Document