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Feminism in Jane Eyre Essay

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Jane Eyre was written in a time where the Bildungsroman was a common form of literature. The importance was that the mid-nineteenth century was, "the age in which women were, for the first time, ranked equally with men as writers within a major genre" (Sussman 1). In many of these novels, the themes were the same; the protagonist dealt with the same issues, "search for autonomy and selfhood in opposition to the social constraints placed upon the female, including the demand for marriage" (Sussman). Jane Eyre fits this mould perfectly. Throughout the novel, the reader follows Jane Eyre on a journey of development from adolescence to maturity to show that a desire for freedom and change motivates people to search for their own identity. …show more content…

Her influence in Jane's adolescence and early adulthood teach her to have harmonious thoughts, and to give "allegiance to duty and order" (Gilbert 347). Here, Miss Temple teaches Jane to suppress her wild emotions and become compliant under the "superior" male, but still maintain an inward anger that can never be expressed. Jane, however, cannot conform to the lesson being taught to her; through Miss Temple, she learns that her journey into maturity and freedom requires her to be more independent and passionate than Miss Temple instructs. Miss Temple is not only like a mother figure to Jane, but she is also "encouraging of intellectual growth" (Rich 466). Temple's impact on Jane's education allows her to become stronger in character, which will eventually bring her to complete independence. Kathleen Tillotson finds in Miss Temple a sign of hope for Jane: "the warm fire and the cake from the cupboard in Miss Temple's room are assertions of individual loving-kindness, though also of it's limited power" (Tillotson 60) In spite of this, Tillotson writes that Jane at Thornfield is "submitting to virtue in lovable form, as she had once submitted to Miss Temple" (Tillotson 60). In other words, Tillotson argues that although Miss Temple may have positively influenced Jane in certain ways, ultimately her call for repression and submission instigates Jane's realization that she must discover her own place in life,

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