“I am no bird and no net ensnares me; I am a free human being with an independent will” (Bronte, Jane Eyre 293). In the Victorian time period Charlotte Bronte lived the unequal life as a woman, like many others. The only difference is Bronte did not believe in living in inequality, and she wrote about her hardships in her literature. In her book, Jane Eyre, the reader can see many similarities in her main character’s life and her own. Jane Eyre has many ways of showing how Victorian women were expected to be and act, included in the life of Jane. Bronte also continues her portrayal of the inequality of women and the decision of love versus autonomy through two of her poems, “Life” and “The Wife’s Will.” Charlotte Bronte displays the inequality in life of women in the Victorian era by taking her life and revitalizing it into themes of her works, by providing a journey of discovery of love or autonomy. To start, Charlotte Bronte experienced many hardships from a young age, and rather than letting them hinder her, she grew from them. Bronte experienced loss at a young age, losing her mother and two of her sisters, and she illustrated almost the exact same loss through Jane and Helen at Lowood (Bock). She effectively portrays her life’s setbacks through her works in which we can see many of her misfortunes paraphrased into Jane’s own. In Jane Eyre, Jane was sent to the school, Lowood, where they believe in “plain fare, simple attire, unsophisticated accommodations, (and) hardy and active habits” to teach young girls how to conform to society’s views (Bronte 42). Charlotte Bronte herself was sent to Cowan Bridge to learn how to present herself in any situation a lady may come to, and the school basically taught women how to become governesses and teachers because that’s all they could be, much like in the book (Bock). Bronte went through tough times in her life, but readers know how well she used those tough times to influence her work and end up finding a will to live through her writing. For example, in “The Wife’s Will” when the wife is talking about her hard times, making her cry, she states how the tears never lasted that long with the help of her husband (Bronte). This can be taken as a poem Bronte wrote
The Victorian Era encompassed a time of great discrepancy between the sexes, especially for women. The polarization of gender roles reflected on a basis of gender sexuality where men and women were granted certain advantages and disadvantages. Women were expected to realize a specific position in society based on morals of submission, passivity, and a complete lack of selfishness and independence. Constrictive notions such as these prevent individual expression and expansion. Therefore, while struggling to fill the pre-conceived expectancies of society, one forces true desires and happiness to pass as a scant priority. Charlotte Brontë's Victorian novel, Jane Eyre, explores the significance of individual fulfillment in an oppressive
Jane’s approach could be considered romantic and embodies conventional feminist concepts; she remains headstrong and stubborn in the face of injustice. The representation of Jane as a strong, independent woman upholds the belief that woman can achieve their goals. Jane does precisely this; she marries Rochester, becomes a part of a family as well as gains financial independence. The way in which Bronte represents Jane is emphasized through her narrative stance. The reader is presented with a firm and rebellious character, her diction is simple and assertive. She addresses the reader directly and is able to identify and challenge the problems she faces with determination. Furthermore Jane is able to identify and comment on how she feels woman are subjugated by their society; she denounces that “woman are supposed to be very calm generally: but woman feel just as men feel […]” (Bronte
In Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte, Bronte tells a story about a girl coming of age trying to find love, while also dealing with the struggles of the Victorian era. In the text, Bronte challenges the idea of whether our lives are controlled by our own ability to choose what happens or if what happens in our lives is out of our own control.
“...I desired liberty; for liberty I gasped…”(Bronte xxvi). Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte and The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh are portraying to the readers, that themes are unchanging despite the fact that literature is reshaping by applying liberty as one of them. Jane Eyre, a classic and The Language of Flowers, a modern novel convey related and similar themes that are represented throughout the book. From the beginning, we discover that the two leading characters in the novels strive for independence that they have been seeking for a long time. Both, Jane Eyre a young girl who lived as an orphan to an unloving home and Victoria Jones a youthful woman whose young life had been spent in foster care, desire independence like they never had before. With love, family, independence, forgiveness, and mistrust that the novels, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte and The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh convey have expressed that literature may change day by day but themes won't.
Women who had no claim to wealth or beauty received the harshest of realities in America’s Victorian era. Author Charlotte Bronte – from America’s Victorian era – examines and follows the life of a girl born into these conditions in her gothic novel Jane Eyre (of which the main character’s name
The novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë is highly regarded as one of the great works of female literature, and for good reason. Written and published in Victorian England, the novel tells the coming of age story of a young orphan girl who struggles to find her own identity. By using literary techniques and employing certain literary elements, Brontë develops the message that true happiness comes from finding oneself, not from conforming to uncomfortable social norms. Also, these techniques reveal the authors positive attitude toward the message and identity her with the main character. One of the greatest conflicts faced by the protagonist in Jane Eyre is finding her place in the social hierarchy.
Throughout Jane Eyre Charlotte Brontë uses the character Jane as a tool to comment on the oppression that women were forced to endure at the time. Jane can be seen as representative of the women who suffered from repression during the Victorian period, a time when patriarchy was commonplace. Brontë herself was affected by the time period, because according to Wolfe, she was deprived “experience and intercourse and travel.” (70) Thus Jane offers a unique perspective as a woman who is both keenly aware of her position and yet trapped by it despite repeated attempts to elevate herself and escape the burden placed on by her different suitors. Although superficially it seems that Jane wants to break away from the relationships that further
Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre written during the Victorian era in the nineteenth century, stars Jane, an orphaned, isolated girl, living with a family that disapproves of her. As she grew, she exceled at school, became a governess, and falls in love with Edward Rochester her employer. Furthermore, after being deceived by him, Jane goes to Marsh End, where she reclaims her aspect and indentifies her own strength. By novel's end, Jane became a strong, independent woman. Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre still raises relevant questions to readers; like (4) how abuse or unfair treatment makes a person angry or bitter? or (10) how love can transform appearances in the eye of the beholder?
In modern society, men and women share more equality, however sexual discrimination played a larger part in the perceived role of women in the Victorian Era as seen in Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë , and through Jane’s devout passion and defying the normalities and expectations for women of this era, the concept of feminism is portrayed through Jane caused by the manipulation of the patriarchy through the significant men seen in this book. The concept of gender roles isn’t a genuine truth, but is a product of the dominant patriarchy and social practice that is so alluded to throughout the novel. Now, as the active role of women is increasingly recognized by society, the actual controversy lies in the idea that an uncontrollable factor such as gender can determine the portrayal of a person in that society, and that women aren’t accepted as mutual equals, but victimized to be subservient to men. The bestowed role of women is apparent in all societies, but is especially evident concerning the direct placement of women and constant suppression of character and desires, such as Jane endured throughout her lifetime. As Jane’s restless spirit becomes agitated with her stagnant place, she often seeks solitude in the solemn attic to dwell in silence. There she paces, allowing her ever-expanding thoughts to wander, and now she considers the achievability of satisfaction, and the unattainability of tranquility and contentment. Jane demonstrates her frustration, and how the
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë depicts the rigid social structure and clear division between the upper and lower classes of Victorian society, in which wealth and status determined one’s beliefs, career, and treatment from those surrounding them. Those of the upper class did not typically converse or involve themselves with those viewed as beneath them; however, Jane Eyre fights the separation between the classes to which she has fallen victim at both Gateshead and Lowood school. Her refusal to conform to the hierarchy eventually leads to the meddling between the Victorian-era elite and peasant class, as seen through Jane Eyre’s romantic relationship with Edward Rochester, an upperclassman and
Bronte’s Jane Eyre gave a voice to women in the Victorian era. Bronte embedded her feminist ideas into her novel, Jane Eyre. Her belief in marrying for love was a head of her time. Bronte used Jane to explore the depth at which women could act in society. Her ideas on women being more educated brought on thoughts of equality of a different level.
Charlotte Bronte created one of the first feminist novels--Jane Eyre--of her time period when she created the unique and feminist female heroine, Jane Eyre. Throughout the novel, Jane becomes stronger as she speaks out against antagonists. She presses to find happiness whether she is single or married and disregards society’s rules. The novel begins as Jane is a small, orphan child living with her aunt and cousins due to the death of her parents and her uncle. Jane 's aunt--Mrs. Reed--degrades her as she favors her biological children. Jane 's aunt--Mrs. Reed--degrades her as she favors her biological children. Her cousin--John Reed--hits her and then Mrs. Reed chooses to punish her instead and sends her to the room in which her uncle
Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre displays cases of physical and social restriction, along with instances of avant-garde emotional freedom in terms of Jane Eyre’s freedom of choice in leaving Mr Rochester and rejecting St John River’s proposal.
Charlotte Bronte’s novel Jane Eyre embraces many feminist views in opposition to the Victorian feminine ideal. Charlotte Bronte herself was among the first feminist writers of her time, and wrote this book in order to send the message of feminism to a Victorian-Age Society in which women were looked upon as inferior and repressed by the society in which they lived. This novel embodies the ideology of equality between a man and woman in marriage, as well as in society at large. As a feminist writer, Charlotte Bronte created this novel to support and spread the idea of an independent woman who works for herself, thinks for herself, and acts of her own accord.
The purpose of Bronte's novel is to demonstrate that women could go beyond the oppressive limitations of their environment and find fulfillment. Jane's cries for love are mistaken as evil outburst by those who wish to keep women repressed. Oppression of women was so great that women even in the home were expected to be nonproductive. The ideal or perfect Victorian women were ones who adopted an image of repose or idleness, basically to show the world they could. Nervousness and fainting were expected in women, and certain disagreeable topics or bad news could cause such traits to erupt. By trusting in her passion, by trusting in her own abilities, and by making her own decisions, Jane is able to overcome the agony all around her. Homeless, starving, and misjudged, Jane is