Jane Eyre Feminism Essay

These attitudes she feels her family has towards her she then musters into her feelings toward John Reed as she refers to all his “violent tyrannies”. My feelings toward Jane are something between sympathy and adornment. She, as mentioned in the lecture, has a story similar to the ever so popular Cinderella. With that being said I am led to believe she has to have a happy ending. I am also led to believe that her character cannot be anything has her family claims. Throughout time women who are strong, smart, and independent are given a reputation of rebellion and wickedness. Independent and strong women have a tendancy of being feared. Jane Eyre is just a child whose character has become independent and strong because of the lack of love she is receiving from her “housing” arrangements (I will not call them family, as they have not acted as so). I am excited to see what happens as the novel continues and how outsiders continue to view Jane. I am also excited to see if Jane changes as the novel develops (though I really hope she does

Influential female characters in literature reflect the struggle for equality women have with men. Much like reality, these characters seek individualism and liberty from, or equality with, men in a society dominated by men. These seekers are called feminists and many feminists see Charlotte Bronte’s titular character Jane Eyre as a proto-feminist icon of the Victorian era. Not only does Jane Eyre show the struggle of one woman under one man it represents the struggle of women in a male-dominated society. Reading Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre through a feminist perspective reveals Jane’s fight for independence, individuality, and equality in a society controlled and dominated by men.

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.

Jane Eyre is a coming of age story following a young woman and her journey of self-growth. At the start of the novel Jane is living with her aunt and three cousins. They continuously abuse her, treating her like a stranger rather than a family member. At the age of ten Jane leaves her aunt's house and attends boarding school. It is at this school where she learns lessons of forgiveness and hope from a meek young woman named Helen Burns. Subsequently studying and teaching at the school for eight years Jane decides to become a governess at the mysterious Thornfield mansion. She falls in love with the owner of Thornfield and the two make plans to marry. Nonetheless on the day of there wedding Jane discovers that Mr. Rochester is already married and that he keeps his insane wife Bertha trapped away in the attic of Thornfield. Devastated by this information, Jane flees Thornfield and nearly dies from cold and starvation. Soon after she is taken in by the Rivers, two sisters and one brother. The passing of Jane's uncle reveals that she and the Rivers are cousins. It is also revealed that this uncle has left Jane all his fortune. This in turn leaves Jane extremely wealthy. Her cousin St. John Rivers ask Jane for his hand in marriage. However Jane comes to the conclusion that she still loves Mr. Rochester. After declining St. John's proposal Jane journeys back to Thornfield. When she arrives at Thornfield Jane discovers the mysterious mansion in burnt ruins. It is revealed that the

Jane Eyre Through the Feminist Lens The theme of male dominance permeates Jane Eyre, reflecting the impact of patriarchal Victorian society. Chris Lewis’ “Separate Spheres and Women’s Status in 19th Century England” analyzes Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre through the feminist lens of literary criticism. This lens involves examining problems created by a male-dominated society and how the effects of gender roles have changed over time. Revealing conditions of women in Victorian England, Lewis’ article accurately analyzes women’s dependence on men, gender expectations, and double standards on morality as causes of problems seen in Jane Eyre, thus providing apt criticism of patriarchal society.

Rochester builds her character by forcing her to endure romantic hardship. Despite her strong romantic feelings, she decides that she must stay away from him. Earlier, when Jane is a young child living without anyone to care for, she reasons, “Human beings must love something” (Brontë 28). This heartfelt sentiment gives the reader insight into how important it is for Jane to show affection towards someone. Later, when the first potential object of her romantic love becomes Mr. Rochester, her choice to restrain her feelings for him demonstrates a large amount of self-discipline, due to this pre-established need to give away affection.

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 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

cannot be the business of a woman's life, and it ought not to be.  The more

Whether it’s modern fairy tales or classic romantic novels, readers have always been fascinated with stories of true love. Yet these countless stories often present contrasting images of this perfection, leading to the question of what really makes love true. In her introduction to Charlotte Brontë’s timeless novel, Jane Eyre, author Erica Jong praises Brontë as a writer with feminist ideas far ahead of her time because she depicts a story in which a woman fights for her own independence, rejects the patriarchy of her time, and ends up in a relationship in which she has seemingly attained “true love”. In the novel, Jane, a poor orphan, is about to marry the extremely wealthy Mr. Rochester when she discovers he has been hiding his insane wife in the attic. Jane leaves Rochester, but is unable to live without him and returns a year later to find him blinded and his wife dead. With his condescending nature taken away by this disability, they are finally able to be together, supposedly as equals. However, while it is true that women must gain their own independence for a relationship to be successful, stripping men of their arrogance is not the key to equality; rather, the global beliefs about the fundamental superiority of men must be altered in order to facilitate true love.

During the nineteenth century women were often put down by society and not seen as equals to men, causing women to lack self-respect for themselves and seek self-confirmation from their religion. Feminism became a prominently emerging concept in literature as a way to show the views of women. Feminism is the advocacy of women's rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes. In Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë uses feminism as a tool to shine light on these issues faced by women at the time. The inequality between men and women has become very apparent, creating a large effect on the premise of the novel. Jane Eyre has been discussed for many years in the academic community how Brontë incorporated feminism effectively in her novel. As can be seen in Emily Griesinger’s article, “Charlotte Brontë’s Religion: Faith, Feminism, and Jane Eyre,” feminism plays an important role in Brontë’s depiction of a young heroine’s journey towards self-realization. Griesinger shows an accurate depiction of how feminism plays a part in women’s fight for equality, self-respect, and the part it plays in religion during this era.

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.

Victorian women in the 19th century lived in nothing short of a patriarchal society. During this time period, social class was as much a determining factor as determining who you were, how you were viewed by others, and what kind of life you lived. In a 19th century marriage, women were restricted and are viewed similarly to how the objectification of property is viewed. They were to subject to their husbands, and the general male-dominated society, as gender inequality was a prominent factor in this century. Additionally, women and young women lacked anything closely related to the same level of independence as the men had. Because of this (this what), it was not uncommon for sufferers of the patriarchy to struggle to develop a sense of genuine self-respect. With that being said, first-wave feminism themes are apparent in the two following novels. In Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre and Kate Chopin’s Story of an Hour, Jane and Louise function as voices of early-feminist logic through their shared pursuit of independence as well as through self-assertion.

Emily Griesinger perceives that Charlotte Brontë’s focus on both women and religion to be so prominent in Jane Eyre that she coined the term “biblical feminism” to simultaneously refer to these two themes. Brontë wrote the novel in a time where "radical feminist Protestantism" was increasingly explored, and Griesinger’s overarching view is that Brontë intended to illustrate that women of faith, like Jane, “are not disempowered but find strength to obey God even if it means going against social and literary norms and conventional morality” (Griesinger 32). Griesinger’s perspective, supported through Jane’s relationships and struggle in balancing societal expectations with her own, accurately reveals that Brontë’s novel serves to explore the

The main character in the book was Jane Eyre. She was a young British orphan girl, her father was a poor vicar, when he married her mother, Jane Reed of Gateshead, the Reed family were so angry that they disinherited her. Her parents died of an illness only a year after their wedding. After that, her uncle Mr. Reed took Jean to take care of her. Time fly by and her uncle Mr. Reed died, made his wife (aunt Reed) promise to take care after Jean like her own child. In the main time Jane was only 10 years old. Well, her aunt regrets her promise, she and her children’s didn’t treat Jane well, Jane was emotionally and physically abused by them. Her aunt was so mean to her and her cousin John who was only 14 years old was her worst fear and she felt so scared and miserable and lonely when he came close to her.