In Bronte’s Jane Eyre, the protagonist does not fulfill the role of the typical or the perfect woman. Jane is headstrong, intelligent, practical, and well spoken. These traits are far from those of the perfect woman; however, she acquires them as a form of expression or defense by interacting closely with many women throughout the novel. Those influential women all make a positive or a negative impact on her, thus altering her feminine tendencies by allowing the expression or repression of certain character traits.
Mrs. Reed is Jane’s aunt and is the first adult woman Jane encounters during her childhood. Her aunt’s cruel treatment and attitude toward Jane caused her to take great strides to be different from her wicked aunt. The favoritism Mrs. Reed shows among her children, mainly favoring her own
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Rochester, is portrayed as a beast instead of a woman. She falls mentally ill after she marries Rochester and her crazed and cruel actions drive her husband to locking her in a hidden room under constant supervision. After 10 years in the attic, she has become a monster and is described as a terrifying sight: “Fearful and ghastly to me--oh, sir, I never saw a face like it! It was a discoloured face--it was a savage face. I wish I could forget the roll of the red eyes and the fearful blackened inflation of the lineaments” (Bronte 306). When Bertha no longer thinks or behaves as a proper woman, Bronte gives her a horrid appearance and Rochester does not even consider her as a wife. Bertha serves as an extreme foil for Jane, and would be an extremely negative feminine influence if Jane took on any of her traits. Jane is described as small and relatively tame, whereas Bertha is large enough to successfully fight Mr. Rochester and often makes murderous attempts on both Jane and Rochester’s lives. Bertha is the opposite of what a woman is supposed to be in the novel, and her portrayal in the book is used to enforce what Jane should not be
He goes off and sleeps with other women. Bertha who seems fully aware of the situation between Rochester reacts with anger, making her seem even more insane. Rochester took her mother’s affliction to have rubbed off on Bertha. According to him Bertha had become sexually
It is ironic that Jane is seen as the guilty party in the incident with John Reed because John started the fight when he slapped Jane. Then when John’s sisters, Eliza and Georgina, go to “tattle tale” on Jane, their mother blames Jane for the whole situation. Jane compares John to a “murderer,” “slave-driver,” and “Roman Emperors” (Bronte 9). During this comparison, she is implying that he is a very cruel and awful person. That he would beat her and boss her around.
In Charlotte Brontë 's, Jane Eyre, we see a reversal of gender roles for both Mr. Rochester and Jane. In multiple scenes of the book the two switch back and forth from their “natural” roles, which ends up benefiting the two. In the story, Mr. Rochester, the big burly owner of Thornfield, occasionally drops his natural patriarchal role to become a feminine character. Jane also does this as she takes on a more masculine role from time to time, and drops her feminine complacency. While usually both characters dropping their gender-specific roles could turn out bad, in this story, dropping the stereotypical gender roles by blurring them leads to happiness by the end of the story.
Finally, the details about society show that Jane recognizes the standards of her victorian society and needs to abide by them. After Jane had thought awhile, she no longer “felt justified in judging” Mr. Rochester and Blanche for “acting in conformity to ideas and principles instilled into them.” Though Jane wishes to be loved by Mr. Rochester, she comes to the realization that rich men do not marry lower-class women in her
Jane requests to return to the Reed house, after learning about her cousin’s suicide and her aunt, Mrs. Reed’s, illness; however Rochester questions, “And what good can you do her… you say she cast you off,” Jane replies, “Yes, sir, but that is long ago; and when her circumstances were very different: I could not be easy to neglect her wishes now” (Brontë 227). Jane looks beyond that Mrs. Reed “cast[ed] her off,” implying that she has grown to let go of grudges and developed a mature mentality. The irony of Jane’s inability to “neglect her wishes,” infers how the injustice treatment of Mrs. Reed unaffectedly brings Jane to look past the situation by visiting the Reeds in a time of sorrow. In addition, Rochester attempts to convince his wedded Jane to stay with him, after learning about his mad wife; Rochester claims that his father had “sent [him] out to Jamaica, to espouse a bride already courted for” him but only so his brother and father to get “thirty thousand pounds,” Rochester further admits to Jane that “you know now that I had but a hideous demon. I was wrong to attempt to deceive you…
In Charlotte Brontë 's, Jane Eyre, we see a reversal of gender roles for both Mr. Rochester and Jane. In multiple scenes of the book the two switch back and forth from their “natural” roles, which ends up benefiting the two. In the story, Mr. Rochester, the big burly owner of Thornfield, occasionally drops his natural patriarchal role to become a feminine character. Jane also does this as she takes on a more masculine role from time to time, and drops her feminine complacency. While usually both characters dropping their gender-specific roles could turn out bad, in this story, dropping the stereotypical gender roles by blurring them leads to happiness by the end of the story.
Through painting the two pictures, Jane struggles to see herself as inferior to Blanche and undeserving of Rochester’s love; she struggles to adopt Victorian class attitudes and accept that she will never triumph over Blanche. Despite her initial struggle with the idea of Blanche, upon meeting Blanche, Jane realizes that while socially inferior to Blanche, she has better Victorian morals than Blanche will ever have. Blanche’s lack of proper morals is demonstrated when, in the drawing room, she calls governesses “a nuisance” and describing how she tortured the governesses of her youth (180). In this display, Blanche’s true colors are revealed and her lack of proper, Victorian morals comes to light, as a true Victorian lady would not insult anyone, especially not when they were in the room. In contrast, Jane’s morals are upright and a point of superiority over Blanche, allowing her to defeat Blanche and win Mr. Rochester’s affections because Mr. Rochester cares more for the mind than for the body.
Bronte 's Jane Eyre transcends the genres of literature to depict the emotional and character development of its protagonist. Although no overall genre dominates the novel exclusively, the vivid use of setting contributes towards the portrayal of Bronte’s bildungsroman (Realisms, 92) and defines the protagonist’s struggles as she grapples with her inner-self, and the social expectations of her gender. The novel incorporates Jane’s frequent conflicts, oppression, isolation and self-examination as she defends her identity and independence. Set amongst five separate locations, Bronte’s skilful use of literal and metaphorical landscapes, nature, and imagery, skilfully intertwines with the plot and denotes each phrase of her maturity.
First, Jane Eyre’s attributes displays women in our society who are still in search for meaning and love in their lives. Just like Jane’s spirit of passion despite abuse, these women continue to search for respect from other
(Bronte 292). When Jane sustains the courage to stand up to Rochester’s remarks, he starts to admire her more and more for her need to rebel and her grasp to attain freedom, and begins to love her. Rochester feels this way because despite his social status, he has feelings that equal the intensity of Jane’s. They marry because
When a new suitor, St. John, proposes to Jane, she again rejects the marriage. This time, it 's because St. John plainly states that Jane would be subordinate to him as a missionary 's wife. Jane soon leaves St. John too. It 's only when Jane is fortified financially through an inheritance and socially by newly discovered family that Jane marries a blind and crippled Mr. Rochester. A marriage without equality, according to Bronte, shouldn 't have to be the only option
Jane goes against the expected type by “refusing subservience, disagreeing with her superiors, standing up for her rights, and venturing creative thoughts” (Margaret, 1997, p. 325-346). She is not only successful in terms of wealth and position, but more importantly, in terms of family and love. These two needs that have evaded Jane for so long are finally hers. Adding to her victory is her ability to enjoy both without losing her hard-won independence. Everybody has the rights to pursue happiness, to pursue the true spirit of life, which can be seen from Jane Eyre’s struggle for independence and equality.
Charlotte Bronte takes us on a journey from the point which Jane Eyre, the protagonist lives with her aunt and cousins whom very much dislikes her in Gateshead to her going to a boarding school in Lowood, after which she becomes a governess in Thornfield where she falls in love with Mr. Rochester her employer whom she later finds out is married to a mad woman by the name of Bertha Mason, upon her discovery of this she picks up and leaves Thornfield, she then ends up at Marsh End where he meets her relatives. The novel carries us through ever important event in her life, which introduces us to new aspects of her personality, up until her eventual marriage to Mr. Rochester. The novel fits this theme as its protagonist chooses individualism as she refuses to take the role subservience as that of a traditional female of the Victorian era society, she stands up for her rights and want she believes in, she ventures in her own unique thoughts, and stands by her views even if it means disagreeing with those superior to her. Jane comments on the role of women in society and the greater constraint imposed on them. V.S Naipaul’s
Bronte glorifies a more masculine woman who takes what she wants and seizes the day basically “undermining gender identities” (Godfrey 854). By relating her heroine to a masculine trait she is for all intents and purposes creating a character that can overcome gender obstacles in any field. With Jane’s final dominance over Rochester, there is a reversal of gender roles where Rochester is taking on a more effeminate role while Jane takes on the more masculine role. Bronte creates a world where females can be anything rather than just sitting back and accepting the simplicity of femininity that Austen advocates
Topic: Marriage in “Jane Eyre” In “Jane Eyre” Charlotte Brontë rejects the traditional role of women subdued by social conceptions and masculine authority by generating an identity to her female character. Thesis: Jane´s personality will bring into being a new kind of marriage based on equality, meanwhile her choice for romantic fulfilment will depend solely on her autonomy and self-government. Introduction Charlotte Brontë´s “Jane Eyre” stands as a model of genuine literature due to the fact that it breaks all conventions and stereotypes and goes beyond the boundaries of common romance in order to obtain love, identity and equality. 1.