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Jane Eyre: The Independent and Successful Woman Of the Nineteenth Century
March 22, 2000
Imagine a girl growing up around the turn of the nineteenth century. ... If the girl is Charlotte Brontes heroine Jane Eyre, she takes the latter route. ...
Jane Eyre showed that it was possible for a woman in the nineteenth century to achieve independence and success on her own, no matter what odds were against her. The following paper will examine the stereotype of women that Jane and her creator, Bronte, sought to disprove, explore the obstacles that Jane encounters in her struggle, and show how she is able to overcome them to attain the life she has always dreamed of having.
During the 1800s, the time period in which Jane Eyre was written and the setting of the novel, women were stereotyped as being "submissive, dependent, beautiful, but ignorant" (Harris 42). ... Indeed, Jane may be a plain woman, but she is an intelligent one; she is also self-confident, strong-willed, and morally conscious (Harris 42). ...
The first obstacle that Jane comes across is her own background. Usually, one can count on family or position to get ahead in life; Jane has neither. ... Jane also faces discouragement in the not one, but two environments in which she is raised. ... At Lowood school, Jane finds the ultimate "monument to the destruction of the most basic human unit, the family"(Blom 87). ... Women of the time often had to deal with oppression because of the stereotype imposed upon them; it is no different with Jane. ... This technique allowed Bronte to tell her heroines story with an intensity that drew the reader into Janes thoughts, feelings, and passions, an openness which Jane has often been deprived of in her own life (McFadden-Gerber 3290).
The most prominent obstacle Jane faces is male power. The four men that Jane must contend with throughout the book are symbolic of the sources of male power over women. ... The former two try to take advantage of Janes seeming defenselessness as a child; the latter two try to take advantage of her seeming defenselessness as a woman.
Jane is able to overcome her background chiefly by two means: distance and chance. ... As for her state of poverty, Jane triumphs over that merely by chance. ... Before Jane is sent away to Lowood, she tells Aunt Reed that it is she, not Jane, who is willfully disobedient: "People think you are a good woman, but you are bad, bad-hearted. ... " It is with this statement that Jane first feels her soul begin to "expand, to exult, with the strangest sense of freedom, of triumph" she has ever felt (Bronte 30). ... Armed with this feeling, Jane makes full use of her privileges as narrator. ... It is Jane, whom he had assumed of being powerless and frail, who ends up outliving him. Jane wins her struggle with Rev. ...
Leaving Lowood also brings Jane to her hardest challenge. Throughout her life, Jane has always been looking for the one thing, more than wealth or position, that has always seemed to evade her - love. ... Rochesters love for Jane is not only spiritual, but passionate. ... Jane stands her ground: "It would be to obey you" (Bronte 301). ... Johns love for her is "merely spiritual"; for Jane, this will not do. ... By rejecting both men, Jane puts her needs before anyone elses (Blom 100). After achieving independence by finding a family in the Riverses and wealth in her inheritance, Jane is now free to return to Rochester to complete her triumph. ... Rochester welcomes Jane back with open arms, realizing that he will never possess her the way he once wanted to, but that she, in fact, will end up possessing him. ...
Jane Eyre proved to the world of the 1800s that the idea of a woman beating the odds to become independent and successful on her own was not as far-fetched as it may have seemed. Jane goes against the expected type by "refusing subservience, disagreeing with her superiors, standing up for her rights, and venturing creative thoughts" (McFadden-Gerber 3290). ... She is not only successful in terms of wealth and position, but more importantly, in terms of family and love. These two needs which 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. As Jane was a role model for women in the nineteenth century, she is also a role model for women today. ... Jane Eyre. ... " Jane Eyre: A Marxist Study." Modern Critical Interpretations: Charlotte Brontes Jane Eyre. ...
"Jane Eyre." Nineteenth-Century Literary Criticism. ... "Jane Eyre. ... Jane Eyre. ... The time is probably contemporary with the writing and publication of the novel, so around the turn of the 20th century. ... Marlow is a white middle-class European male of the 19th century, with all that cultural baggage (for all his sympathy towards the mistreated Africans, Marlow remains an imperialist -- his quarrel is less with colonialism than with the undeniably atrocious Belgian variety, and he himself often describes Africans with condescension or contempt). ... There are three significant women in this story: Kurtzs Intended, Marlows aunt, and the African woman at Kurtzs station. ...
ClassicNote on Jane Eyre
Volume I, Chapter 1 Summary:
Jane Eyre narrates from the home of the well-off Reed family, Gateshead Hall. ... Reed, to play with her with cousins‹Eliza, John, and Georgiana‹10-year-old Jane reads Bewicks "History of British Birds. ... He strikes her with the book and they fight, but Jane acquits herself well and scares him off. ... Reed, who locks Jane away in the "red-room. ... From the first page, Jane is oppressed, sent off while her cousins play. ...
Volume I, Chapter 2 Summary:
Jane resists physically and verbally as the servants Bessie and Miss Abbot lead her to the red-room, named for the color of most of its drapery and furniture. ... Jane catches her ghostly reflection in the mirror and, thinking about her miserable condition and about her dead uncle, recalls how he took the orphaned Jane in and made Mrs. ... Suddenly, a ray of light enters the room, and Jane cries out, believing the light is a ghost. ... After they leave, Jane faints. ... Throughout the novel, Jane will be imprisoned in more metaphorical ways, particularly relating to class, gender, and religion. ...
The chapter also introduces Gothic details with the ghost Jane thinks she sees and the revelation that Mr. ... The Gothic novel, popularized in the 18th-century, utilizes supernatural, suspenseful, and mysterious settings and events to create an atmosphere of horror and morbidity. The Gothic novel is also characterized by damsels in distress (and women are frequently the protagonists); though Jane faints here, common for Gothic women, she proves herself strong-willed and determined to fight back against her oppressors.
Volume I, Chapter 3 Summary:
Jane wakes up, dimly aware of voices and of someones supporting her. ... Jane sleeps and awakens the next day feeling terrible. ... Lloyd returns and, once Bessie is gone, Jane tries to tell him about the ghost of Mr. ... Reed and apparently recommends sending Jane to school. Later, while pretending to be asleep, Jane overhears Miss Abbot discussing how Mrs. Reed was glad to get rid of Jane, and about her parents history: her mother married her poor clergyman father against the wishes of her friends and family, was financially cut off by her disapproving father, and the two died of typhus while visiting poor people in a manufacturing town after a year of marriage.
Analysis:
The conflicts of social class, which were suggested in Chapter I by Johns taunting of Jane, deepen here. Jane has the odd situation of being poor within a rich family. ... " Jane, of course, is poor in both pitiable and pecuniary terms, without anyone to love her and without any money for self-sufficiency.
Volume I, Chapter 4 Summary:
Time passes and Jane regains her strength, but the subject of her unhappiness is never broached, and the family treats her even more poorly than before. Jane challenges Mrs. ... Jane is excluded from family celebrations around the holidays, finding solace only in the doll with which she sleeps and in Bessies kindly goodnight kisses. ... Brocklehurst, whose Lowood school Jane learns she will attend, visits Gateshead and interrogates Jane about her religious beliefs, warning her she must repent and cleanse her "wicked heart. ... Reed hopes Janes time at Lowood will reform her, particularly her tendency to lie, an accusation that stings Jane. ... Brocklehurst leaves, Jane defends her honesty to her aunt and launches a series of recriminations. ... She feels better later when Bessie, who informs her that she will leave in a couple of days for the school, confides that she prefers Jane to the other children. ... " However, being loved is just as important, and the only affection Jane receives is from Bessie, who acts as a surrogate mother figure. ... Reed over Jane, and relishes the seemingly heartless reformations that take place at school.
Fire and ice are running motifs throughout the novel; the former is associated with Jane and with positive creation, while the latter is associated with her antagonists and with negative destruction. ... "
Volume I, Chapter 5 Summary:
Jane leaves Gateshead by coach alone for Lowood. ... The next day she meets the kindly, beautiful superintendent, Miss Temple, and another girl, Helen Burns, who informs Jane that all the student are "charity-children"‹orphans whose tuition is largely made up for by benefactors. ...
ClassicNote on Jane Eyre
Volume I, Chapter 6 Summary:
Jane is introduced to her regular tasks at Lowood, namely sewing. ... Jane learns more about Helen, who espouses a doctrine of endurance, since the Bible "bids us return good for evil. ... " Jane disagrees with Helens philosophy; she feels one should repay goodness with goodness and cruelty with cruelty. ...
Analysis:
Helen presents to Jane her Christian philosophy of forgiveness and endurance: one must bear the sins of others, turn the other cheek, and love thy enemy. Jane, of course, is at odds with this idea, believing that standing up for herself frequently means fighting back. ... While Helens Christianity is not useful for Jane, neither is Janes attitude of self-defense; she must find and develop her own brand of spirituality.
Volume I, Chapter 7 Summary:
Jane passes a difficult first quarter at Lowood, with both the snowy weather and strict environment contributing to her misery. ... Jane, nervous that Mr. ... Jane must stand on a stool in front of the class all day, with her only solace coming as Helen furtively smiles at her. ... Brocklehurst unjustly punishes Jane. Though Jane does not fight back, she inwardly seethes and thinks, "I was no Helen Burns. ...
Volume I, Chapter 8 Summary:
Jane is filled with self-pity by the time school is dismissed. ... Jane feels she needs love from others to survive, but Helen thinks she puts too much stock in love from others; the rewards of spirituality and the glorious afterlife should be our ballast. Miss Temple finds them and takes them to her room, where she asks Jane to tell her side of the story concerning Mrs. ... Jane does, and also mentions Mr. ... The next day Helen must wear the word "Slattern" on a paper crown around her forehead; at the end of the day, Jane tears it off for her and burns it while crying. ... The incident prompts Jane to work harder in class, and Lowood, despite its failings, grows on her.
Analysis:
Jane explicates her need for love from others, while Helen outlines her belief that spirituality is enough. While it is clear that Jane will not accept these notions, Helen is correct in noting that Jane needs to be less reliant on others. Jane will have to find a combination of self-reliance and love from others.
As we have seen before, ice is a motif in Jane Eyre for cruel, negative destruction, and here fire fans out as a symbol of goodness and creation. ... More interestingly, Jane burns Helens shameful "Slattern" crown in fire; even when destructive, fire is a sort of positive destruction that obliterates evil in the world. ... Jane, one of the healthy, enjoys the outdoors, all the more so because Mr. ... Jane is shocked to learn that Helen is on her deathbed, but she is not allowed to visit her in Miss Temples room. Still, Jane sneaks in at night. Helen accepts her impending death and place in heaven, and tells Jane not to grieve for her. Jane sleeps with her, and Helen dies during the night. ... Jane continues to question Helens unshakable faith‹she wonders, though does not speak aloud, if heaven truly does exist. Helen completes her representation as a Christ figure for Jane, dying so Jane can learn more of what it means to be Christian; though Jane is not willing to accept fully everything Helen espouses, the "Resurgam" tablet (placed by Jane, it seems) indicates that she has incorporated her beliefs into her own ideology. ... Jane excels as a student under the wing of Miss Temple for six years and as a teacher for two. Miss Temple marries and departs from Lowood, leaving Jane empty and searching for a "new servitude," a new job serving someone else. ... Eyre who, seven years ago, came to Gateshead looking for Jane before he sailed to the Portugese island of Madeira looking to make his fortune as a wine-merchant. Bessie and Jane part ways the next day.
Analysis:
This brief transitional chapter jumps eight years through Janes life, during which she matures greatly from an angry girl bent on self-survival into a mostly independent young woman seeking to serve others. ...
ClassicNote on Jane Eyre
Volume I, Chapter 11 Summary:
Jane arrives at Thornfield and meets the elderly, welcoming Mrs. Fairfax, who Jane later learns is not the owner, but the housekeeper, of the manor. Two servants and Adèle Varens, the girl Jane will tutor and the ward of Mr. ... The next day Jane explores the grounds and meets the young Adèle, a garrulous native French speaker who also speaks English. ... While exploring the house, Jane hears a loud, odd laugh. ... First, there is an obvious correspondence between Jane and Adèle, both orphans, although Adèles living conditions are far better. ... Still, when Jane walks around the attic of Thornfield she yearns for more experience in the world. ... " She goes on, and the conflict is clear; Jane desires a life of action and independence unavailable to her as a woman. ... Still, Jane asserts some power at the beginning of their relationship, since Rochester is placed in a weakened position‹his sprained ankle from the fall‹and is reliant on Jane for aid. Another physical impediment forcing Rochesters dependence on Jane will arise later in the novel. ... He invites Jane and Adèle to dine with him and Mrs. ... Adèle immediately asks if he has a gift for Jane; Jane asserts that the best gift he can give her is praise of Adèles progress. ... After dinner, Jane and Mrs. ... Fairfaxs justification that perhaps Rochester finds the place "gloomy" does not satisfy Jane, and Mrs. ...
Volume I, Chapter 14 Summary:
Jane sees little of Rochester the next few days as he deals with business and acquaintances. His moods shift rapidly, but Jane cannot figure out their source. One night he gives Adèle her long-awaited gift and is more genial while talking with Jane. Jane keeps looking at him, a fact he notes; he asks if she finds him handsome, but she answers "No. ... Jane does not believe age and experience should automatically confer authority. ...
Analysis:
Regardless of what Rochester says about his superiority in regards to experience with Jane, it is clear from his lengthy, involved discussion with her that he views her, at least, as his intellectual equal. Though she has a fraction of his worldly experience, Jane acquits herself well with the complicated topics Rochester brings up, and even earns his approval at points for her thoughts. Their flirtation also unofficially begins, as Jane admits to herself that though "most people would have thought him an ugly man," he carries himself with a charismatic, detached confidence. ...
Jane has more sympathy and affection for Adèle after learning of her background. As for Rochester, these revelations and his confidence in Jane make him handsomer and more amiable to her, and she is worried he will soon leave Thornfield, as Mrs. ... He returns a few minutes later and says the cause was Grace, as Jane suspected from the laugh. ... Jane is unable to sleep that night, thinking instead pleasurably of the "hills of Beulah" which, unfortunately, she is not able to reach.
Analysis:
"Beulah" means "marriage" in Hebrew; at Volume Is poetic end, then, Jane is entertaining thoughts of marrying Rochester. ...
However, there is nothing disingenuous about his thanks to Jane for having saved his life, and his reluctance for her to leave tells something about his wounded heart. After his bitter betrayal by Céline, he is yearning for a constant love based on more than mere physical attraction, and Jane seems to provide that.
ClassicNote on Jane Eyre
Volume II, Chapter 1 Summary:
The day after the fire in Rochesters bedroom, Jane is shocked to see Grace, who presumably tried to murder Rochester last night, mending the curtains. Grace tells Jane that Rochester fell asleep while his candle was lit, but he awoke before the fire spread too far. Both Jane and Grace seem to know more than each lets on, and they test the others story; Jane accordingly changes part of her story. Jane is flummoxed by Graces account and by Rochesters desire for Jane not to tell her side of it.
Jane learns that Rochester has left for a social engagement at someones estate, most likely for a week or more, and that he is a favorite of the ladies there, particularly the young and beautiful Blanche Ingram. Jane feels foolish for having thought she, a plain, poor governess, was of interest to Rochester. ... If anything, she knows something about it that she must withhold from Jane, and the odd laugh Jane heard is most likely behind the mystery. ... Jane notices that Grace spends nearly all her time on the third-floor. Jane overhears the servants discussing Graces high salary and the difficulty of her job, but they stop when they see Jane. ... Jane and Adèle keep out of their way as they socialize and dine. ... Jane and Adèle are invited to socialize the next night after dinner. Jane aloofly observes the scene, paying special attention to Miss Ingram, as Adèle charms the crowd. Miss Ingram and the others speak dismissively of Jane and governesses in general. ... He does, beautifully, and Jane leaves inconspicuously. Rochester meets her outside and beseeches her to return, as she seems "depressed," but Jane declines. ...
Analysis:
Although Miss Ingrams beauty and confident manner take center stage in the drawing room, the attraction between Rochester and Jane is evident after Jane leaves, especially in his parting words to her. ... The flip comments of the society ladies about their governesses‹and their casual ignorance of Jane in the room‹make Jane a virtual prisoner of her social standing.
Approximate Word count = 15948
Approximate Pages = 63.8
(250 words per page double spaced)
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