Introduction to English
Literature Winterterm 2007/08
“Jane
Eyre” by
Charlotte Bronte
“Describe the role of girls and women in Victorian
society by looking at the character Jane Eyre.”
Table of contents
Topic:
Page:
1.
Introduction............................................................................. 2
2.
Jane Eyre, an Victorian
woman between social classes..........2-4
3.
Conclusion...............................................................................4-5
4.
Bibliography............................................................................ 6
a. Literature
b. Internet
5.
Appendix................................................................................. 7-12
6.
Statement................................................................................. 13
1. Introduction
"Live with your century, but do not be its creature." This
wisdom of Friedrich Schiller could apply to the view of Jane Eyre in the same
book by Charlotte Brontë.
The book follows the development of Jane Eyre from a young child
into a young woman in Victorian society. The parents of Jane Eyre live in the
bad conditions of lower social class, when Jane is born. But the parents die
and so she grows up with her relatives, who are of the upper social class. So
she learns much about these live with higher social standards and the
requirements, in which the women have to fit. In the course of the story Jane
tries to find the balance between the moral and social norms of the society and
their individual needs. The story gives references to the expectations of
society regarding the role of women in the Victorian period. This
"typical" role of women is also expected by Jane. In the fallowing
text, the role of Victorian women in society will be described by looking at
the character of Jane Eyre.
2. Jane Eyre, a
Victorian woman between the social classes
Jane is an orphan who grows up by her aunt and their children. The
story begins when Jane is about ten years old. At the beginning of the novel,
the reader is witness of a quarrel between Jane and her cousin John. It is
about a book Jane dares to read although it belongs to her aunt. When John
demands an explanation, she speaks to him without using the word “Master” (Cp.
Jane Eyre c. I, p. 12). But for a boy it was already normal to have a higher
position than a girl. Jane doesn’t accept this in that situation.
Nevertheless, she describes herself as habitually obedient to him.
This fact becomes clear when he calls her and she appears immediately. But when
he starts throwing the afore said book at her face, she bangs into the door,
hurts herself, and as a result swears at him with “wicked and cruel boy”,
“murderer”, “slave driver” and “roman emperors” (cp. Jane Eyre c I, p. 13).
This shows that Jane is not completely subservient to him. If she was, she
would not struggle in a verbal way, what she does impressively. So, Jane
doesn’t submit to all cruelties without a reaction.
Therefore, she soon ends up in a school for orphans, called Loowood.
There, the headmaster Mr. Bocklehurst discriminates Jane in front of the others
by describing her as a liar and a bad person that one should keep away from.
While he informs her classmates about her supposedly bad habits, Jane only sits
there quietly without saying a word. To specify, she does not try to justify
herself or even to contradict. Reflecting this situation, Jane seems to be very
intimidated and she does not dare to express her opinion (cp. Jane Eyre, c. IV,
p. 78f.) .That’s why she goes with the image of the Victorian girl.
Later on, she teaches two years at this school. This was not
self-evident for Victorian time. There were only some women, mostly the upper
and lower working class, who had a job.
Afterwards, Jane works in Thornfield as a governess teaching a
little girl, called Adèle. Sometimes Jane is thinking about her life and her
position, when she is walking through the gates and looking into the nature:
“Women are supposed to be very calm generally: but women feel just as men feel;
they need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts as much
as their brothers do; ...” (Jane Eyre c XII, p.129f).
With the help of this quotation one can see that Jane wants to use
her faculties and does not want to be treated differently, because of the fact
that she is a woman. “It is thoughtless to condemn them, or laugh at them if
they seek to do more or learn more than custom has pronounced necessary for
their sex.”(Jane Eyre c. XII, p. 130). This quotation of Jane shows us, that
she is not willing do to what others expect of her, but she wants to find her
own way, although this maybe won’t be a traditional one. She cannot understand
why women should only manage the household and care for their children, which
were the main exercises of upper class women in Victorian time.
Jane fall in live with her employer, Mr Rochester, but her love
doesn’t stand a chance, because she’s as a Governess from a lower class. When
she hears, that Mr Rochester wants to marry Blanch Ingram, she knows that
she’ll leave Thornfield soon. Obviously, Adèle does not need any Governess,
when she is sent to school.
In an interview Rochester offers Jane his help in searching a new
job. During this conversation he treats Jane like a good servant:
"Consider that when a dependent does her duty as well as you have done
yours, she has a sort of claim upon her employer for any little assistance he
can conveniently render her; (…)" (cp. Jane Eyre, c. XXI, p. 290) Jane
answered with "Sir", which shows that she is aware of her lower
social standing. "It is a long way off, sir." (cp. Jane Eyre, c.
XXIII, p. 290)
Nevertheless Jane tells Rochester her feelings. In this situation
she fits no longer into the role of the “good servant”. The thought about going
away from Thornfield and the big distance between her and Rochester hurts Jane.
"From you sir" (cp. Jane Eyre, c. XXIII, p. 290) Furthermore the class
difference is still between them. Jane offers her feelings but she still uses
"Sir".
The lower status of women in Victorian time is typical. Married
women have to do what their husbands want them to do. Moreover it is not normal
for a servant to marry her “Master”. Therefore Mr Rochester wants to change
Jane into a “typical” upper class woman. He buys her jewelleries and new
clothes but Jane feels like his doll. "(…) and I shall not be your Jane
Eyre any longer, but an ape in a harlequin's jacket (…)". (Cp. Jane Eyre,
c. XXIV, p. 299)
So it seems that the planned wedding of Jane and Rochester is doomed
to failure.
Jane leaves Thornfield and after a short time she has no money and
only the clothes she bears.
She is picked up by the Rivers, who discern her education and
intellect despite her poor appearance. Jane could play piano and is very good
in drawing; these were the drawers in which an upper class woman was educated.
Only Hannah, the servant, admits Jane in a conversation that she has no respect
for her, because Jane is poor and has no home. Jane opposes these class
prejudices, which were typical in this time of Queen Victoria. "Some of
the best people that ever lived have been as destitute as I am, and if you are
a Christian, You ought not to consider poverty a crime."(Cp. Jane Eyre, c.
XXIX, p. 393) But two chapters later Jane has already the same prejudices
against her pupils in Morton. She knows the educated upper class life and now,
when she meets pupils, who haven’t got these luck Jane has, she does not seem
to be very sympathetic. "(...) Three of the number can read: none write or
cipher. Several knit, and a few sew a little. They speak with the broadest
accent of the district. At present, they and I have a difficulty in
understanding each other's language. Some of them are unmannered, rough,
intractable, as well as ignorant (…) "(cp. Jane Eyre, c. XXXI, p. 413)
.And so Jane thinks that she has taken a step down the social ladder.
Due her heritage from her uncle, Jane finally reaches the status she
needs to be on one social level with Rochester. She is educated and has money
which is of prime importance.
After all it comes to a successful wedding and Jane fits into her
"new" social status. So Mr Rochester has still a big authority and
Jane respects him. She asks him, for example, whether she can leave Thornfield
to look after Adele "I soon asked and obtained leave of Mr Rochester,
(…)" (cp. Jane Eyre, c. XXXVIII, p. 518) .Jane wants to care for Adele,
but Rochester needs all her help, because of his loss of sight. "(…) my
time and cares were now required by another - my husband needed them all"
(cp. Jane Eyre, c. XXXVIII, p. 518) Jane blossoms out in her role of a loving
wife and a careful stepmother.
In the end of the book Jane tells her view ten years after the
wedding. The role as typical Victorian upper class women becomes stronger. Jane
says: "I am my husband's life as fully as he is mine." (cp. Jane
Eyre, c. XXXVIII, p. 519) She is a careful wife. "Never did I weary of
reading to him; I never did weary of conducting him where he wished to
go." (cp. Jane Eyre, c. XXXVIII, p. 519f) .But the deep love Edward
Rochester shows Jane every day distinguishes Jane from many Victorian women in
that time.
3. Conclusion
Jane Eyre does not live a usual life like other Victorian women. She
is a child or rather a woman of the lower social class, but she develops into a
Victorian upper class woman. She is well-educated and is well-mannered, exactly
like a woman of the higher social standard. Nevertheless, first she cannot
cross the limit to upper class. Her love with Edward Rochester is unusual and
the wedding cannot happen until Jane heritages a lot of money. She only marries
Rochester, when she is sure that there is a marriage between equals.
In Victorian time there is a male-dominated society and the most
important job, especially for women in the upper class, was to manage the
household and the home. Women are educated in drawing, doing music and sewing.
Women have no right to go to university. They have to obey their husband and
give birth to children and to an heir. That is what Jane does not like. She
knows she could do more with her education but no one accepts this fact. As a
strong and independent woman in the end she marries Rochester, because they are
equal now and she knows that he would not treat her like his
4.
Bibliography
a. Literature
Brontë, Charlotte (2006²). Jane Eyre, London: Penguin
Rivers, Bronwyn (2005). Women at work in the Victorian novel: the question
of middle class women’s employment, Lewiston, NY: Mellen
Langenscheidt-Redaktion
(Hg.) (20028). Langenscheidt’s Power
Dictionary. Englisch - Deutsch; Deutsch – Englisch, Berlin und München:
Langenscheidt KG
b. Internet
(19.02.2008) (appendix)
7. Appendix
a. (20.02.2008)