Jane Eyre, The Feminist Tract Essay, Research Paper

Jane Eyre, The Feminist Tract”

In 1837 critic Robert Southey wrote to Charlotte Bronte,

“Literature cannot be the business of a woman’s life, and it

ought not to be. The more she is engaged in her proper duties,

the less leisure will she have for it, even as an accomplishment

and a recreation,” (Gaskell 102). This opinion was not held by

only one person, but by many. Indeed, it is this attitude, one

that debases women and their abilities, to which Charlotte Bronte

responds with Jane Eyre. The purpose of Jane Eyre, not only the

novel, but also the character herself as a cultural heroine, is

to transform a primeval society, one which devalues women and

their contributions, into a nobler order of civilization (Craig

57). The effectiveness of Bronte’s argument is due to both her

motivation and approach. Bronte found her motivation from the

experiences she had undergone while living in the Victorian era.

Her approach in advocating social reform is to establish Jane as

a model for readers. Readers are meant to examine Jane’s life,

especially the manner in which she handles problems or

confrontations in her relationships, and to follow her example in

their own lives. Just as we see Jane as a model of a woman

successful in asserting her self-worth, we are also given a

warning about the possible outcome of failure to realize self-

worth in Bertha Rochester. This facet will also be discussed

briefly. Bronte uses the motivation of personal experiences to

create the life of Jane Eyre in which we see the quest for social

betterment through her relationships.

Bronte herself experienced the social limitations of the

nineteenth century. At this time “respectable women had few

options in life beyond marriage, education of children, and

domestic service,” (Magill 747). She ventured to explore her own

literary abilities and wrote Jane Eyre, a novel which “served to

articulate the new sense of self that in Bronte’s time was still

emerging and developing against the background of a changing

social order,” (Schact 423). This novel not only proved the

capability of Charlotte Bronte, but also, through Jane, gives

readers hope as they view a young heroine who has a strong

desire and struggles for independence, and who thinks for herself

in a society which did not encourage this. Because of the

prejudices against women, she felt that any opportunity for

literary success would be stifled by her gender. For this reason

the first editions of Jane Eyre were published under the pen name

“Currer Bell.” As we realize the barriers Bronte faced and had

to overcome, we see her motivation for the development of the

character, Jane Eyre, and for the publication of the novel.

“Throughout the novel,” Craig asserts, “Jane ascends new

‘gradations of glory,’ for in every relationship or

confrontation, Jane emerges as the superior individual,” (Craig

61). These “gradations of glory” assert Jane’s value as a woman

and virtually depict the worth of all women. Although these

triumphs are not always immediate, Jane is always the ultimate

victor.

Even as a child, Jane is faced with relationships which

attempt to extinguish her sense of self-worth. One of the first

relationships we are introduced to is that of Jane with her Aunt

Reed. Aunt Reed’s custom of excluding and confining Jane

underscore the sense of inferiority that Jane must deal with from

childhood throughout the majority of her life. This exclusion is

seen on the opening page of the novel as her cousins, “the said

Eliza, John, and Georgiana were now clustered round their mama in

the drawing-room… Me she had dispensed from joining the group,”

(Bronte 9).

Not only did she face adversity in the relationship she had

with her aunt, Jane also had to endure the unpunished cruelty of

her cousin John. Jane was “accustomed to John Reed’s abuse,” and

punished for defending herself once when John flung a book at

her, hitting her so hard she fell and cut her head. Jane

pitifully comments, “The cut bled, the pain was sharp; my terror

had passed its climax,” (Bronte 13). Jane had to endure this

conflict for quite sometime, submitting, for she rarely resisted,

to the tyrannical relationship she had with both Mrs. Reed and

her “young master,” John. (Bronte 14) Concerning her life with

the Reeds, Jane says, “I was a discord in Gateshead Hall; I was

like nobody there; I had nothing in harmony with Mrs. Reed or her

children, or her chosen vassalage,” (Bronte 17).

However, Jane did not remain defeated permanently. Her

triumph over Aunt Reed comes after Mr. Brocklehurst has visited

Gateshead Hall. Aunt Reed had trodden severely on Jane by

telling the visitor of Jane’s “bad character.” (Bronte 38) At

this point Jane stands up for herself, asserting her self-worth,

and threatens to tell everyone of her aunt’s treatment, declaring

that she is “bad” and “hard-hearted.” (Bronte 39) The prospect

of a ruined reputation frightens Aunt Reed and Jane is sent to

school with “the first victory (she) had gained,” (Bronte 39).

Jane’s victory over John is not a deliberate vanquishing

confrontation, but rather a situation in which both he and Jane

get what they deserve. Throughout the novel imprisonment is

equated with inferiority while freedom is synonymous with

superiority. Although Jane suffered confinement as a child in

the red room, and thus was viewed as inferior, she ultimately

ends life happy and free. (Bronte 455) John, on the other hand,

spends his adult life in debt and in jail. He dies by his own

hand and leaves this world much the inferior of Jane.

Her monumental “gradations of glory” begin while Jane is at

Lowood. At times is was an “irksome struggle” for Jane as she

was forced to yield to the overbearing Mr. Brocklehurst, whose

philosophy was, “to render them…self-denying,” (Bronte 62-65).

Mr. Brocklehurst singles Jane out from all the other students and

declares her an agent of the Evil One. He warns the other pupils

by saying, “…this girl, who might be one of God’s own lambs, is

a little castaway…you must shun her example: if necessary,

avoid her company, exclude her from your sports and shut her out

from your converse,” (Bronte 69). Again we see Jane facing

exclusion as she is declared a “castaway.” In this same episode

we see an example of the confinement that was so customary at

Lowood, for Mr. Brocklehurst orders that Jane must stay standing

on a small stool for the remainder of the day. (Bronte 69)

Again we see Jane’s unwillingness to deny herself, because

she knows that she does have value. Jane is does not remain

excluded, but finds genuine friendship in the respectable Miss

Temple and Helen Burns. Also, Jane availed herself fully of the

advantages offered to her and in time becomes the first girl of

her class. (Bronte 86). Her self-worth was affirmed when she

was “invested with the office of teacher,” (Bronte 86). Jane was

no longer excluded or confined, and thus no longer considered

inferior. Mr. Brocklehurst, on the other hand, is no longer the

dictator of Lowood, but must abide by conditions set forth to him

by committee members. Therefore, he has been demoted, while Jane

has been elevated.

…

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