Jane eyre the feminist
Jane Eyre, The Feminist Tract In 1837 critic Robert Southey wroteto Charlotte Bronte, "Literature cannot be the business of a woman'slife, and it ought not to be. The more she is engaged in her properduties, the less leisure will she have for it, even as an accomplishment and a recreation," (Gaskell 102). This opinion was not held by only oneperson, but by many. Indeed, it is this attitude, one that debases womenand their abilities, to which Charlotte Bronte responds with Jane Eyre. The purpose of Jane Eyre, not only the novel, but also the characterherself as a cultural heroine, is to transform a primeval society, onewhich devalues women and their contributions, into a nobler order ofcivilization (Craig 57). The effectiveness of Bronte's argument is dueto both her motivation and approach. Bronte found her motivation fromthe experiences she had undergone while living in the Victorian era. Her approach in advocating social reform is to establish Jane as a modelfor readers. Readers are meant to examine Jane's life, especially themanner in which she handles problems or confrontations in herrelationships, and to follow her example in their own lives. Just as we
This novel not only proved the capability of CharlotteBronte, but also, through Jane, gives readers hope as they view a youngheroine who has a strong desire and struggles for independence, and whothinks for herself in a society which did not encourage this. On the day of her wedding it isrevealed that there is an "insuperable impediment" to the wedding (Bronte292). as a model of a woman successful in asserting her self-worth, weare also given a warning about the possible outcome of failure to realizeself- worth in Bertha Rochester. In Jane we have seen the model of a womansuccessful in asserting her self-worth and emerging victoriously. (Bronte 255) WhenRochester proposes, he declares, "I offer you my hand, my heart, and ashare of all my possessions," (Bronte 256). " In this same episode we see an example of the confinementthat was so customary at Lowood, for Mr. Brocklehurst orders that Janemust stay standing on a small stool for the remainder of the day. I am not talking to yo now through the medium of custom,conventionalities, or even of mortal flesh: -it is my spirit thataddresses your spirit; just as if both had passed through the grave,and we stood at God's feet, equal, -as we are!" (Bronte 255). (Bronte 455) John, on the other hand, spends his adult life indebt and in jail. Rochester is a thing to be scorned.
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