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 ...