Feminism in Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre

Savanna Trakas
Ms. Herndon
English IV Honors
20 September 2013
Feminism in Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre In 1847, readers were infatuated with the books developing young, motivated women. Charlotte Brontë, in her novel Jane Eyre, created and dissected the epitome of a gothic heroine. In a time where men set the stage for magnanimous literature, Brontë illuminated the feminine power that had been so neglected in previous gothic works. Brontë may not be the first feminist author; however, she defined gothic literature for women. Brontë’s Jane evokes a sense of radical female empowerment setting the stage for significant advances in feminist theory and women’s literature.
Brontë doesn’t take long to get into the mind of Jane who begins to express her feelings of feminism early on in the book. Jane takes a look at how society displays women and men as two levels of power. Brontë states, “women are supposed to be very calm generally: but women feel just as men feel…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” (Bronte 93). Clearly, Jane despises the stereotype that people have placed upon her.
Although Brontë didn’t set the set the stage for gothic heroisms, her contribution was adding suspense to the era by demonstrating dramatic relationships between a man and a woman. It shouldn’t surprise you so much that feminist criticism would borrow the romance from the novel with narration full of metaphors and self-understanding as an enterprise. Taking the novel’s romance for granted, the voice of Jane and the story depend upon it to partake a feminist critic’s interest (Kaplan 365). Likewise, Emily Brontë, Daphne du Maurier, and Elizabeth Bennett also crafted a strong, powerful woman for their main character to display the challenges in the strict social roles of the era. Multiple novels were shaped after Brontë’s Jane Eyre and Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca; the novels develop young, strong-willed women, either a new bride or a eager governess, living in a enormous mansion gloomy from sadness populating precocious children and a obscure, handsome man (Harwell p.1). Jane represents a woman who feels inferior to a man, but has the desire to challenge men for an ultimate shift in gender power structure.
Jane Eyre battles to prove women and men are equal on an emotional level, and women should not be downgraded because of a stereotype that was initially influenced by men. In the novel, Brontë declares,
“Do you think I am an automaton? — a machine without feelings? And can bear to have my morsel of bread snatched from my lips, and my drop of living water dashed from my cup? Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong! — I have as much soul as you — and full as much heart! And if God had gifted me with some beauty and much wealth, I should have made it as hard for you to leave me, as it is now for me to leave you. I am not talking to you now through the medium of custom, conventionalities, nor even of mortal flesh: it is my spirit that addresses your spirit; just as if both had passed through the grave, and we stood at God 's feet, equal — as we are”(Brontë 204)!
Women of this time were not always outspoken and fought for what they believed was right. It took a few women who were brave enough to speak their minds of the everyday struggle of being less significant of a person. Kaplan exclaims, “Jane does move from silence to speech, thus providing a model of feminist resistance and liberation. And she directly involves the reader in that liberatory process, providing a model of feminist criticism as a collaborative heroics, of the feminist critic as the ideal listener for which the text longs” (476). Jane was quiet towards the beginning of her novel, but began to stand up for her beliefs once she was sent away to school. Jane understands that one can be prejudice against women, but how can one who is educated be inferior to men. Brontë proclaims, “Prejudices, it is well known, are most difficult to eradicate from the heart whose soil has never been loosened or fertilized by education: they grow there, firm as weeds among stones” (Brontë 278). Educated women are as strong as any men and can stand right next to them in society or the work force. These women can advance along right along with men, and they can deal with the harder things in life as well. Brontë explains Jane feelings when she scripts,
“Nobody knows how many rebellions besides political rebellions ferment in the masses of life which people earth. 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; they suffer from too rigid a restraint, too absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffer; and it is narrow-minded in their more privileged fellow-creatures to say that they ought to confine themselves to making puddings and knitting stockings, to playing on the piano and embroidering bags. 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” (Brontë 238).
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë demonstrates the beginning of a battle for equality for women. Jane Eyre realizes one can not be heard in silence, but must speak in order to destroy the power structure amongst genders. Brontë arouses a strong character through Jane to fight women’s rights in an ideal world in literature. As a result, this raised an argument for equality which women fought for years and have successfully achieved. Today, women can work right along with men, vote, and are seen as equivalent.

Works Cited
Brontë, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. London: Smith, Elder, and, Cornhill, 1847. Print.
Caplan, Carla. "Girl Talk: Jane Eyre and the Romance of Women 's Narration." Ebscohost.com. . Discus, n.d. Web. 21 Sept. 2013.
Fraad, Harriet. "The Pursuit of Happiness: 2011." . Disus, n.d. Web. 2011.
Haddad, Stephanie S. “Echoes in Gothic Romance: Stylistic Similarities Between Jane Eyre and Rebecca.” . Web. 27 Sept. 2013.
Harwell, T.M. " Gothic Romance. By T. M. Harwell " Ebsohost.com.
. Discus, n.d. Web. 21 Sept 2013.
Thomas, Sue. "Imperialism, Reform, and the Making of the Englishness in Jane Eyre" Ebscohost.com. Discus, Fall 2002. Web. 21 Sept. 2013.

Cited: Brontë, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. London: Smith, Elder, and, Cornhill, 1847. Print. Fraad, Harriet. "The Pursuit of Happiness: 2011." . Disus, n.d. Web. 2011.