Jane Eyre Class Issues
First and foremost of course is the fact that in her day, an English woman of good family simply couldn't earn her own living without losing caste. Yes, as governess to a high family, but this placed her in a difficult position of not being quite a servant (horrors) nor yet on the same level as the family. Read the passages about the house party and the way Blanche Ingram and her mother talk of governesses, knowing full well that Jane is sitting right there.
For a gentleman to marry a governess, let alone his household's governess, was unheard of. Marriage was her only way to better herself. So the stance that Jane takes when she demands that Rochester allow her to continue to work after their marriage was to say the least unusual. Often Bronte puts in Jane's mind and mouth femenist ideas that were revolutionary, such as saying it is narrow minded for men to expect women to limit their mental efforts to "making puddings and knitting stockings." She is not content to marry a rich man and live in the lap of luxury...she wants to be independent and make her own way. When she speaks of herself as mentally his equal before God...I can imagine the furore that would have caused.
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Life in 19th-century Britain was governed by social class, and people typically stayed in the class into which they were born. Both as an orphan at Gateshead and as a governess at Thornfield, Jane holds a position that isbetween classes, and interacts with people of every level, from working-class servants to aristocrats. Jane’s social mobility lets Brontë create a vast social landscape in her novel in which she examines the sources and consequences of class boundaries. For instance, class differences cause many problems in the love between Jane and Rochester. Jane must break through class prejudices about her standing, and make people recognize and respect her personal qualities. Brontë tries to illustrate how personal virtues are better indicators of character than class.
Yet the novel
For a gentleman to marry a governess, let alone his household's governess, was unheard of. Marriage was her only way to better herself. So the stance that Jane takes when she demands that Rochester allow her to continue to work after their marriage was to say the least unusual. Often Bronte puts in Jane's mind and mouth femenist ideas that were revolutionary, such as saying it is narrow minded for men to expect women to limit their mental efforts to "making puddings and knitting stockings." She is not content to marry a rich man and live in the lap of luxury...she wants to be independent and make her own way. When she speaks of herself as mentally his equal before God...I can imagine the furore that would have caused.
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Life in 19th-century Britain was governed by social class, and people typically stayed in the class into which they were born. Both as an orphan at Gateshead and as a governess at Thornfield, Jane holds a position that isbetween classes, and interacts with people of every level, from working-class servants to aristocrats. Jane’s social mobility lets Brontë create a vast social landscape in her novel in which she examines the sources and consequences of class boundaries. For instance, class differences cause many problems in the love between Jane and Rochester. Jane must break through class prejudices about her standing, and make people recognize and respect her personal qualities. Brontë tries to illustrate how personal virtues are better indicators of character than class.
Yet the novel