Jane Eyre-a Feminist Interpretation
Jane and Bertha’s struggle against Patriarchy
In this essay my primary analysis will focus on the main character ,Jane, in Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. I will apply Gilbert and Guber’s idea about women in the Victorian Age and use it in the analysis of Jane and her development. The idea is based on the fact that women at the time had to overcome oppression, starvation, madness and coldness in order to arrive at the ‘end-station’ wholeness. A secondary focus will be on the similitude between Jane and Bertha Mason and I will try to demonstrate that Bertha is, in fact, Jane’s ‘truest and darkest double.’ My methodology relies on relevant secondary literature sources found on the web. I will use the famous work of Gilbert and Guber The Madwoman in the Attic, Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex and Mary Wollstonecraft A Vindication Of the Rights of Woman and apply it to my investigation on the main theme. The primary source used is the novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. The concept of Patriarchy is used by Simone de Beauvoir and is ‘by definition, sexist, which means it promotes the belief that women are innately inferior to men’(Tyson 84). It is clear that in the Victorian Age in which the action of the novel takes place, the Patriarchal system is one of importance. Jane Eyre, the main character, confronts with such a society where the power of men is above the power of women. It was regarded as a ‘sin’ the want of women to broke that well preserved system. The only option for women was to have ‘’manly virtues’’(Wollstonecraft unpaged) or to become the “the invisible and unheard sex” (Murfin).Jane represents an importat character in the Victorian Age because she did not accept her position in the society and fought against it. According to Gilbert and Guber, Jane’s life and development can be divided into four periods in which she tried to fight against
In this essay my primary analysis will focus on the main character ,Jane, in Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. I will apply Gilbert and Guber’s idea about women in the Victorian Age and use it in the analysis of Jane and her development. The idea is based on the fact that women at the time had to overcome oppression, starvation, madness and coldness in order to arrive at the ‘end-station’ wholeness. A secondary focus will be on the similitude between Jane and Bertha Mason and I will try to demonstrate that Bertha is, in fact, Jane’s ‘truest and darkest double.’ My methodology relies on relevant secondary literature sources found on the web. I will use the famous work of Gilbert and Guber The Madwoman in the Attic, Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex and Mary Wollstonecraft A Vindication Of the Rights of Woman and apply it to my investigation on the main theme. The primary source used is the novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. The concept of Patriarchy is used by Simone de Beauvoir and is ‘by definition, sexist, which means it promotes the belief that women are innately inferior to men’(Tyson 84). It is clear that in the Victorian Age in which the action of the novel takes place, the Patriarchal system is one of importance. Jane Eyre, the main character, confronts with such a society where the power of men is above the power of women. It was regarded as a ‘sin’ the want of women to broke that well preserved system. The only option for women was to have ‘’manly virtues’’(Wollstonecraft unpaged) or to become the “the invisible and unheard sex” (Murfin).Jane represents an importat character in the Victorian Age because she did not accept her position in the society and fought against it. According to Gilbert and Guber, Jane’s life and development can be divided into four periods in which she tried to fight against
Cited: University press, 1984. 1985. Barcelona: Editorial Ariel, 2004. Tyson, Lois Critical Theory Today. A User-Friendly Guide. New York& London: Garland Publishing, 1999 Online sources