Zusammenfassung der Ressource
theme of feminism in Jane Eyre
- Jane is the female protagonist of the story, her
own leader, something that in the 19th century
was not common
- She
- She fights against oppression she faces
from people that are socially above her,
being a feminist icon for that era
- Jane fought against John Reed, a richer
male of a higher social class, three factors
that placed him high above her
- 'wicked and cruel boy!' I said. 'You are like a
murderer - you are like a slave-driver - you
are like the Roman emperors!'
- Jane's knowledge of Roman history was also impressive
for a young girl and is empowering as she used her
knowledge to insult John Reed rather than resort to
violence - it challenges the notion that women are weak
just because they cannot fight back
- gender and class are
strongly linked themes in
Jane Eyre
- Socialist feminism
- Jane is used by Bronte to challenge the notion that a
woman of a lower class are nothing, irrelevant and
simply commodities
- “Do you think because I am poor, obscure, plain and
little, I am soulless and heartless?” - chapter 23
- To a modern reader, Jane is not a particularly feminist role
model, she falls in love with a man and her life starts to
revolve about their relationship over her job or her
knowledge etc.
- however, to a 19th century reader her actions were really quite empowering for women
- She went out and chased
her own job
- Didn't always do as she was told
when instructed by a man
- She had strong views
and was outspoken
- Her strong views were incredibly
unfeminine for that era, they were
regarded as
- money and depending on men
- Jane is seen as equal to Rochester and not dependant on him as she receives
a sum of £20,000. This means that if Jane and Rochester were to split, she
would not need him and she would not be tied to him because of need of
money - like the vast majority of women in the 19th century. This also
reinforces the idea of love between them as it is not based on money.
- However - Jane was actually still dependant on a
man because she got the money from her father - a
man?