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?