In Jane Eyre, the topic of this class system pops up quite often. Jane Eyre is seen as a second class citizen as the story begins. The Orphan with no money who is sent to a charitable school. Even though Jane is an intelligent, bright, and talented girl, she is still seen as a burden to society, just because she is poor. Poverty automatically means that you are put into the lowest class of society. “They think of the word only as connected with ragging clothes, scanty food, fireless grates, rude manners, and debasing voices: poverty for me was synonymous with degradation” in this sentence Jane herself states how she would rather live with her evil relations than go out and live with the poor. In my opinion, Charlotte Bronte is trying to show how back in the Victorian era, being poor meant that you had no respect and that people did not care about you or your life. Another example of the gap between the poverty stricken and the rich and wealthy is found on page 28 when Mr. Brockleherst was talking to Mrs. reed and Jane. He told them what his daughter has said to him “they looked at my dress and mamma’s as if they had never seen a silk gown before.” Obviously if someone of your standard were living in a charity orphanage for poor kids, you wouldn’t have seen silk in your life unless you stole it from someone else.
As I had mentioned before people within different classes did not usually associate with each other. This is seen with the comment by Mrs Fairfax “I say alone Leah is a nice girl to be sure, and John and his wife are very decent people, but then you see they are only servants and one cannot converse with them on terms of equality.” pg 88 as well as said by John reed when he was conversing with Jane. “you are a dependant, mamma says; you have no money; your father left you none; you ought to beg, and not live here with Gentlemen’s children like us, and eat the same meals we do, and wear clothes at our mamma’s expense.” Pg 4 As john himself states in this page, Jane is seen as a person who has no status in life and because of her class she should not be allowed to be around John and the family. To John, or a child like him living back then, it might have been disgraceful for a person like Jane to be around him. With Mrs Fairfax, she was seen as glad when Jane arrived, because like herself, Jane was a person of her social status. A person who was educated and like Jane says herself of Mrs fairfax, “a worthy lady” Also, back in the Victorian era, it was insulting and rude for a person to call someone by a different class status. For example, I could not go up and tell _____ I hate you. You’re such a poverty stricken beggar who has no worth. It was very unbecoming of a person to make such accusations. This is seen when Jane is mistaken for a beggar by Hannah, the house keeper of st john and his sisters. “you are mistaken in supposing me a beggar, I am no beggar; any more than yourself or your young ladies…I dunnut understand that: you’ve like no house, nor brass, I guess” Jane then proceed to scold her and argue about how she had mistaken her as a beggar.
When Jane begins to fall in love with Rochester, she believes that he does not love her. A woman who has no money, and only a governess who is employed by him. Jane feels that because she is under employment by Rochester, he cannot have any feelings for her. The hired help, the one who is being paid to serve, a person who is not of equal with himself. How could a man in the Victorian era love a woman who is not his equal. She was quite taken back when he asked for her hand and began buying her lavish gifts out of her class. “Glad was I to get him out of the silk warehouse, and then out of the jeweler’s shop: the more he bought me, the more my cheek burned with a sense of annoyance and degradation.” pg 255. Jane did not think of herself as an equal to Rochester the whole time that she was planning to get married to him. To her it seemed like a nightmare because this was not her own life, this was a life that she had only seen and heard of by people like Mr Brockleherst. As well in that time Jane and Rochester marrying wasn’t a thing to do. Mrs Fairfax emphasizes that point in Victorian social etiquette when she heard that they were to marry. “Gentlemen in his station are not accustomed to marry their governesses”.
Women back in the 19th century were not like the women we see nowadays. They were looked down upon by others as the weaker and inferior kinds of people. The ones who had no say in matter and the ones who were seen as second class at times. Women could do no jobs other than being a governess, nurse, or homemaker. That and to marry and bring up your family. That was the only choice open for women. In Jane Eyre, jane’s only allowance was to stand firm and be strong, as seen early on in the book as seen on pg 4. “I knew he would soon strike, and while dreading the blow, I mused on the disgusting and ugly appearance of him who would presently deal it” and for dodging the blow and trying to defend herself from another attack, she was then sent away as the one who should be punished. “take her away to the red room and lock her in there.” Basically, women back in the Victorian era were treated unfairly, and were not given an opportunity to show what they could do in the real world. Hence Charlotte Bronte chose to be Currer Bell, the male author of Jane Eyre, the story that reflected her life trapped in the Victorian society.
So to sum up what I have talked about in my part of social life in the Victorian era.
There existed a class system in which people of different classes were not allowed to associate with each other. As well, people in different classes often discriminated and looked down upon other classes. Poverty was seen as horrific and abominable back in society, and people without money were not treated well or with respect. A person who lived within a class could not get themselves out of that class unless by being married to a person of higher class which also would not happen. So therefore if you lived a bad life, your children would also live a bad life. And finally, women were not treated as equals nor were they seen as equals at all. Women back in the 19th century could only marry and take care of the family, or do nothing and be nothing.
