Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte and female independence in a male dominated society.

early part of her writing career, however she eventually revealed her identity, - and by extension her feministic views � to society and was recognized and respected as an accomplished author and lady. Jane Eyre demonstrated how she too was a feminist through her vocation because of her independence to provide for herself while helping others, and maintaining her morals throughout the novel. Jane took control of her life by finding a job when necessary, refusing to be a mistress to her master - a married man (Mr. Rochester), providing for her family when she received an inheritance, and refusing to marry a man who wished to make her his bride because of her ability to work and be a missionary (St. John Rivers). Both women demonstrated to society that women are people and that there should be more to their lives than following orders from the men that ran them. Although both women eventually married, and somewhat allowed their lives to be controlled by men, they were still able to express their feministic views in their marriages. Charlotte Bront� and Jane Eyre were both successful and independent women even after their marriages to wealthy men. They lost some of their independence in the senses that they now had husbands to care for and were therefore tied down to specific places without being able to travel for their careers, however they both remained feminists and defied some of the conventions of Victorian society in their own distinct ways. Jane Eyre defied convention by marrying Mr. Rochester, her once master/ employer, who was of a much higher social class and who was much older than she. Jane was an orphaned girl of 18 when she came to Thornfield Park to work for Mr. Rochester (age 37) as a governess to his daughter Ad�le, and when his wife died a year later their passion for each other � though thought to be strange because of the age and social class difference � flourished and resulted in a loving marriage. Charlotte Bront� defied Victorian society convention through her marriage to Arthur Bell Nicholls, her father's curate, in 1854. Charlotte's marriage was uncommon for Victorian times because women were expected to marry at a young age to wealthy men, keep a home and raise a family. Charlotte Bront� did not follow this convention; instead, she supported herself for most of her life as an author and then married Arthur at age 38 and did not have any children with him. Jane Eyre and Charlotte Bront� both made advantageous marriages to men that made their lives more comfortable because of their money, however they each maintained their feministic ways through marriage and in their other behaviors and actions. Charlotte and Jane share almost the same life when it comes to meaningful experiences, opinions, and actions towards the people in their lives, including their feministic ways. Jane Eyre is a fictional version of Charlotte Bront� herself, and Bront� used Jane's character to depict the behaviors and actions she herself had had and done in life, especially her views on feminism. Bront� demonstrated to society her opinions on feminism in many ways; however, the most notable would be her independence throughout life. Charlotte lost her mother and two older sisters at a very young age and was forced to raise herself as well as her younger sisters and brother with little help from anyone. She became a figurehead to her siblings and demonstrated to them how to be contributors to society regardless of their gender. Bront� encouraged her siblings to be creative and passionate with writing and was the one to "discover" her younger sister Anne Bront�'s true writing potential. Charlotte and Anne wrote together and published novels along with their other sister Emily. Together the three sisters defied society in providing for themselves without men by their sides and continued to influence the public with their works. Jane Eyre is Charlotte Bront�'s most famous, successful and influential novel. Bront� was able to be bold in her writing with her Jane Eyre character and described events that truly defied Victorian society. One of the most bold and feministic circumstances in Jane Eyre would be Jane's refusal to be mistress to Mr. Rochester when she learns that he is married. This situation defied society's conventions because it was never acceptable to refuse a man's wishes, especially those of a man who is of a higher social class and was a women's employer. Although Jane wanted to be with Mr. Rochester, she stood by her moral principles, left Thornfield Hall and became independent once again by gaining a position as headmistress at a girls school in a far off town. This situation was a dramatic version of Charlotte Bront�'s experience as a language student at a finishing school in Brussels where she and her professor (Constantin H�ger) had a "passion" despite his marriage, and Charlotte quickly left the school to once again to be independent. Bront� used Jane Eyre's circumstance with Mr. Rochester as a confession and correction of her actions with H�ger and demonstrated that women should always take the moral high road and stand up for their moral beliefs regardless of whether or not it defies a man's orders. Charlotte Bront� advocated feminism through her life's actions, opinions, behaviors, and literary works. Jane Eyre and Charlotte Bront� were both feminists and they demonstrated to the Victorian society the injustices women were silently suffering and how women could stand up against the oppressive conventions. Bront� and Eyre were women that directly defied their Victorian society with modern feministic views that empowered women of the time, and influenced the public to see the discrimination women were suffering. Charlotte Bront�'s novel was an eye-opening reality to society that began the formation of the feminist movement and inspired women to stand up for their rights as equal individuals. Both Charlotte Bront� and Jane Eyre were, and are still today, role models to society and women that were ahead of their time in their powerful actions and feminist views.