Jane looks at the contents and characters in a rather house-wifely fashion. She likes the animals and birds and is delighted by the demure settings. She is behaving to the expectant function of women by taking an interest in the trivial and unimportant matters. Jane feels that the higher, complex ideas of the book are far beyond her understanding and doesn’t bother to consider them.
Bronte has illustrated Jane to be bold in pursuing a book of her choice, but at the same time, she implies how Jane has strode a womanly path in its study. The use of phrase like “eerie and dreary” and “dared no longer” show that being a girl, Jane didn’t find a ‘manly’ book like ‘Gulliver’s Travels’ very interesting. She is frightened of the extremity of its contents and after a while, decides that it is dull and unexciting. This was very much the way women’s minds were thought to work like; they were only supposed to take interest in their own housework and never take regard of challenging and valorous work.
Bronte has portrayed how women were supposed to be prim and proper, with good manners. When Jane expresses her anger on John Reed, the words of Bessie and Abbot, “What a fury” and “picture of passion” reflect her unnaturalness in showing her true feelings. As expected of females, Jane hid a lot of emotions and passion within her. Her passionate feelings and frank opinions, when openly expressed, were strongly disregarded.
Women of the 19th century were not thought to be very energetic and industrious, especially in the view of men. However, Jane felt it was important to work as hard as she could, and was more determined than most women.
“I continued the labours of the village school as actively and faithfully as I could.”
Jane wants to work to the best of her ability. She feels she does a good job in educating poor girls; this work is a challenge for her (“labours”). But Jane only does the work because she has to; she wants to keep to her word of maintaining the school as efficiently as she can.
There is evidence that Jane is trying to forget Mr. Rochester. Bronte uses phrases like “surrendered to temptation”, “listened to passion”, “no effort” and “no struggle” to get across to the reader, the emotions felt by Jane in being away from the person she loved most. She is proud of the fact that she hasn’t listened to her heart and is being ‘helpful’ to the world in whatever she does by not following her love blindly.
Jane feels that to have gone with Mr. Rochester would have been ‘surrendering’. This is unlike womanly behaviour. Women only wanted to have a good family, be a dutiful wife and nurture their children to their full capacity. Primarily, Jane feels that she is doing a better service by educating poor girls than she would have in ‘serving’ Mr. Rochester as his wife. This highlights her ‘peculiar’ ambition in life.
However, Jane Eyre has accordingly conformed to the habitual judgement of the 19th century woman. Although she is content with her job, there is an indication that she feels she may lose her prestige in society.
“I doubted I had taken a step which sank instead of raising me in the scale of social existence.”
At this point, Jane thinks like any other woman – she is worried about her social importance. This is a reminder to her of how woman with a low social status do not have many rights and importance. Word like “ignorance” and “coarseness” imply how Jane felt about living in such a way. She had lived a life of higher standards and felt superior to the villagers.
Charlotte Bronte expresses her sensitivities in depicting how women got over the bounds that held them to their social expectations. But, they still had their own dignity and self esteem to face. Bronte uses the word “duty” to interpret to the reader, the bond that tied Jane to the poor girls she educated.
Jane’s outlook in life eventually gets her to marry Mr. Rochester. A typical female attribute being part of her, she feels there is nothing more she yearns to do than serve her husband.
“…my time and cares were now required by another – my husband needed them all.”
Jane has cut herself off from her past life. It is imperative to note that Jane no longer wants to be Jane Eyre; she has transformed to a Mrs. Rochester and wants to live her new life as a different person.
Bronte’s usage of “all” in the above quote renders exactly how women considered their life to be centred upon their homes and families. Jane has forgotten her occupation, her service to the poor; she doesn’t even have time for Adele. Women didn’t usually do many jobs in the 19th century and after their marriages, their only role in life was to be a good wife, mother and housekeeper. These are precisely the feelings of Jane who only wants to be Mrs. Rochester after getting married. She is happy and content in attending on her husband for life.
In comparison to Jane Eyre, Blanche Ingram was more conformed to the role of women. The proud daughter of a wealthy lord, she was beautiful and talented.
“ ‘Tall, fine bust, sloping shoulders…as brilliant as her jewels”
In Mrs. Fairfax’s opinion, Blanche Ingram is highly commendable. The above quote gives a fair impression of what the society expected of wealthy women. The phrase “as brilliant as her jewels” implies how such women were a display of their own riches, beauty and talents. They were some of the most respected women in society. Miss Ingram was loved and praised because people thought that being rich, she had a status, and her money was her beauty and talent.
Bronte presents Miss Ingram as “haughty” and “satirical”. It puts forward one of the most distinguished traits of such wealthy women and what the society expected them to be. This gives the impression that a rich woman was arrogant, fine-looking and wasn’t always under the society’s pressure.
At this point, we can tell that Blanche Ingram was a woman who conformed to her expected duties. She behaved according to the expectations of the 19th century society.
“…she never offered, nor had, an opinion of her own.”
Firstly, this gives us a view of how Jane did not have the ideas common to most women. In her opinion, it was important to speak one’s mind and exhibit one’s feelings. All the same, this tells us how Blanche Ingram conformed to her expected function.
Women weren’t supposed to have their own judgements. Having their own views and opinions would make them think more and consider the rights and wrongs. An outcome of this could be that they would demand more privileges.
Bronte puts forward Miss Ingram to be conformed to her expected role in this case. She has never wanted to take into consideration what she has seen and known and what she has been made to do. She is a woman who follows the path that has been laid out for her by her culture; she isn’t inquisitive. The 19th century woman is presented as a believer and follower of whatever she is told to accept.
On another occasion, however, the author has presented Miss Ingram in quite the opposite light, where her pride and egotism lead her to cross the bounds of her predominance.
“ ‘I suppose, now’, said Miss Ingram, curling her lips sarcastically…the governesses extant.”
Blanche Ingram is being acrimonious; she is fed up of the conversation and demands the topic of discussion to be changed. This is inapt, because a woman was always willing to please and was not to have an opinion of her own, as was a familiar characteristic of Miss Ingram. But at this point, she gives an impression of having higher-ranking judgement than the others present, including a male. We are given a demonstration of how even the most disciplined women had their own considerations and would feel their need of liberty at some point.
Blanche Ingram, being rich and glamorous, had but the same hope as other women - to marry a man richer than her. Although it was greed that drew her to Mr. Rochester, she was afraid of anyone like Adele spoiling her chances.
“…a spiteful antipathy she had conceived against little Adele…and always treating her with coldness and acrimony.”
The reason for this spite was Miss Ingram’s jealousy towards Adele. She was resentful to Adele because she occupied much of Mr. Rochester’s priority. She did not like the fact that Adele was the daughter of one of Mr. Rochester’s past mistresses. This was uncommon behaviour for a woman because they had to accept men as whatever they were and overlook their faults. Men could make mistakes but women couldn’t.
Bronte shows us how, being a female, Miss Ingram didn’t have the right to find fault in the life and dispositions of Mr. Rochester. However, we are also shown how, woman that she was, Miss Ingram tended to have absolutely natural feelings. Her jealousy was the result of the excessive superiority granted to her; she wanted to be as independent as she desired. Being in the habit of having everything to her pleasure, she wanted the things that were far beyond her reach.
In Jane’s view, Blanche Ingram was not a suitable wife for Mr. Rochester.
“How will she manage to please him when they are married?”
Jane thought that Miss Ingram wouldn’t be able to serve her husband dutifully enough. Her view here helps us in understanding the relationship between a husband and wife of the 19th century.
Bronte has used the word “please” to express how Miss Ingram would not be able to get the status of a satisfactory wife. This gives us just the impression of how the relationship between a married couple was not just of love and companionship, but that the wife had a duty to perform towards her husband. She had to behave accordingly and satisfy her husband with her housework – if not, her esteem in society would decrease.
We are thus given additional information on the character of Blanche Ingram. We can tell that she was only interested in having a wealthy husband and living her life in comfort. Though most women were thought to expect this of their husbands, Miss Ingram is shown as unsuitable for Mr. Rochester because she wouldn’t have been able to work as a good housewife.
On the whole, I think ‘Jane Eyre’ is a good novel to consider when studying the role of 19th century women. In my opinion, women are portrayed quite realistically. However, many a time, I felt that Charlotte Bronte hasn’t been very direct in depicting the role of women. For example, Blanche Ingram is a typical woman of the 19th century – her beauty and wealth give her superior status in society. But as we look through Jane’s eyes, we see her as woman whose ego has taken her beyond the height of her status.
Also when Jane decides to marry Mr. Rochester for the first time, her decision isn’t disregarded or pointed at, although she takes a step highly unconventional for a woman of her time.
I feel that Bronte could have added more on what the value of women was in society.
In conclusion, I feel that the author has effectively shown the reader a 19th century world through the eyes of a young girl. I liked the story and the variety of characters that Charlotte Bronte has set forth in ‘Jane Eyre.’
