Change In Gender Roles In Hamlet And Jane Eyre

Literature represent the era of which they are written in. As some values become obscure and others become idealized, comparing literature of different time periods reveal changes in society. A prominent example of the change in societal values is the change in gender roles, as demonstrated in the comparison between characters’ gender roles in Hamlet and in Jane Eyre.
In a Freudian/psychoanalytic literary theory, by suffering from a disruption of his father complex, Hamlet demonstrates the male gender role to follow their fathers. During King Claudius’s marriage with Gertrude, Horatio talks to Hamlet about Hamlet’s father, to which Hamlet says, “He was a man. Take him for all in all. I shall not look upon his like again” (1.2.195-196). His

As discussed in class and in previous research, in the Victorian era, women were to assign a domestic role of managing the household and taking care of the children as mothers. In Jane Eyre, Jane’s several experiences reveal the gender roles of the 19th century. For example, Jane’s unfair treatment in the Reed household demonstrates society’s favoritism towards men. Another instance is that Jane discovering Bertha’s condition with Rochester suggest men yield the upper influence in marriage. Jane is expected to be subordinated and faithful to traditions/the family, which is similar to the gender roles of Ophelia. In the terms of the differences of gender roles, the differences arise because of differing economic positions. Ophelia is a daughter of Polonius, who has connections to a king while Jane is a governess. Therefore, Ophelia would have etiquette associated with royalty while Jane would act more bluntly, due to having a poor childhood. Specifically, Jane acts against the gender roles of her time after developing independence and choosing to marry Rochester, but the gender roles were still