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Change In Gender Roles In Hamlet And Jane Eyre

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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 …show more content…

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

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Meanwhile Mr. Rochester, Jane’s employer, also struggles with resisting the ways of society or being an independant. During the Victorian Era men and society had high standards of women and their responsibilities. The novel “Jane Eyre” proves this through the gender roles of money, social status, education and relationships. Jane herself proves this to be wrong by being a nonconformist and trying to be

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Brontë utilizes Jane’s narration through consistent diction in order to display Jane’s ongoing struggle with obedience towards the opposite gender. Jane narrates her actions upon first meeting a strange man on a path knowing that she “should have been afraid to touch a horse when alone”, however she acts differently. She is commanded by the mysterious man, who is later revealed to be Rochester, and rather than acting by her own wishes, she felt that she is “disposed to obey”. Later, Jane narrates her loss of “the sense of power over [Rochester],” as he denies her request to let Adele accompany them. Jane expresses submission to Rochester when she felt that she was “about mechanically to obey him”, without second thought or resistance.

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