Comparing Jane Eyre And Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey

Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre and Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey exhibit disciplinary social dynamics as a method of ostracizing. Their Bildungsroman novels effectively articulate how people during the 19th century were disciplined through decorum, which resulted in the othering of “social” deviants, as experienced by their coming-of-age protagonists. Both novels are criticisms of Victorian social constructivism; their criticisms are understood by the Foucauldian discourse analysis: the concept of power relationships conveyed through gestures and language, studied by 20th century French philosopher Michel Foucault—particularly dissertated in his works Discipline and Punish and The History of Sexuality. At the turn of the 18th century, England

Charlotte Bronte provides much textual evidence to support the claim that this novel accurately exemplifies how interwoven discipline was into Victorian society. In the first part of this novel, Mr. Brocklehurst, the head of the Lowood School where Jane spends her childhood, says “You are aware that my plan in bringing up these girls is not to accustom them to habits of luxury and indulgence, but to render them hardy, patient, self-denying.” This quote perfectly illuminates how Victorian society operated as a self-policing community in which many members valued and prioritized the perpetuation of discipline. Everything about his diction suggests that Mr. Brocklehurst views the average Victorian girl inherently operates in the world as an undesirable “other” that must be regulated and disciplined severely to eventually join the “norm” and coexist with the default members of society. The tone is authoritative and commanding, as if this “plan” is a natural process in the raising and grooming of a proper Victorian woman. The result of this type of thought process can be captured in quotes regarding one character who acts as both the discipliner as well as a product of the discipline in this society, Jane’s first punisher, Mrs.

Reed in Jane Eyre is archetypal in Victorian society. She plays the role of an unscrupulous woman who exploits her late husband, Jane’s father, for his estate. Mrs. Reed is not only a portrayal of conformity and elitism in the society that limits Jane’s pursuit of individuality, but also, on the sympathetic side, she exemplifies the narrow opportunities for a woman to have an independent life during this period. Most women during the Victorian era were disciplined for their gender by relying almost completely on men for financial and socio-political stability. In this sense, Mrs. Reed is a true prisoner the society in which she lives. Jane says of Mrs. Reed, “…(She) could discover by her own observation that I was endeavoring in good earnest to acquire a more sociable and childlike disposition… she really must exclude me from privileges intended only for contented, happy, little children,” which perfectly illustrates the panoptic-disciplinary relationship between herself and Mrs. Reed; Mrs. Reed observes and judges Jane’s reticent behavior as a child and as a punishment, Jane is experiences alienation and deprivation of opportunities awarded to children who behave