Gender Roles In Jane Eyre

Because they could not sue, vote, nor maintain property, having a family was considered to be one of the single most important aspects of life for a Victorian woman. In the Victorian era, having a family equates to having both emotional and financial support—and, depending on one’s circumstances, maintaining or climbing the ranks of social status. Charlotte Bronte’s novel, Jane Eyre, illustrates the complicated dynamics surrounding the quirks of an unconventional heroine and the expectations and ideals imposed upon her by her Victorian environment. This bildungsroman, a “coming of age” story, focuses on the moral and psychological growth of a young girl. The protagonist, Jane Eyre, begins as a poor, lowly, and formally uneducated young girl.

In Victorian Britain, gender roles were clearly defined. “The ideal woman… was responsible for the education and care of the children and the organization of the household as a whole, while man was expected to keep the pot boiling” (Yildirim 46). In other words, the mother was responsible for preparing her children for their proper place in society, and the father was responsible to financially support the entire family, allowing for such a system to thrive. Unfortunately, Jane does not have a mother nor father, and is cast into the wilderness of Victorian domesticity. Although she lives with the Reeds, she spends much of her time alone and feels alienated due to the fact that she is inherently different from her caretakers. For example, after a brutal physical fight with one of her cousins, she reflects on the reasons why she suffers. She explains, “I was a discord in Gateshead Hall; I was like nobody there… nothing in harmony with Mrs. Reed or her children, or her chosen vassalage. If they did not love me, in fact, as little did I love them. They were not bound to regard with affection a thing that could not sympathize with one amongst them; a heterogeneous thing, opposed to them in temperament, in capacity, in propensities…” (Bronte 30). She believes that she is alone not only because of her class and bloodline, but also because of innate differences in her behavior. Jane believes that she and the Reeds are naturally opposed in demeanor, and will always be incapable of existing together in harmony. Consequently, she spends much of her time silently suffering in solitude. Although she has a strong sense of independence, such a characteristic is undesirable in the age where people’s expectations rested on the perceived fact that “women were both physically and intellectually