Jane Eyre Research Paper

The Victorian Female Role in Jane Eyre

During the Victorian era, many changes were born in English society. Ideals about power, wealth, religion, society, and women were shifting. The novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë encapsulates these changes, especially in the area of women’s roles and feminism. The novel criticizes the set ‘role’ of women that had existed for so long, one of being submissive to men, being a caregiver and mother, or one of stereotypes such as the ones described by teacher Tim Gillespie: “temptresses, virgins, or victims” (107). The main character, Jane Eyre, indeed serves in a stereotypical role as a governess (a female, live-in teacher) but her personality and actions prove her to be anything but the average Victorian

As a result of this outburst, Mrs. Reed slaps Jane and walks away without another word. Jane’s actions (outlined above) are contrary to how typical young women of the Victorian period behaved. Her outbursts, first towards John Reed, and later towards Mrs. Reed, are early examples of Jane’s struggle against the oppressive Victorian female role. “Brontë emphatically draws attention to the punishment for striking out against oppression-- containment. In the words of Joan Z. Anderson, a faculty member at Saint Patrick’s High School, the red room ‘perfectly represents [Jane’s] vision of the society in which she is trapped’ (Gilbert and Gubar 340)” (1). Like Jane, Mrs. Reed is also subject to expected feminine roles, although unlike Jane, she adheres to the trappings of her gender. Despite the fact that Mr. Reed is dead, Mrs. Reed is still vulnerable to carrying out his wishes. This is demonstrated by how powerfully Jane’s reminder of Mrs. Reed’s promise to her dying husband about caring for Jane distresses Mrs. Reed: “Her usually cold, composed grey eye became troubled with a look like fear; she took her hand from my arm, and gazed at me as if she really did not know whether I were a child or fiend” (Brontë 35). Although Mr. Reed is dead, he still “...continues to dictate her behaviour even from the grave” (Anderson 1). Mrs. Reed’s son also portrays the role of male dominance in her life: John gambles away much of the Reed fortune and wrecks his own life with alcohol, while simultaneously devastating his mother’s life. When she finally stands up to him and refuses to pay any more of his debts, John kills himself, which leads to Mrs. Reed’s fatal stroke. Ironically, even though she briefly