Monday, January 31, 2011
Jane Eyre and Social Mobility
Throughout the novel, Bronte repeatedly critiques Victorian social hierarchy by using the relationship of Jane and Rochester extensively. As the novel progresses, Jane acquires the position of governess, enabling her to become an intellectual equal to Rochester, yet never his social equal. Numerous times in the novel, Jane fears marrying Rochester due to her origin as an orphan living under a benefactress and her inevitable debt towards Rochester for marrying below his social status as an aristocrat, when he had the opportunity to marry a wealthy woman named Blanche Ingram. Brontë emphasizes the chaos inside Jane’s mind in Chapter 17, “You have nothing to do with the master of Thornfield, further than to receive the salary he gives you for teaching his protégé…He is not of your order: keep to your caste.” These words, cycling through Jane’s head, force her to become even more hesitant to allow Rochester her love, demonstrated by her escape into the residence of Saint John. It would not be unreasonable to state that class prejudice greatly constrained an individual during the Victorian era, allowing almost no social mobility to lower-class individuals.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
That's very true of the novel. Jane Eyre is a very poignant and well-written book. The themes of feminism and social mobility are definitely the two most evident themes. The way Jane overcomes it in the end leaves the reader with hope. Fast-forward 200 years and women have all the same rights as men. It's almost hard to imagine what Jane is going through since we're so use to having our own freedoms.
ReplyDelete- Marian J
Now I find it interesting what you said, how she felt guilty about marrying one of another class. And yes for a while there Jane was unsure about marriage. Both Jane's and Rochester's social classes played a part in the breaking up between them even though the dominate reason was Rochester's wife. I find it Ironic that once Rochester had faced tragedy Jane comes back to him and this time feels in a sense less guilty about being wed with him because of the money she now possessed.
ReplyDelete-- J. Keagy
You make a good point that it was very difficult to move up in the social hierarchy. Even after Jane went to school and became equal to Mr. Rochester intellectually, she is still part of the lower class because of her history as an orphan.
ReplyDeleteZach Y.
Based on your understanding of Jane's Character do you believe she would have still married Rochester if she wouldn't have inherited money from her uncle thus enabling her to be his social equal?
ReplyDelete~Vanessa S
I think Jane was always fearful of falling in love with Rochester because she knew he belonged to a higher social class. She did not want to marry him until she knew she could offer him some wealth as well. This led her to Saint John, where she would inherit a great amount of money. Only then did Jane feel worthy of being Rochester's partner.
ReplyDelete-Cynthia Navarro
It seems that belief plays an important role in this story. As you noted, Jane does not BELIEVE that she is worthy of Rochester. That alone is powerful enough to change her peception of her social status. I wonder what will the results if everyone, including Rochester, firmly believe that Jane is of equal status as Rochester. Does that allow Jane to actually have a higher social status?
ReplyDelete-A. Chang
Yes, it is true that there is limited social mobility in Jane Eyre, but in the end, Jane shows independance that allows her to go against the social norm and be happy, and in the process earn some money. More of a restrictive view of social mobility is in Tess of the d'Urbervilles where Tess's position changes very little and instead of overcoming social views, accepts and submits to them.
ReplyDelete-Emily S.
I agree with your statement that the main conflict for social class in the novel was between Jane and Mr. Rochester. Jane is very unwilling to give up her freedom when she decides to marry Mr. Rochester for the first time which makes her question if she should even marry him in the first place. This conflict is obviously resolved as you said when she becomes a headmistress.
ReplyDelete-Brent S.
Hey Della! This was a very good analysis of Jane Eyre. Although I never read this book, your analysis allowed me to see the similarity between Jane and Tess, for Tess also critiques the Victorian social views of women. Good job... and btw, why do you wear high heels to school all the time?? hahaha juuuust kiiiiiding :D
ReplyDeleteDaniel Hawkins
I agree that Jane eventually becomes a social equal to Mr. Rochester. This however was a very long and hard journey that closely resembles a roller coasters with numerous ups and downs. With her new social stature she can happily marry Mr. Rochester without giving up much of her independence.
ReplyDeleteI think that Jane is a very strong female character (perhaps similar to yourself) who is never willing to sacrifice her freedom or pride. Even with marrying the man she loves, she fears her inevitable degradation of social status. Even love cannot get in the way of her individuality and freedom.
ReplyDelete-Susan Y.