VIII Feministic Criticism: Jane Eyre

The women portrayed in Jane Eyre, for the most part, have very plain lives. The majority of the women are either teachers or household maids, with the exception of the high-class ladies who visit. The main character, Jane, is a governess to Adele as well as a teacher to the poor village girls. An example of a household main in this book would be Grace. It's hard to figure out if the book was influenced by the writer's gender, but considering the fact that the writer is a women, that probably influenced the main character to also be a women. The way Jane and Mr.Rochester relate to each other changes throughout the book. At first, Mr. Rochester did not consider Jane his equal, but after Jane saves Mr.Rochester, his view of her changes. Jane Eyre challenged the traditional views of women by the way she didn't settle for being just an orphan, but worked to support herself with a career and wanted to be considered Mr.Rochester's equal. The images of women in this story, not including Jane, do reflect patriarchal social forces that have impeded women's efforts to achieve full equality with men because none of the other female characters really challenge the idea like Jane does. Two main marital expectations are imposed on Jane. One being St.John Rivers' proposal to Jane, in hopes she'll accompany him on his mission trip. This makes Jane realize she still has feelings for Mr.Rochester. Another marital expectation is Mr.Rochester's first attempt to marry Jane which is unsuccessful due to his former marriage. This causes Jane to lose her trust in him. If Jane were male, the story would be completely different in the way that she wouldn't have had such a hard time finding a job and she probably wouldn't have had as much heart ache. When Jane finally marries Mr.Rochester, her decisions are no longer her own and she is the happier than she had ever been before.

Possible thesis: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte shows, through Jane, that you don't need to be satisfied with the roles society has placed for you.