Today, when someone hears the name of Jane Eyre, a classic story of female emancipation and personal development, struggle against society-imposed norms and unjust gender segregation system in times when woman was treated as nothing but men’s addition and reason for his pride and showing-up are imagined. Indeed, the story of Jane Eyre is nothing new for the modern society, just as two centuries ago, there are places in the modern world, where women do not favor equal rights with men, where the main role of woman is to serve and obey to male malicious will and desire to control everything and everyone. In this context, there are still women who go through the same hardships as Jane Eyre, who are fighting for their rights in their own way, being in between feelings of self-esteem, desire to be loved the way they are and inborn instinct to survive and live free. The inborn desire to be free and wild in female nature might seem quite awkward in the context of Jane Eyre’s character and her perception of the world and woman’s place in it. In fact, her revolt is different than revolt of a modern woman and her lifestyle, but their nature is the same and even general features of female release from conditionality of social norms is identical. Both Jayne Eyre and a modern woman share common spirit – spirit of their ancestors, women who ruled the world during Ancient matriarchate and kept the balance between human world and divine nature.
Nowadays, there is a lot of analytical literature interpreting the image of Jayne Eyre and its correspondence to the modern perception of female revolt and emancipation. There are those scholars who believe that Jayne Eyre might be seen as a frivolous spirit of the Victorian epoch, and that she could not entirely overwhelm the style she was raised and social norms she still had to obey until certain extent (Ticknell 33). There were also those critics who suggested that Jayne Eyre was an entirely modern embodiment of female emancipation and development as a separate individual (Weele 8). Both statements have the right to exist and have their own rational of justification. The main statement of this paper is a bit different from those two - Jane Eyre is the first modern female protagonist. In this context, the main aim of this research is to explain why Jane is modern or which features she has in common with a modern, emancipated and free-willed woman. In the framework of this aim, the character of Jane Eyre is going to be analyzed from various perspective of her personal development, interactions with men, perception of education, morality and in the context of Victorian and modern bias of femininity.
Self-perception.
Where does femininity and strength to evolve in a free and independent way come from? In human behavior, everything starts from self-perception and inner comprehension of the surrounding environment’s norms and their implications on an individual. In this context, an individual starts to understand how well external environment corresponds to the inner needs of an individual or the inborn nature of the spirit inside all of us (Godfrey 854). While, men are more likely to develop self-perception in the early stages of development, women usually have to go through an additional stage – self-comprehension in the context of male reality of the world (Scrivener 129). In this context, they either subordinate to the requirements of the society, following a common path of development, or they cry out loud about who they are and that they are not to be suppressed (Ticknel 32). Jayne belongs to the second type, the type of a modern woman. Although, in some cases, she might seem timid, her strong self-perception was always with her, since it had evolved already in her childhood (Weele 7).
In the mentioned above example, Jane shows her mature female self-perception and self-identification with her cousin, irrespective of their gender or social status differences (Weele 11). In this context, both are viewed by Jane as equal human beings, whom they actually were. Her self-perception, self-evaluation and inborn dignity were those crucial elements, which distinguished her from other women in Victorian society (Godfrey 857). Just as Jane, there were other poor girls who studied and gained work as teachers in order to survive, but it does not mean that they had the same life perception as Jane (Scrivener 131). They would have condemned their lives for not having a man to rely on; they would continue looking for one. For Jane, her path was different than for those women, because she was different. The modernity of her world perception was that she had an integral, inner perception of the world the way it should be, something other women of that time were not ready to comprehend and accept (Ticknel 35).
One might say that, although Jane had that initial strong self-esteem, her further hardships and following the orders of the society had destroyed the initial spirit of freedom and emancipation; thus, she is not an entirely modern protagonist (Scrivener 133). In fact, this statement is very popular among male critics, mainly because they do not understand that a modern woman might be dutiful and act in socially-acceptable manner in order to survive and achieve her own targets (Weele 15). Even in this context, Jane is modern, because she understood that expressing all of her thoughts might be quite dangerous and that, in order to survive, she had to go quietly and stoically through all the hardships she was destined for (Ticknel 36). From one hand, Jane’s retreat from her words “All said I was wicked, and perhaps I might be so” was defensive and conditioned by her regular “mood of humiliation and self-doubt” (Bronte 23). On the other hand, one cannot expect a child to fight the whole structure of Victorian society on its own. The most important is that Jane preserved her inner self and did not let anyone destroy it (Godfrey 859).
Education and leadership.
Just as in times of Jayne Eyre, today, the main way for a woman to gain respect and decent place in society is education. Irrespective of the differences between Victorian and modern education, just as a modern women, Jayne understood that she was able to gain some respect and tolerable position in the society through hard-work, education and further teaching job (Weele 19). One might argue that Jayne had no other choice but to study and become a governess just as any young woman in her situation under conditions of the Victorian age (Scrivener 135). In fact, her situation was indeed complicated and, if she did not study well and get a decent education according to Victorian norms, she would have been totally lost in that society. Her modern female strength is in ability to accept the complexity of education and gain as many benefits as it was possible (Ticknel 38). After all, her education gave her an opportunity to become independent and earn money for her living on her own. Although earning money by herself was not seen as a good fortune for a woman, it was her victory in a sense of independence and development of personal career (Scrivener 136). Just as modern women are forced or conditioned by the social or family requirements to work and give up some personal benefits, they obtain one substantial benefit from these sacrifices – an opportunity for independent development and self-improvement (Godfrey 858). In this context, Jane Eyre is entirely modern protagonist of female emancipation.
One of the common arguments against Jane’s modernity is that, during her studies, she was not the leader in her female company, and that, without leadership skills and inclinations, she cannot be considered a modern protagonist (Weele 17). This statement has both its pros and cons. Yes, indeed, during her studies, Jane was not the one to lead in her relationship with other students. The main examples of Jane’s lack of leadership inclinations are her friendship with Helen and further relationship with Diana and Mary. Jane was rather observing them and learning from them, than trying to lead them her way (Scrivener 137). In fact, it was Diana who led Jane and Mary in their quest for adventures and comprehension of the Victorian society. In this context, Jane commented: “If in our trio there was a superior and a leader, it was Diana” (Bronte 459). In this truthful statement, there is no inclination of jealousy or desire to be like Diana. Particular feature of Jane’s character is that she is not struggling for leadership or dominance in any kind of relationship, but for equality and decent treatment of herself and people around. In fact, she is not an Amazon type of female protagonist, which embodies the integrity of ferocious warrior, carrying mother, irresistible lover and successful leader in the working environment (Godfrey 862). Although this image is very common for the literature of the modern epoch and might be seen the main modern character, it is not the only modern female character representing female emancipation. It is rather a combination of three different interpretations of female character and fulfillment of inner self (Ticknel 40).
The main reason why Jane Eyre remains a modern protagonist, irrespective of her lack of leadership inclinations, is that she simply does not need them because of the inborn nature of her character. Jane understood the difference between her and Diana’s characters, saying that “the part of instructress pleased and suited her and that of scholar pleased and suited me no less” (Bronte 459). Jane’s nature is not the one of the leader or the master to rule someone. This is conditioned by her initial free will and respect to the free will of other people. On the other hand, leadership is not an essential feature of a modern woman or an emancipated one. It is a personal choice and nature of every person (Weele 17). Jane’s characteristic feature is that her submissive behavior and desire to learn from her female friends does not spread to her relationship with men (Godfrey 864). She is modern in her reluctance to submit to man’s will and all-knowing behavior. In this context, the third aspects of her modernity should be emphasized.
Relationship with men.
As it was mentioned above, Jane’s attitude to the male all-knowing behavior is entirely opposite to her previous mode of female friends’ treatment. Just as a modern woman, Jane is reluctant to accept inviolable rightfulness of man, conditioned by his age, social rank and gender (Godfrey 861). Just as a modern, educated woman would doubt and probe intelligence of her male opponent; with all due respect, Jane was doing the same in her conversations and relationship with Mr. Rochester (Ticknel 39). The fact that she was reluctant to see a master in him because of his gender and social supremacy prove that her inner self-esteem was beyond all those ethical norms she was taught by Victorian education (Weele 20). Jane acknowledges “master” in Mr. Rochester only as her employer, and in no other way. The opponents of the idea that Jane is a protagonist of a modern woman might argue that the main reason of Jane’s actions was her childhood trauma at school when an old man humiliated her femininity by cutting her hair in front of other girls. So, her attitude to men was rather a sign of psychological protective mechanism than a sign of the real female emancipation and free will (Scrivener 131).
In the mentioned above argument the cause and action are mixed. Indeed, Jane was traumatized by the denial of her femininity and actual sexuality, and that trauma had influenced her perception of men, developing hostility and suspicion to their intentions (Weele 10). On the other hand, it was not her childhood’s trauma that made her rebellious and self-minded, it was her inner core that gave her strength to withstand everything and overcome her trauma in further relationship with men (Scrivener 134). If she did not have a strong self-perception of a modern woman, she would not fight for her-self and personal femininity but would give up to the pressure of society and male dominance (Weele 15). Jane Eyre is a modern protagonist already because she fought back irrespective of keeping her child’s trauma in mind or not. Particular feature of the modern image of an emancipated woman is that she has to fight her way to the personal integrity just as Jane Eyre. May be under different circumstances, but they carry their own traumas within their will to survive and succeed (Ticknel 38).
Another aspect of Jane’s relationship with men which makes her a modern protagonist is that she reserves to herself the final choice of the right man by her side. Just as modern woman, Jane is the one to decide when to stay with the man, when to marry him and when to leave him (Weele 18). One might say that her refusal from love to Mr. Rochester, dictated by duty, is a sign of her weakness and submission Victorian moral and social norms (Ticknel 37). This is a just statement, but still a weak one. Jane left Mr. Rochester not only because it was immoral to marry already married man in Victorian sense of morality, but because Jane’s feelings and dignity were hurt. She was betrayed and dishonored by his insincerity. In this context, Jane’s behavior was more modern than anything else she could have done at that situation (Scrivener 1135). She had to leave in order to keep her self-respect and dignity. If she was acting in the framework of Victorian female code, she would have stayed and waited for his divorce. In that case, she would be lost as a modern protagonist (Godfrey 857).
Another essential argument against Jane’s modernity is her further submission to the influence of St. John and her attitude to him as her teacher. The most disturbing is the way Jane is addressing the situation:
“By degrees, he acquired a certain influence over me that took away my liberty of
mind: his praise and notice were more restraining than his indifference. I could no
longer talk or laugh freely, when he was by, because a tiresomely importunate instinct
reminded me that vivacity (at least in me) was distasteful to him” (Bronte 521).
This abstract might be seen as Jane’s surrender to the man and rejection of herself; thus, she might be seen as a failed protagonist of a modern, emancipated woman. On the other hand, the case might not be that simple. Jane’s inner struggle and critical analysis of the situation show that she did not like herself by St. John’s side; in fact, she was not herself with him, but rather a resemblance of herself (Scrivener 132). The reason was not in her desire to follow social order or to please others; the reasons were in her feelings and desire to understand what went wrong in the affair with Mr. Rochester (Ticknel 42). In other words, she was seeing some fault in herself and her mode of behavior; thus, she tried to change it and rushed to the relationship with another man in order not to feel hurt and alone (Godfrey 861). In this context, Jane is acting as any modern woman, who after misfortune is searching for the answer within herself and surrounding environment.
Unfortunate marriage made her reassess her femininity. Exactly this reassessment makes her modern. She was balancing between independence and femininity and was reassessing their balance just as any modern woman doubted her life choices in context of personal life, career and family. Sometimes we think it is better to give up our independence and dissolve in another person, being everything for him. This decision is justified and fruitful for a couple if both accept each other the way they are. Jane’s modernity is in her ability to understand that she wanted to be herself with the man she loved; this is her strength and female independence (Weele 21). Love for Mr. Rochester was not her weakness but strength; it fitted her rebellious character and desire to be herself. I think that the greatest evidence that Jane Eyre is a modern protagonist is her ability to be herself with her chosen man, irrespective of all odds and social misinterpretations of Victorian or modern epoch.
Works Cited
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