The new female of the Victorian Age - Jane Eyre

“She regretted to be under the necessity of keeping me at a distance; but that until she heard from Bessie, and could discover by her own observation that I was endeavoring in good earnest to acquire a more sociable and childlike disposition, a more attractive and sprightly manner – something lighter, franker, more natural, as it were – she really must exclude me from privileges intended only for contended, happy little children.”

The opening paragraphs of the novel depicts a very different scene from what we saw in Humsafar, where Khirad is playing the role of the dutiful daughter and hanging the clothes on the line and completing all the kitchen chores. The reader’s first impression of Jane Eyre is one of a rebellious girl who is acting appropriately and according to what is required of her. It is a sharp contrast from the two female protagonists we have studied so far in class (Fanny Price and Khirad).

Jane seems to have a strong voice of her own, she is not ignorant, timid, or shy like the two females previously mentioned, even though she holds the same powerless status as they do (perhaps a worse status). Not only is she an orphan but is also one without a proper guardian who is concerned for her well being. However, unlike Khirad and Fanny, she acknowledges the unfair treatment being given to her; she calls John a ‘slave-driver’ and understands that her powerless position does not give anyone rights to behave the way he does.

Yet, despite her bold character, there is a contradiction in Jane’s rebellion. She is “habitually obedient to John” and this shows her limitations, for she can only be rebellious to a certain limit. She is tied down to the house as it is the only space she has. While she does not act like the grateful Negro as Fanny Price does, she still has to behave in a certain manner in order to live the house.

“I resisted all the way, a new thing for me... I was a trifle beside myself; or rather out of myself, as the French would say. I was conscious that a moment’s mutiny had already rendered me liable to strange penalties, and like any other rebel slave, I felt resolved, in my desperation, to go all lengths.”

The above paragraph is another instance which highlights the contradiction in Jane’s rebellious behavior. I feel that the contradictions help Bronte to bring out the new female character of the Victorian age, one who is not dependant on males and on marrying into the higher class. Te early contradictions will help Jane Eyre to take up the role of the domestic woman, which Nancy Armstrong explains in her article. These contradictions help explain the modern culture which changed men’s reasons for desiring certain women.

“In place of the intricate status system that had long dominated British thinking, these authors began to represent an individual’s value in terms of his, but more often in terms of her, essential qualities of mind. Literature devoted to producing the domestic woman thus appeared to ignore the political world run by men… In this way, writing for and about the female introduced a whole new vocabulary for social relations, terms that attached precise moral value to certain qualities of mind” (Nancy Armstrong).