*submitted 1:15 a.m.
Rapid and radical economic changes ensure the departure of societies
from prior conventions, invariably always hailing the approach of alterations
in the framework of social actions, interactions and identity, be said
innovations minor or significant. Jane Eyre, born in a Britain which is at the
zenith of the Industrialization period, stands in opposition to the conception
of feminine virtues and attributes at the time. The character of Jane Eyre and
her antics serve as a critique of “Empire” that Bronte indulges in, contrary to
the apparent stance adopted by Jane Austen.
Bessie,
when she heard this narrative, sighed and said, "Poor Miss Jane is to be
pitied, too, Abbot."
"Yes,"
responded Abbot; "if she were a nice, pretty child, one might
compassionate her forlornness; but one really cannot care for such a little
toad as that.
Jane is not dainty or pretty which puts her at a serious
disadvantage in a society that lauds such qualities in women, especially if
they do not have much else to offer in terms of capital. But it doesn’t end
there (un)fortunately, for the orphan does something which offends her gracious
benefactress Mrs. Reed to no end: she strikes back. The grotesque and cruel
John Reed is left bawling as, after endless physical and psychological
suffering, Jane Eyre reacts in a manner that a dependent should never dream of
employing against the Master. Without asserting that she was rebellious (she
endured a good deal of the suffering in silence and reacted sporadically), her
reactions were not commonplace. But then again, the Reed family wasn’t really
the quintessential aristocratic family with the expected structural alignment
along the streams of entrenched patriarchy due to the lack of the
father/slave-owner figure. Sure, John keeps on reiterating that he would own
the house one day, but right now, actual power lies with Mama Reed, who
interestingly enough, caves when Jane threatens to expose her abusive actions
when she goes to school. The powerful Empire staggered and modified its course
of action when the subject looked it straight in the eye and defied it
outright. Submission, after all, is key to slavery!
In a world that is in flux, Jane Eyre doesn’t symbolize
stagnation or extreme progression. She represents a class of characters who are
experimenting with their identity, playing with the prescribed parameters of
propriety and trying to survive in a context that, even in the first few
chapters, is a capricious whirlpool.
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