Jane Eyre - Feminist Criticism

I decided to go with the Feminist Criticism for Jane Eyre, because a lot of the book focused on the hardships Jane had to go through in being a female.

 

How are the woman’s lives portrayed in the work?

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 In the middle of the 1800’s, being a women meant that you were the housekeeper, unless you had a maid, and you would take care of the children as the male worked. Women were not looked highly upon back then, they weren’t hated, but they definitely were not anything special in society’s eyes.

Is the form and content of the work influenced by the writer’s gender?

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I do not believe that the content of the work was influenced by the writer’s gender, because when she wrote the book I don’t think her main focus was teaching about the struggles of women. She focused on the struggles of Jane herself, though she does have to struggle a lot because she is a woman.

How do male and female characters relate to one another? Are these relationships sources of conflict? Are these conflicts resolved?

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The male and female characters of the book were definitely treated differently, especially because of the time zone they were in, the 1800’s. Men were in charge of the house and anything to do with practically anything in the household. The wife had the children and possibly household chores unless she had a maid. The women did not really have jobs, or at least good paying ones, because they were considered weak and were not great in the eyes of the men. Women had to obey their husbands at all times, because of the dominant role the men played in the 1800’s. This is definitely a source of conflict, because everyone should be treated equally, not differently because of their “weaknesses” in the eyes of others. These conflicts are for the most part resolved today because in most places, men and women are treated equally.

Does the work challenge or affirm traditional views of women?

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Yes, I believe it does. Women were always expected to get married so they could start a family and continue the population and whatnot. That is mostly what women were for back then, bearing and raising the kids. If you were in more of a rich family to start off, then you probably would not have to get a job as well, but you were always expected to marry. This was very true in the book, because Jane was constantly attempting to get married, even though she couldn’t find that special someone for a while.
Thankfully, Mr. Rochester became a good husband after some ups and downs in their relationship, and they lived happily ever after.

What marital expectations are imposed on the characters? What effect do these expectations have?

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Women were expected to marry, plain and simple. Jane Eyre, being a woman, was included in that. In the book, many people tried to get her to settle down, but she was looking for the right person who she really truly loved and felt loved around. The effect that these expectations have is that Jane Eyre finally did get married, and she lived happily ever after.

What behavioral expectations are imposed on the characters? What effect do these expectations have?

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Women were expected to obey their husbands, respect others, especially men, and stay  quiet. Unfortunately, this isn’t really who Jane is. She is more of a strong-willed “I can get by by myself” kind of girl. The effect that this has is it makes Jane irritated with how life is and her rebellion against that causes many of the events of the book.

If a female character were male, how would the story be different?

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Well, for one the title would change…because I have never met a boy named Jane. Anyways, the story would lose most of it’s plot because Jane had to struggle a lot because she was a girl, and if she was a boy, then she wouldn’t have had nearly as much stress in her life. It would be an extremely short book and it wouldn’t have anything unique about it because most stories had main character boys, and that is just so unoriginal.

How does the marital status of a character affect her decisions or happiness?

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Well, I am going to guess that she was happy when she was finally married to Mr. Rochester. She seemed happy at least. I think that they were a good match for each other. Jane Eyre was pretty much a loner until she met him, and she seemed almost depressed then too, with good reason. Love can make you do crazy things. Jane Eyre had fallen in love with Mr. Rochester, and when she found out he was already married and kept his “wife” in the attic, her heart was broken, and she left. If she hadn’t loved him, then she wouldn’t have left when she found out. It was too much for her though. Then, she almost got married to St. John Rivers, but she realized that there would never be any love in that relationship, so she returned to Mr. Rochester. The marital status of Jane Eyre definitely was in control of how she reacted to things.