Female Oppression In Jane Eyre

Throughout Jane Eyre Charlotte BrontÐ"« uses the character Jane as a tool to comment on the oppression that women were forced to endure at the time. Jane can be seen as representative of the women who suffered from repression during the Victorian period, a time when patriarchy was commonplace. BrontÐ"« herself was affected by the time period, because according to Wolfe, she was deprived “experience and intercourse and travel.” (70) Thus Jane offers a unique perspective as a woman who is both keenly aware of her position and yet trapped by it despite repeated attempts to elevate herself and escape the burden placed on by her different suitors. Although superficially it seems that Jane wants to break away from the relationships that further suppress her, in actuality she is content to remain subservient. Rather the main conflict of the novel is Jane’s repeated attempts to reconcile her moral code with her societal obligations.

Surprisingly, Jane doesn’t leave Rochester because of his continued dominating behavior, something it seems she curiously enjoys; rather she chooses to leave Rochester because her relationship with him would fail to fulfill her desire for a moral and righteous life. Despite being aware of Rochester’s lack of morality Jane cannot risk losing her own integrity, and in this way we see that Jane is a slave to her own value system. Jane’s principals are defined by sacrifice, strength, and determination to lead a moral life as defined by society. When struggling to force herself to leave Thornfield Jane refers to her heart as a “victim” and her moral side as a “priest” ready “to transfix it.” (335) One can interpret that Jane views the side of her dedicated to Rochester as weak and feeble, while her moral side is strong. The fact that she refers to her religious side as a priest is also important, because that job not only calls to mind religion, but also sacrifice and inner strength. Even as she is starting to stand up for herself and take a stand against Rochester, Jane continues to embody the role of the passive lamb. When she leaves the room Rochester comments that “You sit quietly where I have placed you” and notes her “passive look.” (336) The use of the adjectives quietly and passive further help show Jane embodying the submissive role that Rochester has come to expect. Even in her state of anger she cannot help but once again be the restrained and subdued one in their relationship. Despite all of the happiness she has found with Rochester she still cannot bring herself to stay in a relationship in which she sacrifices part of herself, because she doesn’t know how to reconcile her need feel like she belongs and is taken care of while at the same time remaining uncorrupted.

Over the course of the novel it becomes clear that Jane is two separate people one practical and honest, the other simply a lonely girl looking for a place to belong. The question becomes how she will resolve the tension between each of these Jane’s who seem to be at odds with one another. This divergence is represented by her struggle to leave Thornfield, and when making that choice we see a distinct conflict between her conscious and passion. She refers to her conscience as a “tyrant” taunting passion and threatening it with agony. (335) Moreover, Jane also says that it has an “arm of iron” which alludes to its strength and foreshadows which of the two will eventually win. (335) Once she realizes what she needs to do she explains the reasoning mechanically using words that are plain and free from emotion such as, “law,” and “principles” as though the religious side of her is free from the enthusiasm that consumes her affair with Rochester. (356) Because Jane refers to her religious opinions as “preconceived” and “foregone” it is as though she has outgrown these ideals, but refuses to admit it. (356) The lack of passion made even more apparent just one sentence later when Jane says, “[I am] insane with my veins running fire and my heart beating faster then I can count its throbs” (356) Just the thought of Rochester causes her body to have a visceral reaction, while she has no reaction to her religious principles. The fact that she uses the word insane, which she repeats twice, is important because it is as though when it comes to Rochester she loses all control, and she becomes frenzied. She continues to say that her soul is engaging in a mutiny which shows that her soul clearly does not agree with her heart and is trying to resist. Although Jane has found love it is clear that it isn’t enough, and that she needs to find a relationship that offers acceptance and infatuation as well as virtue.

Once she leaves Rochester Jane finds a way to satisfy her religious beliefs but continues to struggle to fulfill her desire to do that while being in an affectionate relationship. When describing the prospect of marrying St. John she uses happy words such as “glorious,” “noble,” and “sublime” while she employs more depressing words like “absurd,” “weak,” “uptorn,” and “demolished hopes” when recalling her feelings for Rochester. (450) Jane sees a chance to be happy and fulfill a higher purpose through marrying St. John because all of the words used to describe the inspirational work are ones that relate a feeling of spiritual, moral and intellectual work. However, Jane is still conflicted because by using the work weak and absurd we can see that she may not be strong enough to follow the spiritual path and move beyond Rochester.