Jany Eyre

Eyre

Jane Eyre as a Study of Victorian England

19th century England was a time informed by traditional religious values. Such values were directly contrasted by the influence of key progressive individuals. Author Charlotte Bronte was such an individual, provoking a discourse on the topics of gender, religion and equality during an era where her subversive meditations were conspicuous.

Indeed, such is evident in her classic literary exploration of these subjects, Jane Eyre, where Bronte endeavors to convey the practicality of her sociological perspective as well as the inherent cruelty of any manner of social exclusion.

By creating a character that is always the 'other,' whether it be amid the rich, the poor or even with the man she loves, Bronte renders Jane Eyre as a sort of counterpoint to those more rigidly categorized individuals around her, whether they be such through religion, economy or both. For Eyre, her constant state of contradiction and exclusion makes her an ideal character through which to channel a critique of the hypocrisy in all who mistreat here. We find that it is not her specific social status so much as her separation from their's which makes her the object of scorn. Where ever Eyre finds herself, she struggles to identify either with those whom she despises and those whom she admires. In all contexts, "not only do the inhabitants treat her as an outsider because she is one but also because she does not fit into any recognizable category. She begs food but is not a beggar. She looks like a lady but has no money. When she offers to trade belongings for food, they rebuff her. When she seeks employment, they answer her evasively" (Peters, 58) But she is a useful point of distinct in comparison to the relative ludicrousness of the world around her. The cruelty of the wealthy and the holy are equal in their severity and extremity, helping to highlight Eyre as a character who succeeds in perceiving an irrational existence with equanimity. Often, Jane is moved to aggressive defiance of what she sees as visible hypocrisy or wanton cruelty, and with some degree of justification in being moved thusly. But she is differentiated here from her dear friend Helen, whose graceful Christian sense of balance serves as a point of admiration, if not emulation to Jane.

In an early conversation between the two, Jane wonders how Helen can be so tolerant of the clear trespasses of others. To the constant pressure of indignity which is life at Lowood, for example, Helen observes that "we are, and must be, one and all, burdened with faults in this world: but the time will soon come when, I trust, we shall put them off in putting off our corruptible bodies; when debasement and sin will fall from us with this cumbrous from of flesh." (Bronte, 64) These words will prove eerily prophetic for Helen, who will sadly be claimed by the torrent of typhoid which rips through Lowood. The duration of her life is marked by an uncommon patience and an unchanging vantage, informed by her faith. In this way, even this admirable figure is typically drawn in contrast to Jane, whose discourses with the friend typically concern the marked ways in which they differently approach the insult and suffering subjected there upon them.

It is this different perspective though that allows her to easily note the injustice and hypocrisy that persist at Lowood. Though Jane encounters positive figures in her life such as Miss Temple and Helen Burns, these genuine Christians are given counterpoint by such dominant figures as the irascible Miss Scatcherd and the ruthlessly sanctimonious Brocklehurst. In the latter figures, and especially Brocklehurst, the relationship between religious hypocrisy and economic brutality becomes especially clear. The girls at Lowood are made to persist on a diet of precious little, sometimes spoiled food. The dormitories were too cold and the halls damp. Many essentials were denied the girls under the premise sited by Brocklehurst in an especially despicable scene where he lambastes Temple for apprising the girls with a lunch of bread and cheese after breakfast arrived spoiled and inedible. Brocklehurst informs her that in such a circumstance, the spoiled food should more appropriately have been seen as a lesson from God. He determines that a more suitable instructor would instead "take the opportunity of referring to the sufferings of the primitive Christians; to the torments of martyrs; to the exhortations of our blessed Lord himself, calling upon his disciples to take up their cross and follow him." (Bronte, 70) In one manner, we may take this sentiment as fundamentally similar to those expressed by Helen. The notion of endurance is emergent in her claims as well as those of Brocklehurst, with the fundamental difference being the subject of the sentiment. Where Helen speaks of her own endurance, Brocklehurst foists it upon the children. The girls at his school are equally the victims of his judgment and his withholding, both of which he contends to do in the name of God.

The nature of Eyre's unique perspective is underscored by certain tonal decisions which govern the mood and ambition of the novel. The text could best be described as somber, ironic and most importantly perhaps, as combative. In Eyre herself and in that which she represents as a point of contrast to the skewed values of her society, the text channels a resistant posture that is meaningful in the context of its time. Here, the progressive nature of the text is carried out in descriptive tone as well as in the characterization of its central protagonist.

This scenario provoked the following journal entry, inspired largely by Eyre's behavior:

Reading Diary, Entry #1:

Jane Eyre is a character that I find deeply inspiring. The oppressive nature of Victorian England carries many deeply sustained pressures for conformity which I know that I could not abide. However, I wonder if I would have had the boldness that Eyre did, to confront the injustices which must have seemed so obvious to many. Indeed, perhaps I do not have to wonder. Instead, I might consider the allegorical value of a character such as Eyre, whose inspirational resistance might be channeled to moments in my own life where standing up for what's right might compromise my own comfort or force me to face up to great fears.