Female outsider characters in Victorian and modernist literature

Vic Women

Women as Outsiders: A Comparison of Jane Eyre and "The Horse Dealer's Daughter"

Women are often portrayed as a marginalized "other" or outsider in literature, reflecting the degree to which they are outside the traditional patriarchal concepts of authority and power as well as (for much of Western history) outside the practical and legal means of self-sufficiency and self-direction. As the times have shifted, the particular perspective and definition of women as outsiders has also changed, as can be seen in a comparison of the central figures in Charlotte Bronte's Victorian-era novel Jane Eyre and DH Lawrence's more modern short story "The Horse Dealer's Daughter." Interestingly, both heroines are seen as similarly detached from traditional power structures, yet the degree to which Jane distances herself through her morality actually gives her power, while the increasing amorality of the times leads Mabel (Lawrence's protagonist) down a path of deeper despair, self-directed though it may be.

In Jane Eyre, the title female is an outcast almost everywhere she goes, from an orphan in the home of her uncle's family to the school at Lowood where she eventually finds a niche but where she does not truly belong and finally to Thornfield Hall, where she fits in all too well but finds that her familiarity is ultimately inappropriate. In all of her moves, Jane is driven largely by necessity -- the need for shelter, and then the need for work. She is also driven by her own moral fortitude, however; there are other options opened to her -- some of them quite desirable -- that she could choose to pursue if she were willing to sacrifice her principles. It is her femininity that leaves her at the mercy of others, but it is her morality that casts her as a true outsider, and she must remain "outside," "other than," and independent from the majority of the people she encounters and the system that they live by if she is to remain uncorrupted and in control. In Bronte's version of the Victorian world, such outsider status is the only way for a woman to achieve self-direction.

Mabel, the titular protagonist of Lawrence's "The Horse Dealer's Daughter," has led a very different life than Jane's, though it has been no less limited by her femininity. Finding herself at a point where she must leave the only home she has ever known, with no skills other than the ones she acquired keeping the house running for her father and brothers when the money for servants was gone, she is without any real prospects except for staying with her sister. This is something she refuses to do, and it is her pride that leads to this refusal and indeed that leads to her own true outsider status, just as Jane's morality led to hers. The idea of Mabel finding employment isn't even raised, and her strong pride is mentioned several times in the story. She chooses to drown herself rather than facing the consequences of a life that she does not feel in control of, though in truth she has never controlled much of anything at all. When she is rescued, she both recognizes that the doctor who rescues her loves her and desperately need him to love her, perhaps as a way of lessening the injury to her pride that she truly needs someone for the first time in her life. Her pride has kept her outside, and it must crumble at least a touch in order for her to form a connection.