Brontës Depiction of Women in Jane Eyre :: essays research papers

In Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontà « uses the female characters to convey her views on Victorian conventions of womanhood. She does this initially by using first-person narrative to help us see the characters in their true form. In this essay I'm going to explain how Brontà « uses the character Jane as porthole for her own views and beliefs. During the period Jane Eyre was set, the 1840's, it was conventional that women were inferior to men and were not entitled to their own opinions or freedom of mind. Brontà « uses Blanche Ingram as an example of a typical woman of the time and the consequences of being so are shown throughout. Brontà « argues this view in her preface that ?conventionality is not morality,? this means that what society may think is widely accepted and respectable, is not necessarily what is right, and she creates Jane Eyre as an example of a woman who believes just this but who has, in the end, become more successful than Blanche. Women in the 19th Century were expected to be beautiful and accomplished or they were nothing. Their decisions were made for them and their work was in the home. Charlotte Brontà « thought this immoral and believed that women should be admired for who they are, not what they look like. To highlight this point she uses the character Blanche Ingram, a young lady ?moulded like a Dian?. When reading of Blanche, we are not presented with a complimentary description, for although many other people may describe her as a beautiful, young and accomplished woman, we hear her description from the voice of Jane, who evidently tends to analyse people with a much deeper meaning than just their appearance, and although Jane does admit that Blanche is young and beautiful, she also describes her to be self-centred and inconsiderate towards others - including Mr. Rochester - to who she appears to show no emotion. This is noticeably illustrated when Jane has been observing Blanche and notes that ?her laugh was satirical and so was the habitual expression of her arched and haughty lip?. The choice of the word ?habitual? shows us that this sort of action is typical of her and that she often acts haughty and satirical. The reader immediately feels contempt for Blanche after this observation, as it portrays her to be arrogant and pretentious, especially as it was an action made towards Adele, who is a described to be a sweet young girl who Jane is fond of. Brontà «'s Depiction of Women in Jane Eyre :: essays research papers In Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontà « uses the female characters to convey her views on Victorian conventions of womanhood. She does this initially by using first-person narrative to help us see the characters in their true form. In this essay I'm going to explain how Brontà « uses the character Jane as porthole for her own views and beliefs. During the period Jane Eyre was set, the 1840's, it was conventional that women were inferior to men and were not entitled to their own opinions or freedom of mind. Brontà « uses Blanche Ingram as an example of a typical woman of the time and the consequences of being so are shown throughout. Brontà « argues this view in her preface that ?conventionality is not morality,? this means that what society may think is widely accepted and respectable, is not necessarily what is right, and she creates Jane Eyre as an example of a woman who believes just this but who has, in the end, become more successful than Blanche. Women in the 19th Century were expected to be beautiful and accomplished or they were nothing. Their decisions were made for them and their work was in the home. Charlotte Brontà « thought this immoral and believed that women should be admired for who they are, not what they look like. To highlight this point she uses the character Blanche Ingram, a young lady ?moulded like a Dian?. When reading of Blanche, we are not presented with a complimentary description, for although many other people may describe her as a beautiful, young and accomplished woman, we hear her description from the voice of Jane, who evidently tends to analyse people with a much deeper meaning than just their appearance, and although Jane does admit that Blanche is young and beautiful, she also describes her to be self-centred and inconsiderate towards others - including Mr. Rochester - to who she appears to show no emotion. This is noticeably illustrated when Jane has been observing Blanche and notes that ?her laugh was satirical and so was the habitual expression of her arched and haughty lip?. The choice of the word ?habitual? shows us that this sort of action is typical of her and that she often acts haughty and satirical. The reader immediately feels contempt for Blanche after this observation, as it portrays her to be arrogant and pretentious, especially as it was an action made towards Adele, who is a described to be a sweet young girl who Jane is fond of.