Words: 3000
Although today a tutor may be considered a fairly high class and intellectual job, in the Victorian era a governess was little more than a servant who was paid to share her scarce amount of knowledge in limited fields to a child. With little respect, security, or class one may certainly feel that an intelligent, passionate and opinionated young woman such as Jane Rye should deserve and be capable of so much more. The insecurity of this position, being tossed around with complete disregard for her feelings or preferences, is only one of many grueling characteristics of this occupation.
However for Jane to even emerge onto society, becoming a governess seemed the only reasonable path for her. The women of the Victorian Era can be regarded as the first group to do battle for the equality of the sexes. They lead all women to follow after them, and though their progression may not have been as vivid as the women of the ass’s, they did have an effect. Feminism was not outright spoken of in this time, rather passed through literature, such as this very novel.
Stories and novels were the primary means in which to communicate information and ideas in that time. Without mass communication systems books were the few information carrying devices to cross borders, and encompass lands whenever people traveled. Though many agree that Jane Rye is a feminist novel, there are some who argue that Charlotte Bronze’s only intention was to argue the social structure of the time. They argue that the use of a women was simply so Bronze could relate to the main character, not to prove any point in regards to equality of men and of women.
However, those who do see the feminist tendency in this novel may back their point by citing Cane’s response to Rochester’s proposal in chapter 23 as one of the earlier breakthroughs towards feminism. Do you think I can stay to become nothing to you? Do you think am an automation? -a machine without feelings? And can you bear to have my morsel of bread snatched from my lips and my drop of living water dashed from my cup? Do you think because am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soul and heartless? You think wrong! I have as much soul as you, – and full as much heart sic: am not talking to you now through the medium of custom, conventionalist’s, nor even of mortal flesh; it is my spirit that addresses your spirit; just as if both had passed through the grave, and we stood at God’s feet, equal, as we are! This quotation explicitly portray Bronze’s attempt to raise the issue of sexual equality. Jane is fighting for her individuality in this quote, and refuses to be reduced to some mere “machine”. She will not act in the manner that “custom” or “conventionalist’s” would deem her to act, but through her own free will.
This is vividly a female’s attempt to break free of the mold that society has attempted to set her in. This is very comparable to William Shakespearean The Merchant of Venice in which a man of Jewish descent, Shylock, is tying to show to others how he is no different from them. He asks hem whether or not a Jew will bleed when pricked, or whether or not they experience emotion, or have dimensions. Just as his famous speech is one for the equality of the races, this quote is one for the equality of the sexes.
Jane proclaims to Rochester that she has “as much soul as [him]” and just “full as heart”. Showing that as a women she is no different from him, and thus should be treated no differently is evidently attempting the same effect as Shylock in The Merchant of Venice. The end of this quotation explicitly states that when they both die they will stand at God’s feet “equal – as we are”. Jane Rye lived a hard life, filled with hatred and anger. However, her ability to overcome all of this shows her strength, a power that women such as Balance Ingram or the other superficial women would not posses.
Her ability to comfort the aunt who had once treated her terribly is more power than some people could ever hope to obtain. Though the death of her good friend Helen did effect Jane deeply, her maturation throughout the novel gives her the ability to cope with disaster more readily. When she found out that the man she loved was already married, she was able to control herself better than many men would ever be able to. When leaving Rochester the feelings Of sadness, betrayal, and remorse were overwhelming and “the floods overflowed [her]”.
However, she was still able to break free. Though her leaving could be interpreted in many ways: as an attempt to follow the moral pathways for once; perhaps as a religious enlightenment; or as a display of the power she has accumulated as a women and her ability to resist to power of others (something another women may not have been able to do). Female power is still limited by emotion, as with all other aspects of human ability. Though it took strength to leave Rochester, it was not simply through his strength that she acted.
We are able to see that in fact she felt terribly. She was thinking that “[her] hopes were all dead – struck with a subtle doom, such as, in one night, fell on all the firstborn in the land of Egypt. [She] looked on [her] cherished wishes, yesterday so blooming and glowing; They lay stark, chill, livid, corpses, they could never revive. [She] looked at [her] love: that feeling which was my master’s – which he had created; it shivered in my heart, like a suffering child in a cold cradle. ” It is evident that Jane is left with a bitter feeling after this shocking incident.
This may have been used to express that though the two sexes should be treated equally, their differences do exist. The emotional side of females is thoroughly shown in this quotation. Jane appears to have been almost completely taken away by these feelings, whereas Rochester not so much. Though this is left up to the reader to decide, as with many other aspects of this novel, it appears to me that Bronze is attempting to express the feminine side of Jane. This is one of the few times in the novel when we get such a close look at the female side of Jane, and thus allows us to reevaluate our gender specific thinking.
The novel Jane Rye is one that can be interpreted in many different ways. No definite resolution is ever seen upon whether Bronze meant to judge to sexual placement of that time, however as in many other novels the analysis is left up to the reader and thus will vary from person to person. Though I may see this novel as one full of passages criticizing the gender specific fiber Of that time, Others may see it as simply an every day experiences Of a governess who falls in love with a man who is already married. Jane is faced with relationships which attempt to extinguish her sense of self-worth.
One of the first relationships we are introduced to is that of Jane with her Aunt Reed. Aunt Reed’s custom of excluding and confining Jane underscore the sense of inferiority that Jane must deal with from childhood throughout the majority of her life. This exclusion is seen on the opening page of the novel as her cousins, “the said Elise, John, and Georgian were now clustered round their mama in the drawing-room… Me she had dispensed from joining the group,” (Bronze 9). Not only did she face adversity in the relationship she had with her aunt, Jane also had to endure the unpunished cruelty of her cousin
John. Jane was “accustomed to John Reed’s abuse,” and punished for defending herself once when John flung a book at her, hitting her so hard she fell and cut her head. Jane pitifully comments, “The cut bled, the pain was sharp; my terror had passed its climax,” (Bronze 13). Jane had to endure this conflict for quite sometime, submitting for she rarely resisted, to the tyrannical relationship she had with both Mrs… Reed and her “young master,” John. (Bronze 14) Concerning her life with the Reeds, Jane says, “l was a discord in Gathered Hall; I was like nobody there; I had nothing in harmony with Mrs…
Reed or her children, or her chosen vassalage,” (Bronze 17). However, Jane did not remain defeated permanently. Her triumph over Aunt Reed comes after Mr… Brochures has visited Gathered Hall. Aunt Reed had trodden severely on Jane by telling the visitor of Cane’s “bad character. ” (Bronze 38) At this point Jane stands up for herself, asserting her self-worth, and threatens to tell everyone of her aunt’s treatment, declaring that she is “bad and “hard-hearted. ” (Bronze 39) The prospect of a ruined reputation frightens Aunt Reed and Jane is sent to school with “the first victory (she) had gained,” (Bronze 39).
Cane’s victory over John is not a deliberate vanquishing confrontation, but rather a situation in which both he and Jane get what they deserve. Throughout the novel imprisonment is equated with inferiority while freedom is synonymous with superiority. Although Jane suffered confinement as a child in the red room, and thus was viewed as inferior, she ultimately ends life happy and free. (Bronze 455) John, on the other hand, spends his adult life in debt and in jail. He dies by his own hand and leaves this world much the inferior of Jane.
Her monumental “gradations of glory” begin while Jane is at Elwood. At times is was an “irksome struggle” for Jane as she was forced to yield to the overbearing Mr… Brochures, whose philosophy was, “to render them… Self-denying,” (Bronze 62-65). Mr… Brochures singles Jane out from all the other students and declares her an agent Of the Evil One. He warns the other pupils by saying, “… This girl, who might be one of God’s own lambs, is a little castaway… You must shun her example: if necessary, avoid her company, exclude her from your sports and shut her out from your converse,” (Bronze 69).
Again we see Jane facing exclusion as she is declared a “castaway. In this same episode we see an example of the confinement that was so customary at Elwood, for Mr… Brochures orders that Jane must stay standing on a small stool for the remainder of the day. (Bronze 69) Again we see Cane’s unwillingness to deny herself, because she knows that she does have value. Jane is does not remain excluded, but finds genuine friendship in the respectable Miss Temple and Helen Burns. Also, Jane availed herself fully of the advantages offered to her and in time becomes the first girl of her class. Bronze 86). Her self-worth was affirmed when she was “invested with the office of teacher,” (Bronze 86). Jane was no longer excluded or confined, and thus no longer considered inferior. Mr… Brochures, on the other hand, is no longer the dictator of Elwood, but must abide by conditions set forth to him by committee members. Therefore, he has been demoted, while Jane has been elevated. Her second gradation begins with the introduction of Threefold Hall and Mr… Edward Rochester into her life. This gradation begins with Mr…
Rochester’s proposal which shows another recognition of her worth. Before Mr… Rochester directly proposes to Jane she delivers an impetuous speech which she has been driven to by the acute distress” caused by the prospect Of Mr… Rochester’s marriage to Balance Ingram. (Bronze 254) Jane cries out with passion: “Do you think I can stay to become nothing to you? Do you think I am an automaton? -a machine without feelings? And can bear to have my morsel of bread snatched from my lips, and my drop of living water dashed from my cup?
Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong! -I have as much soul as you, -and full as much heart! And if God had gifted me with some beauty and much wealth, I should have made it s hard for you to leave me, as it is now for me to leave you. I am not talking to you now through the medium of custom, conventionalist’s, or even of mortal flesh: -it is my spirit that addresses your spirit; just as if both had passed through the grave, and we stood at God’s feet, equal, -as we are! ” (Bronze 255).
This is a crucial passage to the text, because it is here that Jane asserts to her “only friend” and her only love that she does have self worth. Even though she is not beautiful or wealthy, this does not cancel the fact that she and Mr… Rochester Were created equally in the sight of God. She acknowledges that this is not the tradition of the time and it is not conventionally the place of a lady of this day to speak in this way, yet she must say it, because she feels it with every part of her. Jane goes further to imply that one’s character, their inner beauty, is what determines equality.
She does this by pointing out that the superficial marriage supposed to take place between Miss Ingram and Mr… Rochester is a thing to be scorned. Because a loveless marriage is the sign of a serious character flaw, Jane feels that if Mr… Rochester does marry Miss Ingram, she will be better than him. Bronze 255) When Rochester proposes, he declares, “l offer you my hand, my heart, and a share of all my possessions,” (Bronze 256). He also asks her “to pass through life at (his) side- to be (his) second self and best earthly companion,” (Bronze 256). This offer to be a joint heir with Mr…
Rochester and to be his companion is his obvious admission of equality to Jane. This proposal is Cane’s first “gradation of glory. ” Soon after Jane ascends another gradation. On the day of her wedding it is revealed that there is an “insuperable impediment” to the wedding (Bronze 292). Jane learns that Mr… Rochester has en deceiving her for the duration of their relationship- he already has a wife. This is a moral ascension which she rises to in two ways. First, she has risen morally over her master in that “she has plotted no bigamy, she is no deceiver,” (Craig 61).
Also Mr… Rochester entreats her to be his mistress saying, “l shall keep to you as long as you and live. You shall go to a place I have in the south of France… Never fear that I wish to lure you into error… Why do you shake your head? Jane you must be reasonable. ” (Bronze 306) Yet though Jane loves him now more than ever, she must waken “out of most Loris dreams and (find) them all void and vain,” (Bronze 299) Jane sacrifices her love for Rochester reasoning, ” The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unstained I am, the more I will respect myself.
I will keep the law given by God. ” ( Bronze 31 9) Her respect for herself, again an assertion of her self-worth, and for God prevents her from being with Rochester, thus completing the second gradation. The next gradation we see is the evasion of SST. John Rivers’ proposal. SST. John tells Jane, “God and nature intended you for a missionary’s wife. ” (Bronze 405). By saying this SST. John has defined Cane’s role by declaring God’s purpose for her life. Yet Jane refuses him. “It is hardly conceivable that our heroine should rise above his claim,” (Craig 61).
But she does, and in so doing recognizes her self-worth and refuses to allow anyone, whether it be man or woman, to delineate her position or function in life. Cane’s decision is affirmed when she hears and responds to the supernatural voice calling her name. Her final gradation is at hand as she returns to Rochester and finds him a changed man, physically and spiritually. Jane has returned as an heiress and Mr… Rochester has lost much of the lath he once had. At last they seem equal because of this reversal of fortunes.
However, Jane still emerges as the superior figure because of Mr… Rochester’s physical handicaps which cause him to be led by Jane, his “prop and guide,” (Craig 62). In Jane we have seen the model of a woman successful in asserting her self-worth and emerging victoriously. Yet Bronze gives us another model with Bertha Rochester, one which serves as a warning. Bertha is the example of the utmost depreciation and debasement of women. Again we see the idea of confinement as synonymous with inferiority as Bertha is unified to a lifetime in an attic, finding her only freedom in death.
Therefore, Bronze acknowledges that while some, like Jane, are successful, others, like Bertha are condemned to a life of inferiority. She has written this novel to challenge women not to allow society to demean any more women as Bertha was demeaned. Jane Rye is an obvious feminine tract, an argument for the social betterment of women. This argument is supported by the fact that Jane is much like the author. Bronze, by writing and publishing the novel Jane Rye, asserts her own self-worth by making literature a part of her life, even when courageous such as Soothes advised against it.