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Gender Inequality In Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre

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Inequality has always been present, even today, in the 21st century; gender inequality is a major issue worldwide. People- mostly men- tend to look down on the female gender just because they are women and even though it has gotten better over the years it is very well still alive. When looking at Charlotte Bronte’s novel Jane Eyre the reader is able to get an idea of how gender inequality used to be in the 19th century as it is there and is a major theme of the book. One of the very first examples in the book of gender inequality is shown when Mr. Brocklehurst, the man who owns Lowood, is introduced, and after a few pages the reader is clearly able to tell he is dishonest, hypocritical and misogynistic man. He belittles all the girls at Lowood just because of their gender and he feels superior to them. Even the first description of him by Jane makes him seem more like a statue then an actual person because to her that’s what he is, he is a superior, he is …show more content…

They are several examples of inequality between them with Jane describing how she felt belittled by him and was constantly being put down. When speaking to Rochester he also says that girls must worship the men- showing gender inequality. Also when Rochester tells Jane that he was going to ask Blanche to marry him, he did it only to get her jealous. He wanted to infuriate her so it could build up his self-esteem and do something for him and not for her, As you read Jane Eyre has a ton of gender inequality in it, it is a main theme in the novel and shouldn’t be over looked. It is shown when she is a young girl, when she is naïve and doesn’t understand that she is able to not follow the norm and do what she believes in. She and all the other girls were treated badly at Lowood and this pattern continues into Thornfield with men abusing their power and belittling the females to benefit and feel supreme for

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