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Women Issues In Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre

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VICTORIAN LITERATURE ESSAY TWO Victorian writers’ treatment of “woman issues” Under the patriarchal social structure, woman had been seen as inferior to men for a long period of time. The awareness of women independence and gender inequality were finally arisen in the Victorian era. Industrialization has bought significant changes to the traditional women’s role. Lower-class women were no longer only bound to domestic sphere but stepped in the public become wage laborers. At the same time, women education became more and more important within the society. Women from upper- and middle-class were exposed to education and so began to extend their activities in terms of social, economic and political fields. Being inspired by these changes, …show more content…

Educated women could work as governesses to earn her money as Jane does. Being financial independence is an important key for achieving gender equality. This could be closely associated with women education, since it was considered as an important step to fight for extra rights, like the protagonist in Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. Besides, education is a way for women to explore their possibility and open their imagination. The eight years in Lowood bring Jane the basics of Latin, French, piano, reading, grammar and drawing etc. Actually, it is a preparation for her employment as a governess. At this stage, Jane can earn her own money and control her own life. She makes her decisions for going to Thorndale and working on her own. Later, she falls in love with Mr. Rochester and she is about to marry him. Unfortunately, she finds out her lover has already had a legal wife. She rejects Mr. Rochester’s plan of being his mistress. Jane is looking for an equal relationship instead of a relationship built with lust and sin. The inequality between Jane and Mr. Rochester is not only social but also financial. The story does not resolve only with Bertha’s death and but also with Jane’s heritage. It is because even if Bertha is dead, Jane still could not enjoy an equal relationship with Rochester since she would need to depend on his financial support. The amount of money that Jane inherits is as much as Rochester has. Charlotte Bronte stresses the importance of women financial independence in a relationship. It may also ask for equal right and opportunity for

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