Gender Relations within Jane Eyre

Gender Relations within Jane Eyre

Our theme is Gender Relations; the relationship, equality, and differing aspects between the genders. The relationships that Jane is a part of during the novel all have one primary similarity; Jane, the female, is the submissive, and the male takes on the dominant role. Status, money, power, and intelligence are completely irrelevant, the men become dominant simply because they are male and it is their belief that their gender grants them superiority.

The characters that display our theme of gender relations are Jane Eyre, and her relationships with:

Mr. Rochester St. John Rivers Mr. Brocklehurst

Conflicts in the novel that are connected to our theme would be that Jane feels subordinate to the male figures in the novel especially Mr. Rochester. Mr. Rochester does not feel the need to tell Jane information she should know because she is a women.

Lessons that can be learned and valued from this theme is that your gender should not represent your place in society, and how you are treated by the opposite sex.

An action would be Jane’s struggle to achieve equality when Mr. Rochester reveals his deep secrete about his previous marriage with Bertha, Jane feels betrayed and less valued by Rochester due to lack of respect Rochester has treated her with.

An action that works against this is when Jane makes the decision to go back to Mr. Rochester, even though they are now considered equals, it makes the reader feel like Jane ended up giving in to the ideals of a Victorian Society.

Quotes from Jane Eyre that clearly portray our theme include;

“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 as 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, conventionalities, 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!”-Jane Eyre

“Women are supposed to be very calm generally: but women feel just as men feel; they need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts, as much as their brothers do; they suffer from too rigid a restraint, to absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffer; and it is narrow-minded in their more privileged fellow-creatures to say that they ought to confine themselves to making puddings and knitting stockings, to playing on the piano and embroidering bags. It is thoughtless to condemn them, or laugh at them, if they seek to do more or learn more than custom has pronounced necessary for their sex.”-Jane Eyre

“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 as hard for you to leave me, as it is now for me to leave you!”-Jane Eyre

I do not think, sir, you have any right to command me, merely because you are older than I, or because you have seen more of the world than I have; your claim to superiority depends on the use you have made of your time and experience.”- Jane Eyre

We chose these quotes because we feel they best represent how the female protagonist in the novel was reacting to the degradation, separation, and involuntary submission of females during this time period. Feminist ideals were very uncommon during this time, especially between people in Jane and Rochester’s position.

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In closing