Female Agency and motherood in Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre (originally published as Jane Eyre: An Autobiography) is a coming-of-

age novel written by English author Charlotte Bronte and published under the
pseudonym Currer Bell.
The novel has the ability to immediately engage the reader not only because it
addresses him or her directly, but also because of the style it presents and the
descriptions of settings and characters, previously exclusive to poetry, to the
extent that it revolutionised the writing style. The protagonist is by no means a
static character and, in the narrative, one can see her evolution from an
emotional, sentimental and moral point of view.
It is considered to be Charlotte's masterpiece (her first novel, The Professor, had
been discarded) and was also received with great acclaim in its time, even though
it was very much at odds with the values and models of the time.
The book deals with 'taboo' topics, or topics that were considered as such,
including classism, the relationship between the sexes, religion and proto-
feminism.
It was a book capable of astonishing, of capturing the attention of any kind of
reader. George Smith, the youngest partner of the small publishing house Smith,
Elder and Co., could not even sit down at the table to eat his dinner properly:
I asked him to bring me a sandwich and a glass of wine, and still went on with Jane Eyre (Giles,
2001).

The progression of events in Jane Eyre is characterised not only by the strict
atmosphere and conformity of the society of the time, but also by the numerous
dark moments that punctuate the protagonist's life. However, all the difficulties
Jane faces, page after page, forge her character and morality to the point of
making her character one of the most shining examples of female emancipation
and self-determination of all.
To fully understand the meaning of this statement and especially the character of
the protagonist, it is necessary to emphasise the period in which the novel was
published: specifically, the work was published in October 1847, at the height of
the Victorian era.
Women, within that type of society, had the sole role of marrying and taking care
of the house, children and husband. They learned all the typical household skills
before marriage: cooking, ironing, washing, cleaning. This might not have been
the case if the women belonged to a wealthy family: in this case, they first tried
their hand at household chores. Moreover, women “[…] were also not allowed to
be educated or gain knowledge outside of the home because it was a man’s
world.”1
The typical female figure of the time was therefore identified with the image of
the Angel of the Hearth, but with the character of Jane Eyre, we are faced with a
new type of representation of woman, the New Woman who “[…] as defined by
the mainstream media, was a revolutionary social ideal at the turn of the century
that defined women as independent, physically adept, and mentally acute, and
able to work, study, and socialize on a par with men.”2
Within the twelfth chapter of the novel, in which Jane has recently arrived at
Thornfield Hall, there is an emotionally charged moment in which she is
distressed by the fact that for her, as a woman, there is little chance to evolve and
she makes a strong declaration of independence and autonomy:
It is in vain to say human beings ought to be satisfied with tranquillity: they must have action;
and they will make it if they cannot find it. Millions are condemned to a stiller doom than mine,
and millions are in silent revolt against their lot. Nobody knows how many rebellions besides
political rebellions ferment in the masses of life which people earth. 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, too
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. (Bronte, 1847: 95)

It is therefore possible to say that in this novel the figure of the hero is embodied
by the female character of Jane and not by the male character of Rochester: the
moment in the novel that is emblematic of this new relationship is the first
meeting between the two, during which the girl finds herself rescuing the man
who has fallen from his horse:
[…]He passed, and I went on; a few steps, and I turned: a sliding sound and an exclamation of
“What the deuce is to do now?” and a clattering tumble, arrested my attention. Man and horse
were down; they had slipped on the sheet of ice which glazed the causeway. The dog came
bounding back, and seeing his master in a predicament, and hearing the horse groan, barked till
the evening hills echoed the sound, which was deep in proportion to his magnitude. He snuffed
round the prostrate group, and then he ran up to me; it was all he could do, — there was no
other help at hand to summon. I obeyed him, and walked down to the traveller, by this time
struggling himself free of his steed. (Bronte, 1847: 98)

Rochester is not a handsome or attractive man. He has a broad chest and his
facial features are hard and severe, he looks like a man in his forties, but his

1
Appel, Felicia. “Victorian Ideals: The Influence of Society’s Ideals on Victorian Relationships”.
2
Ammons, E.; Davidson, Caty N.; Harris, T.; Kibbey, A.; Ling; A.; Radway, J.; et al.; “The Oxford Companion
to Women's Writing in the United States”. Published in print in 1995.
manner is intriguing and from the very first words the reader is captivated.
Rochester, in fact, is a skilful fusion of the Villain of the Gothic novel and the
Byronic hero: he is torn apart by unmentionable secrets and plagued by secret
guilt and this makes him inevitably magnetic.
Jane is a girl who knows what she wants and how she wants it, but who is
perfectly capable of rejecting any compromise that might affect her moral
integrity: for example, at the end of the novel Jane refuses to marry St. John
Rivers on the grounds that he was taking away her freedom of thought. The girl
realises that she cannot marry a man who forces her into submission and treats
her as an object and her independence will triumph again.
Another female figure is also present in the novel, who, however, embodies
completely different values: Bertha Mason. She is Rochester's first wife and is
accused of being insane, so much so that she is locked up in a room. The other
side of the coin is visible in this character: her story sheds light on the typical
situation of Victorian women in England when they find themselves
exaggeratedly oppressed by patriarchal society. The first element that allows us
to say this is language: Bertha is devoid of it and silence is the language of God,
which in Western countries only guided the male soul; women therefore had no
right to express their suffering [Liu]. The moment they tried to speak out loud,
they were considered “mad, grazy and insane”3.
A further characteristic that distinguishes Jane from the typical portrait of women
of that era is the absence of the desire for motherhood. Despite this, she finds
herself having to play a role in various circumstances.
Her job, that of governess, leads her to partially occupy this position, but
examining the relationship between her and Adele, the child she will have to deal
with inside Thornfield Hall, we immediately notice coldness and neutrality when
Jane is describing the little girl, almost as if she were a kind of school bulletin:
My pupil was a lively child, who had been spoilt and indulged, and therefore was sometimes
wayward; but as she was committed entirely to my care, and no injudicious interference from
any quarter ever thwarted my plans for her improvement, she soon forgot her little freaks, and
became obedient and teachable. She had no great talents, no marked traits of character, no
peculiar development of feeling or taste which raised her one inch above the ordinary level of
childhood; but neither had she any deficiency or vice which sunk her below it. She made
reasonable progress, entertained for me a vivacious, though perhaps not very profound,
affection; and by her simplicity, gay prattle, and efforts to please, inspired me, in return, with a
degree of attachment sufficient to make us both content in each other's society (Bronte, 1847:
94).

3
Ying Liu. (2023) The Significance of Bertha Mason in Jane Eyre to the Construction of the Feminist
Theme. Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Science, 7(3), 504-507.
Jane does not want to play the role of mother to Adele, but simply wants to be
her teacher. This rejection of the maternal feeling is clearly expressed through the
recurring nightmares she has with the children, which she struggles to manage
and each of them is placed “in different distressing scenes”4. All this could be
due to the fact that Charlotte Bronte, the author of the book, lost her mother
figure at the age of 5 or, looking deeper, the cause of this could easily be
attributed to the female figures represented, namely Mrs Temple, Mrs Reed and
Helen Burns, who fail in their role as mothers, leaving Jane with a sort of
disenchantment with this figure, so much so that her subconscious “rejects it as a
pontential role for herself”5.
Another option involves the autobiographical component: Charlotte Bronthe was
not a child-lover and modern psychologists claim that the morning sickness that
led to her death was a violent rejection of her pregnancy ( Reisner 176 in
Lemaser ).
Furthermore, Jane, perfectly embodying the role of the New Woman, eager to
build her own future outside the social conventions of the time, does not wish to
be responsible for the life of another individual, as she is convinced that this
could undermine her desire for autonomy: Jane considers motherhood and
individuality as “mutually exclusive”6.
Within the novel, this fear is embodied by the character Bertha Mason, who
appears to Jane through a disturbing laugh: this woman embodies the passion and
irrationality that the protagonist is not allowed to display. It is as if she is a part
of her subconscious, which is why she is referred to as “a threatening mother
figure that must ultimately die for Jane to achieve self-actualization”7.
Jane finds herself being her own mother, as she makes choices necessary for her
own good, such as leaving the Lowood Charity Institute, as the only figure truly
significant to her had married, leaving the school. The person being referred to is
Mrs Temple, Jane's point of reference within the school:
Miss Temple, through all changes, had thus far continued superintendent of the seminary: to her
instruction I owed the best part of my acquirements; her friendship and society had been my
continual solace; she had stood me in the stead of mother, governess, and, latterly, companion
(Bronte, 1847: 72).

4
Lemaster, T.; “Mothering the Children: Pregnancy and Motherhood as Obstacle to Self Actualization in
Jane Eyre”
5
Lemaster, T.; “Mothering the Children: Pregnancy and Motherhood as Obstacle to Self Actualization in
Jane Eyre”
6
Lemaster, T.; “Mothering the Children: Pregnancy and Motherhood as Obstacle to Self Actualization in
Jane Eyre”
7
Lemaster, T.; “Mothering the Children: Pregnancy and Motherhood as Obstacle to Self Actualization in
Jane Eyre”
She can be described as the first person who takes on a real maternal role towards
her, as she accompanies her and lovingly cares for her throughout her stay at
Lowood.
The first person she meets in the institution, however, is Helen Burns, also a
Lowood guest as an orphan. Unfortunately, the first thing Jane notices about her
is a coughing fit, which hints at her poor health. Characteristically, she is a mild,
calm child with a strong religious faith. Like Mrs Temple, she represents an ideal
mother figure for Jane, as she guides her and treats her gently: in this case,
however, the motherly relationship will be a reciprocal one as, when Helen's
illness reaches its peak, it will be Jane who will take care of her.
We are accustomed to associating the image of the 'mother' only with positive
and pleasant feelings, but Charlotte Bronthe is able to make us reconsider this
point of view as well. In fact, from the very beginning of the work she inserts the
figure of Mrs Reed, Jane's aunt who acts as her mother, a mother, however, who
shows neither benevolence nor feelings of affection; although Jane does
everything that is required of her, she is considered to be ““naughty and tiresome,
sullen and sneaking, from morning to noon, from noon to night”8.
It can be said, however, that in the course of the narrative, Jane's attitude towards
motherhood changes: this can be seen in her relationship with Rochester.
Initially, she is treated childishly by the man through gestures and words, most
notably the moment when she sits on his lap. However, when the man finds
himself depowered both physically and visually, Jane assumes the dominant role:
she insists on sitting on his lap taking advantage of the man's inability to remove
her, exploiting the situation to gain power (Lemaster). In this circumstance it is
she who assumes the role of mother towards Rochester and is finally able to
accept it, only because it allows her to dominate (Lemaster).
Charlotte Bronte's narrative technique is simply overwhelming. The reader,
catapulted into Jane's head, cannot help but feel sympathy for her. The writer in
fact, very skilfully, makes Jane recognise her own physical defects, her contrast
with the canon of beauty of the time, and provides her with a simple and above
all sober character that makes her appear to our eyes as the most beautiful
creature that has ever set foot on the face of the earth. Precisely to reinforce this
oxymoron in the book, female physical beauty often corresponds to an inner
degradation and a soul with questionable morals, characteristics that can be
found in the beautiful but materialistic Miss Ingram, but more generally in the
entire aristocracy or upper middle class of the novel.

8
Bronte, C.; “Jane Eyre”, p.10, Wordsworth Classics; First published in 1992.
Moreover, reading any biography of Charlotte Bronte, it is not difficult to notice
the similarity between her and Jane Eyre, which makes the novel almost an
autobiography; both Jane and Charlotte attended a women's educational
institution, became teachers there and worked as governesses, work that
Charlotte aimed to glorify. In fact, Jane Eyre, when it was published, was also
intended to improve public opinion on the figure of the governess and to promote
equal rights for men and women; a theme that was largely addressed in the
Victorian era.
Jane Eyre in a nutshell is a special, exceptional novel. It is an exception for the
era in which it was written: the inherent anger in Jane's character, the
erotic/sexual elements present within the novel, and the inconceivable love
between Rochester and Jane made it, in the Victorian era, the target of negative
criticism, criticism that today no longer stands up and gives way to innumerable
praises.

References:

1. Ammons, E.; Davidson, Caty N.; Harris, T.; Kibbey, A.; Ling; A.;
Radway, J.; et al.; “The Oxford Companion to Women's Writing in the
United States”. Published in print in 1995.
[https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780195066081.
001.0001/acref-9780195066081-e-0581]
2. Appel, Felicia. “Victorian Ideals: The Influence of Society’s Ideals on
Victorian Relationships”.
[https://www.mckendree.edu/academics/scholars/issue18/appell.htm]
3. Bronte, C.; “Jane Eyre”, Wordsworth Classics; First published in 1992.
4. Giles, Judy. "Jane Eyre ". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 05
November 2001.
[https://unistudium.unipg.it/unistudium/pluginfile.php/900189/mod_resou
rce/content/0/Jane%20Eyre_by_Judy_Giles_from_the_Literary_Encyclop
edia_15-12-2023.pdf]
5. Lemaster, T.; “Mothering the Children: Pregnancy and Motherhood as
Obstacle to Self Actualization in Jane Eyre”.
[file:///C:/Users/utente/OneDrive/Desktop/MOthering%20the%20Childre
n%20Pregnancy%20and%20Motherhood%20as%20Obstacle%20to%20S
elf-Actualization%20in%20Jane%20Eyre%20%20Genders%201998-
2013%20%20University%20of%20Colorado%20Boulder.pdf]
6. Sharp Baskett, M.; “Charlotte Bronthe Timeliness in Jane Eyre”.
[https://scholarworks.harding.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1005&cont
ext=tenor]
7. Ying Liu. (2023) The Significance of Bertha Mason in Jane Eyre to the
Construction of the Feminist Theme. Journal of Humanities, Arts and
Social Science, 7(3), 504-507.
[https://wap.hillpublisher.com/UpFile/202304/20230426185323.pdf]