Charlotte’s Feminist Declaration

- On Jane Eyre’s Female Consciousness

[ Abstract] The Victorian Age was men centered and men cont rolled times. Women were discriminated against by men at that time. However , the ahead of age female consciousness of Jane Eyre , the main character ofJ ane Ey re written by Charlotte Bronte ,challenged men’s authority. In this novel of the Victorian Age , Charlotte exposed and denounced men’s oppression of and discrimination against women. On the other hand , Charlotte is remarkable in port raying J ane Eyre as a self respecting and rebellious girl , desiring equality , bravely showing her love and deciding on her own

marriage. Through the port rayal , Charlotte set s a new rote model for women of Victorian times as well as modern age.

[ Key words] female consciousness ; self-respect ; equality When G. K. Chesterton said ,“The novel of the 19th century was female” he must have been referring to the emergence of a number of brilliant woman writer s whose works gave voice to the feelings and aspirations of the educated women of their

age.Charlotte Bronte is one of the greatest women writer s ,and her J ane Ey re is undoubtedly an out standing women’s declaration of independence and love. It is J ane Eyre’s female consciousness that awakens women and voices women’s aspiration for liberation. J ane

Eyre’s female consciousness is far beyond.Victorian times. In 19th century , women did not have any status. They were discriminated against and conceived of as people inferior to men. Although

women’s colleges were established at Cambridge in 1869 and at Oxford in 1879 , women could not take degrees at the

university until 1920-1921. At that time , almost the only occupation open to women of good families was teaching as school mist ress or more likely serving as governess in a private family. The Victorian moral code for women was that they should remain ignorant and uneducated. So , novels about young girls who went out alone into the world , suffered various t rials , miseries and temptation , and emerged chaste and t riumphant had been popular in England for over a century. Charlotte Bronte and her J ane Ey re challenged the old commandment and t raditional discrimination to women.That is why J ane Ey re was criticized by some people.Lionel Stevenson

said ,“J ane Eyre was an intolerable renegade from all the standards of behavior expected of respectable girls. ”W. A. Craik thought ,“The Bronte biography does them a disservice with the reader ,may prevent him f rom seeing properly are air individual merit s or

indeed what is her purpose in writing it . ”However , the praise of J ane Eyre by far outweighs criticism. Most people regarded this book as one of the greatest novels of that time. It was J ane’s

rebelliousness , her dislike of servility , her insistence on equality with her master and her claim that she had a right to feelings and passions that gave the book it’ s uniqueness and force , shocked many of it s early reader s and earned popularity among most

women. The book also encouraged women to be independent and

fight for their own right s. Luo Jingguo said ,“J ane Ey re is the first English novel even the most powerful and popular novel , which present s the modern view of women’s position in society. ”

J ane Eyre’s female consciousness , which runs through the whole story , can be viewed in two aspect s. One is the exposure and

denunciation of man’s oppression. The other is the port rayal of J ane Eyre’s outstanding character .Jane Eyre’s stories taking place in different stages of her life can be seen as connected by men’s oppression to her .

The first oppressor is J ane Eyre’s cousin , John Reed. John , at the age of 14 , has become particularly obnoxious , a fat , greedy , unwholesome bully. He regards himself as the future owner of the house. He beat s and insult s J ane at will . Goaded by John Reed’s bullying , she hit s back on two occasions , fighting like a mad cat until she is overpowered. Then , she is locked up alone in the red room. Terror as well as anger is always with her when she is in the red room where her own vivid imagination f rightens her into a

frantic fit . J ane experiences the fir st crisis in life and nearly dies. In the clash between J ane and her cousin ,the writer emphasizes Jane’s feelings of dread , loathing and despair as the weak when facing unreasonable , illmannered merciless even brutish threat . This description shows exactly small and weak female’s general

sentiment under male’s malt reatment . When we read the part f rom Chapter I to Chapter IV , we will sympathize with J ane’s miserable experience.

The second oppressor is Mr . Brocklehur st , the headmaster of Lowood orphanage. The fir st impression he gives J ane is “What a great nose ! And what a mouth !

Just like a brutal bloodsucking animal .Here , Brocklehur st is port rayed as a very severe and hard hearted person who not only keeps the children half starved but prevent s them f rom having

normalmental growth. He is meddling , loveless and hypocritical .

Brocklehur st thinks it is his duty to punish the eighty girls’bodies in order to save their immortal souls. He does not let them have enough rest . He forces them to cut their long hair and makes them wear the worst quality , the most ugly clothes. He attempts to kill these poor girls nature of pursuing beauty. He is hostile to women. He

calls these girls’bodies “vilebodies”and their natural curled hair “excrescence”. He st rangles these girls’vigor and vitality. These

girls almost become machines which can only work and read Bible. Brocklehur st’s devastation to these girls is far beyond people’s toleration. Brocklehur st makes the life condition much worse ,

which causes a lot of deaths including that of Jane’s best f riend , Helen Burns. Life in Lowood Orphanage may be the most agonizing memory to J ane , but the miserable life gives J ane much more courage and determination to struggle for her right .The third

oppressor J ane has met is Mr. Rochester . Most writer s agree that the theme of J ane Ey re isthe search for love. Lawrence has said ,

“The novel is revolutionary in it s t reatment of love. ” Rochester’s oppression does not come f rom the fact that Rochester want s to marry J ane without telling her his mad wife’s story. Here the point is that Rochester’s love oppresses J ane and jeopardizes her

independence.When they prepare things for marriage , Rochester

says he will put the diamond chain“round Jane neck , andcirclet on her forehead , clasped the bracelet s on these fine wrist s , and load her finger s with rings”. He uses visible jewelry to limit Jane invisibly. Jane feels that she is oppressed. She feels Rochester’s smile has “such a sultan might , bestow on a slave his gold and

gems had enriched ”, and she , herself , just like the east allusion , is without f reedom . J ane knows , facing Rochester , she is no longer as independent as before. J ane’s heart is always in a state of intense

st ruggle . She willingly devotes herself to Rochester , but she still t ries to grasp her own soul . When the secret is discovered ,Rochester hopes that J ane can go with her in the name of love. J ane is nearly shaken. After all ,she keeps her individual soul .In Jane’s life , she never stops st ruggling against miserable life and misfortune. She hasn’t a noble position , an illust rious background , wealth or a

beautiful appearance. The only proud thing for her is her self respect which is supported by her self-confidence and her staunch

independence. She never expect s that Rochester can love her

because she thinks there is a big gapbetween them forever . When

they fall in love , J ane has to keep her self-respect and independence in case of losing her self . What she can give to Rochester is only her love , her infatuation , her spiritual support and nothing else.

However , what Rochester gives her is more than her s. He can also improve J ane Eyre’s social status and increase her wealth. This unequal exchange makes Jane Eyre uneasy. The situation makes her feel that they are not quite equal and her independence is also

threatened.

The fourth oppressor J ane comes across is the clergyman , St . John Rivers. He is idealistic , very good looking , religious and

zealous. He turns egotism and ambition to the service of religion. He uses the name of obligation to oppress J ane and gives J ane spiritual

suffering. He does not t reat J ane as a woman or as his future wife , but a slave , a slave of God as well as his. St . John says to J ane ,

“Simplify your complicated interest s , feelings , thought s , wishes , aims ;merge all consideration in one purpose that of fulfilling with effect - - with power - - the mission of your great Master . ”Here ,“Master”is capitalized. It seems that“Master”is the God. In fact , St . John uses the word“Master”to refer to his own mission. He regards himself as J ane’s“Master”. He deprives J ane of all her right s , especially the right s of a woman. J ane is no longer an independent woman , but a doll , a machine.

In his eyes. The word“Master”also delicately discovers the

most important element of man’s attitude to wards woman. St .

John’s proposal is even more out rageous than Rochester’s , for it involves a spiritual prostitution instead of a physical one. Only when St . John involves God’s name in support of a false idea of marriage does J ane resist ,“If I were to marry you , you would kill me. You are killing me now”. J ane’s fir st“kill me”indicates that the

miserable life in India would dest roy her health and kill her . J ane’s second“kill me”refer s to St John’s oppression to her spirit .

J ane Eyre bravely shows her feelings , but St . John denounces J ane as violent , unt rue and unfeminine. But what is feminine ? Should women always regard man and their husbands as “Master ”?

Shouldn’t women show their t rue feelings and be rude pendent ? Man forces woman to live and behave as man want s , which really gives women a great oppression.For thousand of year s , women suffer f rom man’s oppression and discrimination. John Reed ,

Brockcehur st Rochester and St John oppress J ane in different ways. They are only some typical examples. By them , Charlotte exposes and denounces man’s oppression sharply.The agony women actually suffer may be much more than J ane’s. Should they always be silent or stand to fight ?J ane Eyre gives a definitely answer . Her stories awaken women’s female consciousness. What is a woman like if she want s to fight for her proper right s ?Here , Charlotte answer s the question with the port rayal of J ane Eyre’s character .All in all , J ane is such a self2respecting , independent and decisive woman. Her female consciousness and her st ruggling experience set a brilliant example for the female worldwide. Her spirit encourages women to fight for liberation. J ane Eyre tells not only what an independent woman is like but also what a successful woman should do. In fact , Charlotte is presenting through the character of J ane some of her

own most deeply felt convictions of permanent importance in human life such as the right of the humblest per son to

affection ,self2realization , honesty and integrity , the right to speak out f rankly and the claims of morality and religion. J ane’s long st

ruggle to attain these values to become a per son who is admired , respected and cared for without compromising any of her other

principles leaves an indelible impression on us. As a great book , J ane Ey re not only awakens it s early readers of the Victorian Age , but also stimulates and encourages modern women’s movement . J ane Eyre has said in Chapter Ⅻ,“It is in vain to say human beings ought to be satisfied with t ranquility ; they must have action ; and they will make it if they can not find it 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 effort sare much as their brother s do ; they suffer f rom too rigid a rest raint , too

absolute a stagnation , precisely as men would suffer 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. ” This is J ane’s female consciousness. It is Charlotte’s as well as world wide female’s feminist declaration.

【References 】

[1 ] Luo J ingguo. A New A ntholog y of Engl ish L i terature

( vol ume I , I I , I I I ) [ M ] . Beijing : Beijing University

Press , 1997.

[2 ] Blackburn , Ruth H. Charlotte B ronte J ane Ey re [M] .

New York : Simon & Schuster , 1974.

[ 3 ] Bronte , Charlotte. J ane Ey re [M] . New York : Oxford University Press , 1975.

夏洛蒂·勃朗特的女权主义宣言

———评简爱的女性意识

[摘 要] 在男权至上的维多利亚时代,简爱超前的女性意识挑战了男性权威。在《简爱》这本小说里,夏

洛蒂·勃朗特塑造了简爱心地纯洁、善于思考、自尊、倔强的性格和勇于追求平等和幸福的精神,使简爱成为维多

利亚时代具有反叛意识的女性的代表。

[关键词] 女性意识; 自尊; 平等