Charlotte Bronte and Jane Eyre

Charlotte Brontë is one of the most famous Victorian women writers. She was born on 21 April 1816 in West Riding, Yorkshire. Born to a rich tea merchant and grocer, however, Charlotte Bronte lost her mother, Maria Branwell Bronte, when she was 5 years old due to cancer. Charlotte Bronte had six siblings and became the eldest sister in the family after two of her older sisters passed away. To add, her father also successfully published a book entitled Cottage poems in 1811. His talent in writing has been clearly inherited by his daughter Charlotte. 

The Bronte siblings were often left alone, living in isolation from the society. Because of this, they started to write stories at an early age. Charlotte Bronte was employed as teacher and governess and in the year 1842, she and her sister Emily went to Brussels to improve their French. Not long after that, she had to come back home because of the death of her aunt but soon she went back to Brussels and worked as an English teacher.

During her lifetime she had to face many deaths of her family members. In 1848, she lost her brother and not long after that she lost two of her sisters all because of tuberculosis. But all of this, fortunately, did not stop Charlotte from writing. In 1854 she married her father’s curate, Arthur Nicholls and she died on 31^st March 1855 due to tuberculosis. Nevertheless, one of her famous work of the classical novel, Jane Eyre where it exhibits the spirit of feminism throughout the story where the character is demanding for her right and emancipation.

Jane lost her parents when she was young, and thanks to her uncle Jane could live a good life, but unfortunately, her uncle died after a few years. Her aunt, Mrs. Sarah Reed, regarded Jane as a jinx and her three children (John, Eliza, and Georgiana) neglect and abuse Jane. They dislike Jane’s plain looks and quiet yet passionate character. After being locked in a room for a night, Jane was ill and at that time, her early feminism came out. In the face of Mrs. Reed, Jane refuses to be treated as an inferior being and finally speaks out against discriminations to her with sharp and cold exposure. Jane’s rebellion against Mrs. Reed and John represents her feminist consciousness in getting esteem from other people as a decent and respectable person.

The whole time spending in Thornfield is the most splendid part of the whole book. Meeting with Rochester and fell in love with him reflected the feminism in Jane and her new thoughts. Jane loves Rochester with all her heart and Rochester’s status and wealth make him so high above for Jane to approach, yet she never feels inferior to Rochester though she is a humble family teacher. She believes they are fair and should respect each other. In fact, it is her uprightness, loftiness, and sincerity that touch Rochester. Rochester feels from the bottom of his heart that Jane is the spiritual partner he always longs for.

However, when they decided to get married, she finds that Rochester has had a legal wife. Jane feels heartbreaking on this news, and it makes her trapped in a dilemma whether to stay or to leave. Although she had a deep affection for Rochester, she could not stand any compromise in her marriage. She is the whole one and cannot be laughed or argued by others in this aspect. She would not give up her independence and self-respect. So she chose to leave her beloved one and wanted to make a new life.

In most people’s eyes, nobody would like to marry a man who loses his sight and most of his wealth. But as to Jane, she is different. In her mind, pure love is the meeting of hearts and minds of two people. Jane Eyre is unique in the Victorian period. As a feminist woman, she represents the insurgent women eager for esteem. Without esteem from other people, women like Jane cannot get the real emancipation.