Reactions to Patriarchal Oppression by Jane Eyre and...

Reactions to Patriarchal Oppression by Jane Eyre and Bertha Mason Missing Works Cited Jane Eyre and Bertha Mason are both oppressed by the British patriarchal system were men are the makers, interpreters, and enforcers of social and political rules. However, these two women differ greatly in the ways that they accept and cope with the reality of their place in society, and it is these differences that ultimately determine their fate. Jane Eyre follows the rules. Although she initially revolts against what she believes to be unfair restrictions at Gateshead and Lowood, she soon discovers that rebellion carries a high price and, over time, she learns to modify her behavior to conform to socially accepted norms. Bertha Mason, on the†¦show more content†¦24, 76; ch. 10). By contrast, Bertha is a big woman, in stature almost equaling her husband, and corpulent besides with a virile force and purple...bloated features (279; ch. 26). Jane is an impoverished orphan, and an English clergymans daughter who is reared in a charity school; Bertha is an exotic Creole, and the pampered daughter of a wealthy Jamaican planter. Jane is modest, decorous, and virginal; Bertha is at once intemperate and unchaste (291; ch. 27). Edward Fairfax Rochester, husband to each, cannot imagine two women less alike. However, it is not these obvious physical, behavioral, class, and socioeconomic differences that are important when comparing the two. Rather, it is the difference in the way they accept their roles as women in a patriarchal society that defines the characters and determines the outcome of the story. Bertha and Jane have no choice but to live within the male-dominated society into which they were born. Accordingly, their only feasible survival options involve attaching themselves to . . . powerful or economically viable men in one-way or another (Rich 143). However, in neither womans case do the attachments provide a framework for independence, self-expression, or variation from societys rigid expectations, because the asymmetrical power structures of the patriarchal family . . . have severely limited female development (Wyatt 201). Intolerable oppression and injustice bringShow MoreRelatedFunhouse Mirrors: Jane Eyre and Bertha Mason Essay1717 Words   |  7 PagesTim Bartlett ENG 396 March 23, 2011 Funhouse Mirrors: Jane Eyre and Bertha Mason â€Å"Jane Eyre† is a book centred around female duality. In a time when females were still expected to fulfill their â€Å"womanly duties,† Charlotte Bronte wrote a novel dealing with a woman’s view on morality sexuality, passion sensibility, and conformity insanity, among other themes. This motif of duality plays a strong part in the dynamism that makes up the book, and is not limited to the themes, but is also usedRead MoreJane Eyre Character Analysis1402 Words   |  6 PagesIn her novel Jane Eyre, Charlotte BrontÃ'‘ depicts the characters of Jane Eyre and Bertha Mason as being negatively perceived by society, as they are both treated unfairly and are seemingly undesirable and disregarded. Looked down upon by society, they are made to feel suppressed and as if their thoughts do not matter. Such feelings of oppression seem to drive both Jane and Bertha to madness; Bertha seems to embody the inner rage that Jane tries to control within herself throughout the novel. ThroughRead More Jane Eyre Essay examples3139 Words   |  13 PagesJane Eyre and the Lovemad Woman I was experiencing an ordeal: a hand of fiery iron grasped my vitals. Terrible moment: full of struggle blackness, burning! No human being that ever lived could wish to be loved better then I was loved; and him who thus loved me I absolutely worshipped: and I must renounce love and idol. (311; ch. 27) Jane Eyre’s inner struggle over leaving an already married Rochester is the epitome of the new lovemad woman in nineteenth-century literature. Jane Eyre