Challenging Victorian Gender Norms in Jane Eyre
Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre has sparked ongoing debates since its 1847 publication. The novel not only challenges conventional gender roles and their connections to social class and age but also goes beyond the simple transfer of power from Rochester’s patriarchal grasp to Jane’s powerless position. The text illuminates the complexities and anxieties of Victorian gender perceptions, simultaneously deconstructing and reinforcing nineteenth-century ideas of masculinity and femininity.
Jane’s roles as a governess and a young bride associate her with intricate and sometimes conflicting concepts of androgyny, femininity, sexuality, and innocence. These intricate connections to power, economics, and age play crucial roles in the text’s exploration of gender identities. They hint at deliberate parodies of these identities and lead to a radical rejection of established gender norms. Additionally, the class and age differences between Jane and Rochester amplify the already stark binary nature of Victorian gender relations, giving rise to what Judith Butler terms “psychic excess,” a facet of “psychic mimesis” that shapes performances and potentially challenges gender identities.
By the mid-1840s, the growing influence of industrialism and capitalism coincided with processes that both eroded and reaffirmed gender identities. In her work Women, Power, and Subversion, Judith Lowder Newton explores the division of the nineteenth-century labor force. She argues that the rise of factory production led to the decline of home-based industry and the emergence of distinct “separate spheres” for masculine and feminine work. However, these gender-defined realms of labor were closely entwined with class economics. Instead of witnessing a stark divide between male-dominated workplaces and feminine domesticity, working-class laborers experienced a growing blurring of gender roles by the mid-1840s.
In 1843, Charlotte Elizabeth Tonna authored a study on the British working class titled The Perils of the Nation: An Appeal to the Legislature, the Clergy, and the Higher and Middle Classes. In the chapter concerning the mining poor, Tonna’s study underscores the instability of class-based gender identities. She bemoans the moral licentiousness prevalent in the mines, where men, women, and children worked together in minimal clothing due to the heat, creating a gender-neutral work environment where traditional notions of separate spheres and gender distinctions were absent.
For social reformers, the absence of gender division among the working class justified cultural imperialism. This approach sought to impose morals and identities on working-class individuals in exchange for necessities like healthy food and clean air. While Tonna’s work reflects a concern for the well-being of the working poor, the call for reform aligns with middle-class interests. It enables Tonna to exploit middle-class fears of working-class individuals spreading “contamination” through androgynous identities and perceived sexual deviancies beyond their social contexts.
Friedrich Engels also made analogous observations about class-related gender ambiguities in his 1845 work The Condition of the Working Class in England. Engels, representing the bourgeoisie, addressed the welfare of people with low incomes alongside the broader interests of the middle class to reestablish clear gender divisions.
In Victorian society, gender roles exhibited ambiguity and sexual reversals. Engels described a letter from a working-class man expressing a desire for the separation of gender spheres, sparked by a husband and wife working together in a factory. This situation instigated social change and fueled calls for reform. While attempting to address the economic concerns of the working class, the middle class also grappled with their own gender-related issues. In response to this ambiguity, middle-class Victorians pushed masculine and feminine constructs to the extreme, solidifying divisions between male and female spheres of power and influence. This unsettling ambiguity led middle-class Victorians to emphasize and exaggerate masculine and feminine constructs, further reinforcing the boundaries between male and female spheres of power and influence.
Jane’s Social Standing and Middle-Class Encounters
Jane Eyre is a novel that delves into and manipulates the concept of sexual identities through the labor element, progressively associating gender roles with one’s material wealth. The text implies that only individuals from the middle and upper classes can afford the extravagant portrayal of their gender identity. In her interactions with the Reed family from the middle class, Jane is made acutely aware of her lower social standing, as they emphasize her dependency, lack of financial resources, and absence of a father.
This working-class connection persists during her time at Lowood, where the female students abandon traditional feminine attributes in favor of a more pragmatic and cost-effective gender-neutral appearance. Brocklehurst insists that the girls maintain their bodies devoid of luxurious attire and even mandates the removal of their long hair. This standpoint reflects the middle class’s desire to preserve the existing economic hierarchy, necessitating distinct boundaries between social classes.
Brontë meticulously portrays Brocklehurst as an individual who, akin to mine owners, regards femininity as a product of middle-class privilege while considering working-class androgyny as an essential yet distinctly separate facet of the social hierarchy. In response to Miss Temple’s defense of a student’s naturally curly hair, he utters, “Naturally! Yes, but we are not to conform to nature: I wish these girls to be the children of Grace.”
Jane’s evolution from being a teacher at Lowood to becoming a private governess signifies a significant milestone in the text’s subversion of gender norms. Governesses serve as a link bridging the invisible divide between working-class and middle-class gender roles. As a governess, Jane bridges the gap between the potentially disruptive androgyny prevalent in working-class homogeneity and the fragile equilibrium of middle-class separate spheres. Mary Poovey argues that such shifts in social class pose a threat that extends beyond linguistic or moral boundaries, challenging the very essence of gender and class identities.
Upon arriving at Thornfield, Jane intertwines an economic association with working-class androgyny. She is acutely aware of her new position’s radical potential and instability as she transitions from a working-class milieu to the middle class. When she decides that she desires “a new place, in a new house, among new faces, under new circumstances,” she scrutinizes her qualifications for integrating into the middle class. She reflects on her advertisement, highlighting her status as a young lady with experience in teaching.
Jane is acutely conscious of her impoverished circumstances and the substantial improvement that a governess position would bring, doubling her income and elevating her social status considerably. However, her appointment promptly exposes class-related gender disparities. Jane’s unassuming appearance, reflecting the teachings of androgyny from Brocklehurst, lacks the luxurious adornments seen on her counterpart, Blanche Ingram, or her highly feminine pupil, Adele.
Initially, Jane’s embodiment of femininity needs to be improved. While Mrs. Fairfax encourages her transformation and introduces her to Rochester when he overlooks her presence, his response rejects the expected masculine gaze toward the feminized figure. Jane momentarily allows herself to revert to her familiar identity as a working-class individual with an ambiguous gender, realizing the peculiar empowerment that her gender neutrality can provide. This scene is just one of many where Jane finds satisfaction in her working-class status and finds it advantageous for its intricate interplay with gender.
Victorians perceived governesses as a menace to gender stability, as they introduced ambiguous notions of gender and class to the children in their care while posing an overt sexual threat to middle-class men. Governesses, being both feminine and sexual objects, aroused desire through their multifaceted characteristics, occupying positions within and outside middle-class society’s boundaries. Their expressions of middle-class female sexuality, whether conventional or unconventional, challenged existing gender norms. The uncertainty surrounding the governess’s social class and gender roles piqued the interest of the middle class. Poovey argues that depictions of governesses evoked not only the middle-class ideals they were expected to uphold but also the sexualized and often working-class women against whom they were meant to defend. This tension was pivotal, as governesses simultaneously embodied a middle-class feminine ideal characterized by sexual restraint and a working-class androgynous reality that hinted at unrestricted sexuality.
Romantic Tension and Ambiguous Sexual Identity
In Jane Eyre, the subversion of traditional gender roles becomes increasingly intricate due to Jane’s working-class background. The romantic tension between Jane and Rochester accentuates her enigmatic sexual identity, which permeates the middle-class setting. This complexity is further heightened by the relationships involving older men and younger women, where an older paternal figure surpasses a much younger female in age by twenty years or more. This age difference creates power imbalances between Jane and Rochester, and Brontë adeptly combines the subversive elements of class and age to deconstruct established gender norms.
These older man/younger woman relationships are a recurring theme in nineteenth-century literature, reinforcing the conventional gender roles with the male assuming dominance and the female a subservient role. Psychoanalytic analysis often interprets these relationships as driven by male-centered desires for control and dominance. Nonetheless, a perspective rooted in social psychology offers a broader interpretation of these age dynamics, revealing intricate power dynamics where the older man may sometimes find himself subordinate to the younger woman.
Child brides, much like governesses, occupy a delicate position that blurs the boundaries between sexuality and innocence and between femininity and androgyny. Her social class and youth shape Jane’s androgynous attributes. The notion of a “second childhood” linked to old age introduces further complexity to our understanding of gender dynamics within these marriages. These unions evoked mixed reactions in Victorian society, often raising concerns of sexual impropriety. In Jane Eyre, the narrative underscores the potential risks associated with such unions, even when both partners belong to the same social class. Due to the significant age difference, Jane and Rochester’s engagement challenges the established power dynamics within husband-wife relationships.
The theme of theatricality permeates these marriages, as Jane and Rochester both assume gender roles with occasional role reversals. In contrast, due to her age, Jane assumes a position of sexual empowerment. The narrative incorporates rapid changes in appearance and dramatic elements, reflecting a fluidity in gender roles that challenges the traditional Victorian concept of separate gender spheres.
Gender Identity Exploration through Performance
In Jane Eyre, Brontë draws a parallel between the novel and a new scene in a play, emphasizing how it portrays gendered romantic relationships, especially marriage. The text delves into the exploration of transcending and uncertain gender identities, notably through Rochester’s role as a gypsy woman, which aligns with Butler’s idea of gender as a performance, raising questions about its instability. Class and age serve as tools to reaffirm gender norms by highlighting the feminized status of those who are young or from lower classes. However, paradoxically, they also contribute to more fluid expressions of gender.
Age takes on a multifaceted role throughout Jane Eyre, continually reshaping power dynamics related to gender and class through performative actions. Both Jane and Rochester take turns holding and relinquishing power, challenging traditional gender norms and sometimes exaggerating their respective gender roles. For example, Jane refuses to adhere to traditional feminine etiquette when Rochester comments on his appearance and playfully teases her with gifts. Similarly, Rochester’s initial appearance in the novel does not align with conventional masculinity, as he falls from his horse and relies on Jane’s assistance.
The age gap between Jane and Rochester amplifies traditional gender dynamics, with Rochester’s “twenty years’ difference” magnifying the Victorian double standard concerning sexual knowledge and power between individuals of the same age. Rochester’s prior marriage to Bertha and his willingness to discuss his past sexual experiences with Jane establish his authority and dominance over her, emphasizing her youthful innocence. This age-driven dynamic allows for noticeable shifts in power, which coincide with the novel’s dramatic plot twists.
Jane’s youth poses a substantial threat, resulting in a transfer of physical and economic authority from Rochester to Jane. While feminist critiques often focus on romantic entanglements involving Rochester, Bertha, Blanche Ingram, or St. John Rivers, the most profound power shift occurs within the romantic triangle of Rochester, Jane, and St. John Rivers, ultimately concluding the narrative. Rochester’s previous relationships grant him sexual and economic dominance, but Jane’s proposal to St. John Rivers solidifies the power shift stemming from Rochester’s loss of property, social standing, and eyesight.
Rochester’s awareness of these evolving power dynamics is closely tied to Jane’s age, particularly her youth. He acknowledges the shifting balance of power in Jane’s favor but consistently returns to her age as a cause for concern. He questions whether he should regard her as a father figure due to their age gap. Rochester metaphorically compares himself to an aged chestnut tree, wondering whether he has the right to invite a young woodbine to cloak his decay with freshness. He begins to view Jane’s departure as a potential romantic involvement with someone her age, heightening his unease.
When Rochester presses Jane for information about her whereabouts, her newfound power becomes evident. Rochester places her on his knee, implying childishness and a suggestive position. Jane discloses the existence of St. John Rivers, prompting Rochester to inquire about his character. Rochester asks if a “good man” means a respectable man in his fifties. Jane responds that St. John is only twenty-nine, to which Rochester responds with a French phrase, “‘Jeune encore,'” indicating that St. John is still young. Rochester’s concern stems from the notion that a man closer to his age would pose less of a threat. Under the shadow of St. John Rivers, Rochester’s century of experience loses significance, and Jane’s childlike position serves as a reminder of their “twenty years’ difference in age.”
Brontë’s Gender Subversion Strategy
In her work Harmless Pleasure, Levine analyzes how Brontë effectively delayed the revelation of her identity as a female author and intricately developed the narrative plot to engage and challenge established gender norms actively. In chapter thirty-seven, Jane employs a power play that adds suspense and intrigue to the story by exploiting Rochester’s insecurities and manipulating the truth to her advantage. Her deliberate downplaying of her desire for marriage is a tactic aimed at convincing Rochester that she is not interested in marrying him, creating discomfort for him while leaving Jane and the reader satisfied.
The following morning, as Rochester reflects romantically on Jane, the shift in power dynamics becomes evident to her. She takes pleasure in her newfound masculine role as the protector and provider for her metaphorical captive bird. When she eventually dismisses her affection for St. John Rivers and consents to marry Rochester, they discuss their age difference.
Throughout the novel, Jane transforms from the androgynous qualities associated with her working-class background and youth to exaggerated portrayals of femininity. Ultimately, she adopts a legitimate form of female masculinity. The initial gender nonconformity stemming from her working-class status sets the stage for a more comprehensive exploration of gender identities. The theatrical elements and sexual tensions inherent in relationships between older men and younger women fuel this exploration.
The novel’s sentimental conclusion reinforces traditional gender roles and identities in alignment with Victorian gender norms. It echoes the way gender identities are consistently built up and deconstructed throughout the story. In the final chapter, Jane resigns herself to a domestic role, taking on the positions of wife, maid, and mother for Rochester. She integrates into the middle class, where gender divisions seem more stable, while Rochester reclaims his role as a patriarchal authority figure.
However, although the text appears to endorse a male-dominated Victorian gender system ultimately, it subtly subverts these gender constructs through the interplay of class and age, rendering such an endorsement impossible. As an older husband, Rochester will never fit into a simplistic model of traditionally perceived male authority, just as the intricate dynamics of Jane’s power as a younger wife must be addressed.
Bibliography
- Engels, F., & Wischnewetzky, F. K. (1892). The condition of the working class in England in 1844. British Library.
- Godfrey, E. (2005). “Jane Eyre”, from Governess to Girl Bride. Studies in English Literature. Rice University.
- Levine, C. (2000). “Harmless pleasure”: Gender, suspense, and Jane Eyre. Cambridge University Press.
- Newton, J. L. (2014). Women, Power and Subversion: Social Strategies in British Fiction, 1778-1860. Routledge.
- Tonna, C. E. (1843). Perils of the Nation. An Appeal to The Legislative, The Clergy, and The Higher and Middle Classes. Seeley, Burnside and Seeley, London.
- Wyatt, J. (1985). A Patriarch of One’s Own: Jane Eyre and Romantic Love. Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature. University of Tulsa.
