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Kaitlyn Divine
Ms. Winter
British Literature, Period 2
10 May 2016
Victorian Masculinities in Jane Eyre
Victorian masculinity has many characteristics. Victorian men were rough, sardonic, and
grumpy. Typical Victorian men had a copious amount of money, were more authoritative,
independent, had a spark of jealousy, and they were afraid of heartbreak so they were not able to
show their feelings easily. Several poems, books, essays, and articles portray this image of the
ideal Victorian man. One book that strongly depicts the ideals of Victorian masculinity at the
beginning, is Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bront. Jane Eyre is about a young girl, Jane, who grows up
an orphan living with her aunt. After a while, Jane goes to school at Lowood and achieves an
education which she utilizes her education to leave Lowood and become a governess for Adle at
Thornfield Hall, where she and Mr. Rochester end up falling madly in love. Mr. Rochester
exhibits the typical Victorian man at the beginning of the book because he is wealthy, immensely
authoritative, independent, and shy to admit his feelings for Jane; therefore, readers can assume a
fear of heartbreak coming from Mr. Rochester. At the end of the novel, Mr. Rochester no longer
illustrates the ideals of a typical Victorian man because he becomes Janes equal rather than her
superior when he loses his money and his house in a fire, he is no longer as authoritative as he is
in the beginning, he is dependent because he has to be due to a missing eye and hand, has hints
of jealousy when Jane speaks about St. John, and there is no reason for heartbreak because Mr.
Rochester now acquires Janes love. There are many factors throughout the book that change Mr.
Rochesters personality and actions. Bront reveals these changes in Mr. Rochester on account of

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the fact that she is revealing her opinion about gender roles and how she believed men and
women need to be equal instead of one acting superior. This is why Jane only accepts Mr.
Rochester after he becomes her equal and not her superior.
The typical Victorian man is extremely different from how men are seen in todays
society. The portrait Past and Present, No. 1 (Figure 1), created by Augustus Leopold Egg
illustrates a perfect picture of what the ideal Victorian man would be like. This illustration
demonstrates the disparity between genders. In this portrait, it is easily noticeable that the man is
above the woman and the children; the man is superior. The mirror in the middle of the
illustration reflects that the door to the room is wide open. This concept symbolizes that it was
completely acceptable for men in the Victorian era to oppress women as they did. The fact that
the door is open also releases the notion that the oppression did not just happen in their own
home, but beyond that into society. The man seems very independent, showing that he does not
need anyone. He is acting as if everything is perfect and his woman is not lying on the ground
helpless. Suzanne Hesse, author of The Victorian Ideal: Male Characters in Jane Eyre and
Villette states that, The ideal Victorian male should have certain characteristics such as honor,
loyalty, intelligence, moral uprightness and it does not hurt to have a good income (Hesse).
Basically, the ideal Victorian man should be smart, rich, and loyal. A Victorian man needs all of
these features or he will not be considered masculine. Another piece of work that supports this
claim is Sexing The Male: Manifestations Of Masculinity In Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, And
Villette by Emma Foye Quinn. Quinn demonstrates the image of a Victorian man when she
explains that the men are celebrated for being simultaneously wealthy and hard-working, moral
and passionate, and respectful (Quinn). Not only did the Victorian men have to be rich, smart,
and loyal, they had to be passionate, respectful, and hardworking as well. Many of these men

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were hardworking because without most women working, the men had to do it all. Furthermore,
Bryce Covert wrote an article called, Masculinity in Charlotte Bront's Jane Eyre. Covert
perfectly analyzes how Victorian masculinity should be. Covert points out in his article that
Bront depicts the masculine not as something heroic or beautiful, but gruff, mysterious, and illtempered. Men are not supposed to possess beauty, elegance, gallantry, fascination; they are
meant to be mean, rough about the edges (Covert). Victorian men are shown off as grumpy and
ill-tempered men usually, they are shown as something very different and mysterious. These men
were very noticeable. This was how the men in the Victorian era were supposed to be. Victorian
men were the way they were because they were trying to gain respect from society and impress
everyone. In an essay written by Felicia Appell called, Victorian Ideals: The Influence of
Societys Ideals on Victorian Relationships, Appell examines the fact that Victorian men had to
impress every single person they came across. Appell says, Victorian men were not only
competing for respect within their own sex, but they needed to impress the women too. If they
were not married, it depicted that they were not fully masculine because they did not have a
family to support (Appell). If the men were not married, they were considered undesirable and
weak. In the Victorian society, everyone respected a married person considerably more than they
would respect a single person. Appell also explains that men not only had to gain womens
respect before marriage, but they also had to impress the rest of society and their male gender
(Appell). Victorian men basically had to impress everyone to impress one person, so they were
very pressured to gain everyone's respect so they could marry. On the note of marriage and love,
many Victorian men seemed to have a fear of heartbreak and rejection quite a bit. A poem called
When I Was One-and-Twenty by Edward Alfred Housman portrays the interpretation of
Victorian men and heartbreak. Housman writes, I heard a wise man say, / Give crowns and

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pounds and guineas / But not your heart away; / Give pearls away and rubies / But keep your
fancy free (Housman 2-6). Victorian men would have rather given their riches than their heart
away in fear of heartbreak. Housman also writes, I heard him
say again, / The heart out of the bosom / Was never given in
vain; / Tis paid with sighs a plenty / And sold for endless rue
(Housman 10-14). When men gave out their hearts they only
received sighs, sorrow, and regret in return. This resulted in
fear of love and heartbreak. This is why men in the Victorian
age acted superior and authoritative, especially towards
women. Robert Browning wrote a poem called My Last
Duchess which portrays a man oppressing a woman while
being authoritative. Browning writes, She had / A heart-how
shall I say?- too soon made glad, / Too easily impressed; she liked whate'er /She looked on, and
her looks went everywhere (Browning 21-24). The man in this poem is easily angered by his
woman being glad and happy. The man obviously thinks she should not be as happy as she can
be. He wants to oppress her like a Victorian man would oppress any woman. Browning writes,
Oh sir, she smiled, no doubt, / Whene'er I passed her; but who passed without / Much the same
smile? This grew; I gave commands; / Then all smiles stopped together. There she stands / As if
alive (Browning 43-47). The man in this poem surely wants his woman to be miserable. He is
authoritative over her whole life and is oppressing her to the supreme amount. Victorian men
were known to be excessively authoritative.
Mr. Rochester, from the book Jane Eyre displays Victorian masculinity at the beginning
of the book. Mr. Rochester has dark features and rough looks. In the beginning of their meeting,

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Jane thinks to herself, He had a dark face, with stern features and a heavy brow; his eyes and
gathered eyebrows looked ireful and thwarted just now; he was past youth, but had not reached
middle age; perhaps he might be thirty-five (Bront 127). Jane thinks that The new face, too,
was like a new picture introduced to the gallery of memory, and it was dissimilar to all the others
hanging there: firstly, because it was masculine; and, secondly, because it was dark, strong, and
stern (Bront 130) as well. Mr. Rochester is very experienced and intelligent. He is extremely
wealthy; he travels all of the time, he has a huge house, and he takes care of his many employees.
Even though Mr. Rochesters employees take care of him, he is still independent because he is
always traveling and is rarely home. Mr. Rochester is also loyal and honest. Suzanne Hesse
writes in her article that Mr. Rochester does not hide the truth about Adele's origins, and he is
honest with Jane about his feelings for her and her abilities. In fact he even tells Jane about his
faults and his unwillingness to repent (Hesse). Therefore, there is evidence that Rochester is
honest. Even though Rochester is open with Jane, it takes him a while to get to that point with
her. In their article, Introduction: Victorian masculinities, Graeme Smart and Amelia Yeates
say, Each of these papers makes clear the fluidity and instability of masculine identities by
revealing their constructions as social processes, the outcomes of self-other interactions informed
by historically situated discursive practices (Smart and Yeates). These social processes that the
men go through make them take a while to open up to people, especially women they are
attracted to. It takes Mr. Rochester a while to warm up to Jane and admit his feelings for her. He
is afraid of heartbreak and rejection. The maid, Mrs. Fairfax, tells Jane, he has painful
thoughts, no doubt, to harass him, and make his spirits unequal (Bront 143). Mr. Rochester
has thoughts about being rejected by society or Jane, which hurt him deeply. In consequence, Mr.
Rochester has a hard time warming up to anybody. When Mr. Rochester is speaking to Jane and

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is about to leave, Jane explains that Mr. Rochester says, Good-night, my- He stopped, bit his
lip, and abruptly left me (Bront 206). Mr. Rochester is about to call Jane his love, his dearest,
or something similar; he stops though, in fear that what he says will not be reciprocated. This is
why he acts authoritative, because then it seems that Jane has to do what he wants. Authority is
also something Mr. Rochester greatly possesses. There are many examples in the novel that
portray Mr. Rochester as authoritative. One example is when Mr. Rochester and Jane are in a
room together and Mr. Rochester tells Jane, Speak and it is by virtue of this superiority, and
this alone, that I desire you to have the goodness to talk to me a little now (Bront 150). Mr.
Rochester basically orders Jane to talk to him and admits that he thinks he is superior. After this,
Mr. Rochester asks Jane, Then, in the first place, do you agree with me that I have a right to be
a little masterful, abrupt, perhaps exacting (Bront 151). Mr. Rochester decides that he has the
right to be authoritative, which is indeed authority within itself. Mr. Rochester is authoritative
about being authoritative. Another example is when Mr. Rochester is talking to Mrs. Fairfax
about wanting Jane to attend his party. Mrs. Fairfax tells Jane that Mr. Rochester said to her that
If she objects, tell her, it is my particular wish; and if she resists, say I shall come and fetch
her in case of contumacy (Bront 192). Mr. Rochester thinks that just because it is his wish
that Jane attends his party, that she must attend the party no matter what. One last example is
when Jane tries to leave his party early and he tells her, I expect you to appear in the drawingroom every evening; it is my wish; dont neglect it (Bront 206). Mr. Rochester expects Jane to
do as he says always and nothing else. These are all reasons Mr. Rochester portrays the ideals of
Victorian masculinity.
At the end of the novel, Mr. Rochester no longer portrays the ideals of Victorian
masculinity. Mr. Rochester loses all of his money and his house. Mr. Rochesters fathers butler

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tells Jane, [Mr. Rochester] went up to the attics when all was burning above and below
(Bront 497). Mr. Rochesters house and money all burned up in his house fire. Mr. Rochester
survives the fire, but is injured severely. The butler tells Jane more about Mr. Rochester; he says,
one eye was knocked out, and one hand so crushed that Mr. Carter, the surgeon, had to
amputate it directly. The other eye inflamed: he lost the sight of that also. He is now helpless,
indeed - blind, and a cripple (Bront 498). This incident causes Mr. Rochester to be dependent
and not superior to Jane at all because he is now a blind cripple with an amputated hand. At the
end of the book when Mr. Rochester asks Jane to marry him, she replies with a yes. He then asks
her, A crippled man, twenty years older than you, whom you will have to wait on? (Bront
516). Mr. Rochester is dependent on Jane to take care of him because he is crippled. This is
shown at the very end of the book greatly when Jane says, Then he stretched his hand out to be
led. I took that dear hand, held it a moment to my lips, and then let it pass round my shoulder:
being so much lower of stature than he, I served both for his prop and guide (Bront 520). Jane
acted as Mr. Rochesters guide from then on. Guiding Mr. Rochester through life, literally and
figuratively, is Janes new job. The last small event that feminizes Mr. Rochester a bit is when he
acts openly jealous of St. John when Jane speaks of him. When Jane talks about St. John to Mr.
Rochester, Mr. Rochester says quietly, Damn him! (Bront 512) and asks Jane if she likes St.
John. Mr. Rochester is jealous and shows signs of weakness. Although he becomes jealous, he no
longer has a fear of heartbreak or rejection because he and Jane become married. Rochester
becomes emasculated and Janes equal. This is when Jane truly accepts him as her mate.
Rochester does demonstrate the values of a true Victorian man at the beginning of the
book due to his superiority and his extensive amount of money among many other things. At the
end of the book, Rochester changes and no longer displays the standards of a Victorian man

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because he becomes Janes equal instead of her superior. Bront renders such a change in
Rochester to communicate her opinion about gender roles. Readers can understand that Bront
believes that men and women should be equal. Bront postulates that no gender should act
superior, because in her eyes, no gender is superior to the other.

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Works Cited
Appell, Felicia. Victorian Ideals: The Influence of Societys Ideals on Victorian
Relationships. Mckendree.edu. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 May 2016.
<https://www.mckendree.edu/academics/scholars/issue18/appell.htm>.
Bront, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. 1847. Austin: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2009. Print.
Browning, Robert. My Last Duchess. 1842. Element of Literature: Sixth Course,
Literature of Britain with World Classics. N.p.: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2002. 83031. Print.
Covert, Bryce R. Masculinity in Charlotte Bronts Jane Eyre. The Victorian Web. N.p.,
22 May 2004. Web. 2 May 2016.
<http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/bronte/cbronte/covert15.html>.
Egg, Augustus Leopold. Past and Present, No. 1. 1858. Oil paint on canvas.
Hesse, Suzanne. The Victorian Ideal: Male Characters in Jane Eyre and Villette. The
Victorian Web. N.p., 21 Apr. 2004. Web. 2 May 2016.
<http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/bronte/cbronte/hesse1.html>.
Housman, Alfred Edward. When I Was One-and-Twenty. 1896. Element of Literature:
Sixth Course, Literature of Britain with World Classics. N.p.: Holt, Rinehart and Winston,
2002. 863. Print.
Quinn, Emma Foye. Sexing The Male: Manifestations Of Masculinity In Jane Eyre,
Wuthering Heights, And Villette. Digital Commons - Bucknell.edu. N.p., 8 May 2014.

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Web. 2 May 2016. <http://digitalcommons.bucknell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?
article=1264&context=honors_theses>.
Smart, Graeme, and Amelia Yeates. Introduction: Victorian masculinities. Literature Resource
Center. N.p., Sept. 2008. Web. 2 May 2016. <http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE
%7CA195134564&v=2.1&u=eldorado&it=r&p=LitRC&sw=w&asid=70d5e3351f60d1e94744c
2a2de41c0db>.