JANE EYRE

FEMINISM PARADIGM

FEMINIST FEMALE
FEMININE

At first, Jane never She confronted her Aunt and told her
Jane realized to defend herself to
complained on cruelty she that her Aunt was the one telling lies
all the false accusations and
received from her own aunt about her character. Jane then
maltreatment done by her Aunt
Reed and cousins. commanded her aunt to send her to
against her.
School because she no longer wanted
to live with her in their house.
Jane fell in love with her master Mr.
Jane discovered that Mr.
Rochester. Because of love and
Rochester was already married.
respect, she obeyed her lover’s request She ran away from him without
She knew that it’s a sin to dwell in
and command. his knowing and started a new
his presence.
journey by herself.

St. John asked Jane to his wife Jane realized that she cannot Jane went back to Thornfield and
and accompanied her in his forever abandon the man she looked for Rochester which she
missionary work in India. She loves dearly. found at Ferndean.
was almost convinced by him
but she heard the voice of
Rochester calling her name in
the dark.

Student Name Theme: A woman is refined by her struggles;shapen by inequalities and

guided by her inner voice.
Professor’s Name

Subject

Date

A literary analysis on the novel ‘Jane Eyre’ by Charlotte Bronte using the Feminism approach

A Feminist criticism comes from variety of forms and feminist critics have different objectives. As cited by Purdue Online

Writing Lab, Feminism looks into consideration “the ways in which literature (and other cultural productions) reinforce or

undermine the economic, political, social and psychological oppression on women” (Tyson 83).

In the novel, Jane is an orphaned, poor, unloved, unbeautiful living in an extreme economic, political, social and psychological

oppression but through hard work and perseverance, she gains intellectual and psychological freedom, economic independence and

frees from societal norms.

Showalter, in A Literat ure of Their O wn (1977), provides a comprehensive overview of women's writing through three

phases these are the "Feminine, Feminist, and Female" phases which will be utilized in the analysis of the novel ‘Jane Eyre’.

Mambrol (2016), cites, women writers in the feminist phase imitate the modes of the dominant tradition. In this phase women are seen

to be obedient to the norm of social values. However, during the feminist phase, women started to protest for standards and values and

a call for autonomy. Lastly, the female phase stands for women self-discovery — turning inward free from’ some of the dependency

of opposition and a search for identity.

 The paradigm above illustrates the three phases of feminism in the novel ‘Jane Eyre’. During the Feminine stage, Jane

knows her responsibility as a woman and is satisfied with the kind of life she had. Though she experiences abuses and hardships, she

never complains but obediently complies with the task and the responsibility that has given to her. Whereas in the Feminist phase,

Jane’s realization comes over her so as to wrestle with her emotions with the circumstances that she faces all the way through. She

now becomes conscious with the pains and suffering she has encountered and takes in consideration that something is wrong. And

finally, in the Female phase, Jane arrives to self-discovery and is now resolved to make solution to her problem. She does not only lay

her plan and solution but put them into words and action.

Through these phases we can clearly perceives how Jane get along with her struggles from leaving her abusive Aunt

Reed at Gateshead, staying at Lowood School, residing at Thornfield, settling at the Moor house and finally her way back home to

Ferndean where she lives happily ever after with the man she loved.

Thus, Jane Eyre surmounts all the oppression and discrimination she encountered through her instilled strong sense of

self-reliance, independence, integrity, and personal ethics that allows her to recognize the unfairness of many societal conventions.

She rejects the qualitative judgments of society and stands for her right as a human being with an independent free will.

In chapter 12 of the novel Jane says: 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 efforts as much as their brothers do; they suffer from too rigid a restraint,

too absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffer; and it is narrow-minded in their more privileged fellow-creatures to say that
they ought to confine themselves to making puddings and knitting stockings, to playing on the piano and embroidering bags. 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 idea clearly expresses Jane’s feminist philosophy during her time.

To conclude, ‘Jane Eyre’ defines woman is shapen by inequalities; refined by her struggles; and guided by her inner
voice.

Work Cited:

Purdue University. (n.d.). Feminist criticism. Retrieved from:

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/writing_in_literature/literary_theory_and_schools_of_criticism/feminist_criticism
.html

Mambrol, Nasrullah. (2016). Literary theory and criticism. Retrieved from: https://literariness.org/2016/09/24/elaine-showalter-as-a-
feminist-critic/