Jan 17, 2016
Love vs Autonomy a quest to be loved, to be
valued1, while remaining herself
when she finds it (Rochester’s proposal) she refuses it for fear of losing her integrity in favour of emotional gratification
at Moor House: economically independent, but she’s offered a loveless partnership
events at Moor House: tests of Jane’s autonomy, until she’ll prove her self-sufficiency to herself and will be able to engage in a completely symmetrical relationship with Rochester
Religion three main religious figures:
Brocklehurst
Helen Burns
St.John Rivers
each representing a model she refuses
Brocklehurst: Evangelicalism
full of false rhetoric; inflicts privations and humiliations on the girls while living in luxury
Helen Burns
recognizes the holiness of her behaviour, but also knows it is too passive to be adopted by herself
St.John Rivers
sacrifice, but also ambition, glory, self-importance
urges Jane to sacrifice her emotional fulfilment in favour of moral duty
by adopting that model she would be disloyal to herself
Religion as a personal choice
she refuses those models of religion but not Christianity and morality
several examples in which she relies on God for help and comfort
finally she finds her own way: a religion not hateful and oppressive like Brocklehurst’s, nor self-effacing and ambitious like Helen’s and St.John’s
a help to keep immoderate passions under control; a spur in worldly efforts and achievements
Social Class criticism of Victorian social hierarchy
exploration of the complex social position of governesses
contrast between her refined manners and her low social standing
tension reaches its climax in Jane’s relationship with Rochester: equal intellectually, but not socially1
however, she never really questions the organization of society
Gender Relations constant fight against patriarchal domination, against
the idea of the inferiority of women, embodied by three different figures: Brocklehurst, Rochester, St.John
each of them tries to dominate her
in her quest for independence she escapes Brocklehurst, rejects St.John, comes to Rochester only after they can marry as equals
she will not depend on him either emotionally or financially
articulates what at the time was felt as a radically feminist philosophy (Chapter 12)1