Carmen Laskay EN 355 Comer Final Paper Rough Draft 2 Marxists believe, according to Terry Eagleton in Marxism and

nd Literary Criticism, that any work of art is not only impacted by the historical era that created it but also that it is a writers duty to assert political influence to perpetuate the cause of the Marxists (Eagleton, 35). Although Marx and Engles both argue for objective partisanship, literature should shed light without offering solutions or choosing sides (43). This view of socialist realism works under the concept that literature is in a sense a reflection of life itself, at least of the type of life that belongs to the dominating class of the time (46). The effect of this is seen in the social changes that occur during the Industrial Revolution and way in which Jane Eyre is depicted in Bronts novel of the same name. Due to the changes that occur during the Industrial Revolution, in particular the separation between home and the work place, the question of what a womans role is in society and within a household arises. Harriet Bradley discusses two differing notions of this role in Changing Social Structures: Class and Gender. Alice Clark argued that women during the seventeenth century, prior to the Industrial Revolution, were partners to their spouses providing to the economic well being of the family, womens economic contribution gave them a comparable status to that of men and a good degree of independence. The separation of work and home life, according to Clark, in turn made women dependent on their spouses and ultimately led to gender bias in regards to work (183). Interestingly Edward Shorter argues the opposite opinion. Shorter feels that a womans ability to leave the home for an hourly wage (industrialization) frees her from dependency on her spouse or father as well as from the demands of domestic life (184). Both Shorter and Clark, as

well as Charlotte Bronts Jane Eyre, bring up a problem which Victorians named the woman question: what would be the appropriate social role for women in the new industrialized society (185). This question is so pervasive of the era that a comment by Robert Southey, a contemporary of Bronts, nearly kept her from writing altogether. He insisted that there are distinct and separate duties for each of the sexes and that a woman who is giving her domestic chores their just due has no time to pursue the arts with any degree of success (Bront, 6). The England of Bronts time is marked by much change. The middle class is on the rise and with more industry; wealth is no longer defined by the amount of land one owns. The novel, a relatively new literary form, is on the rise and possesses the power to influence the view of the people on gender, class, and the nature of subjectivity (8). Novels of this era commonly idealized women as domestic goddesses, a reprieve to their husbands when they leave the morally corrupting, physically dirty world of the hourly wage earner. Women are the antithesis of the living hell of the work world. They are completely selfless; their families are the focus of all their attention and labors. Idealized middle class women establish the superiority of their class by making the home a place of order, tranquility, pristine cleanliness, and moral purity (9). Bronts descriptions of Miss Temple align themselves to this idealized image. In the following passage not only does Helen Burns fawn over Miss Temples virtues but in doing so epitomizes all of the gentile nature so desirable in a proper middle class lady, the kind of lady she aspires to be. Miss Temple is full of goodness; it pains her to be severe to any one, even the worst in the school: she sees my errors, and tells me of them gently; and, if I do anything worth of praise, she gives me my meed liberally. One strong proof of my wretchedly defective nature is, that even her expostulations, so mild, so rational, have not influence to cure me of my faults; and even her praise, though I value it most highly, cannot stimulate me to continued care and foresight (66)

Amidst these social changes, Bront creates the character of Jane Eyre who, like many women of the era, is on a journey to discover her place in the world. From the beginning of the novel, Jane views herself as an outsider. Her aunt and uncle adopt her after the death of her parents and her aunt reluctantly is left to raise her after the uncles death. It is her intrusion into the family that Jane uses to excuse the mistreatment she suffers within the Reed household. How could she really like and interloper not of her race, and unconnected with her, after her husbands death, by any tie? It must have been most irksome to find herself bound by a hard-wrung pledge to stand in the stead of a parent to a strange child she could not love, and to see an uncongenial alien permanently intruded on her own family group (28) Despite a dreadful first meeting with Mr. Brocklehurst (43) and after being told that she does not belong at Gateshead Hall by Abbot, one of the servants (35) Jane looks forward to the new life she will have when she leaves for school (37). In spite of her upbringing as an unwanted burden on the Reed family Jane has a keen sense of her own self worth as well as societys view of how a young lady ought to treat others. Jane, knowing that she will be leaving Gateshead, finally puts her patroness in her place but immediately chastises herself for it. A child cannot quarrel with its elders, as I had done; cannot give furious feelings uncontrolled play (48) This instance gives readers a glimpse of the journey Jane is beginning in determining who she is, her role in the world and whether or not she will conform her choice of self and place with those of society. During her first days at Lowood Institution, she remains isolated and observes the goings on around her much as a foreigner visiting who wishes to acquaint herself with local custom. She ultimately approaches Helen Burns, who becomes her best friend at the school as well as a resource for proper behavior. After gaining factual information about the school and its inmates, Helen informs Jane you ask rather too many questions when Jane begins to get personal with

her (59-61). Jane struggles against her own natural tendency to love those that treat her well and dislike or enact revenge on those who are unjust to her. Helen schools her in the proper manner explaining that her ideas are not Christian or even civil. It is not violence that best overcomes hate nor vengeance that most certainly heals injury. It is during this moment that Helen becomes the voice of the Christian, civilized base extant of the era (67). Jane begins to despair after a visit to the school by Mr. Brockelhurst. She worries that no one will give her a chance after he announces to the whole school how her excellent patroness was obliged to separate her from her own young ones, fearing lest her vicious example should contaminate their purity (76). This scene and Miss Temples response to it, (We shall think what you prove yourself to be, my child. Continue to act as a good girl, and you will satisfy me.) renew Janes hopes and instill in her the trait of reserving judgment. Jane feels at home in Lowood regardless of the poor living conditions. She watches many of her classmates succumb to the cold, lack of proper nourishment, and improper hygiene. She watches her beloved Helen pass away due to Tuberculosis and consequently clings more strongly to Miss Temple. It is Miss Temples marriage and consequent leaving of Lowood that ends Janes contentment. From the day she left I was no longer the same: with her was gone every settled feeling, every association that had made Lowood in some degree a home to me. Jane has discovered, at the tender age of eighteen, that home is not a place to her but rather revolves around companionship. Jane lives in a time in which more and more women are relying on their husbands and families for their livelihood. Jane has neither of these to rely on and so she seeks employment,

she advertises for a governess post and shortly thereafter sets off for Thornfield (95-101). Both the Reeds and Jane serve as examples of Bradleys description of women of the era. Wives of the gentry and the entrepreneurs increasingly led a life of privileged idleness, which has been describe as the gilded cage. Only women in poorer families of, say, tradesmen or professionals, who did not succeed in finding a husband would be expected to earn, and these faced an unhappy future because of the very limited range of jobs considered respectable enough for genteel women. Governessing was one such job, but it was ill-paid and commanded little social respect (201). Aunt Reed, although a widow, has her late husbands money to sustain her. Jane, having severed herself from the Reeds, has little choice but to work as a teacher or governess. Jane, like anyone beginning a new chapter in their lives, finds herself not very tranquil in my mind (101). Her first reassurance comes from Mrs. Fairfax and the new knowledge that she is not Thornfields owner but rather just the manager. Social convention is the source of this reassurance. The equality between her and me was real; not the mere result of condescension on her part: so much the better my position was all the freer (107-108).

Works Cited Bradley, Harriet. Changing Social Structures: Class and Gender. Formations of Modernity. Ed. Stuart Hall and Bram Gieben. Cambridge, England: Polity Press, 1992. 178-228. Print. Bront, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 1996. Print. Eagleton, Terry. Marxism and Literary Criticism. London: Routledge, 1976. Print.