Jane Eyre Feminist Criticism

I chose to do the Feminist Criticism for Jane Eyre because in the story, Jane is affected in her life because she is a woman. In Jane Eyre, people were separated into classes which affected what kind of jobs they were given. If you were a servant, they would do all the housekeeping jobs and taking care of the children. On the other end of the classes are the wealthy women. They did not have jobs outside or in the homes. The content of the book was not influenced by the writer's gender even though she is a women. This was what women's lives were like in the mid 1800s.

In Jane Eyre and the mid 1800s, men and women were treated very differently. The men were the masters in the house, so they controlled all the money, servants, and their wife and children. Also the men were the ones who had the jobs that made money. As I said before, the women did not have jobs, so they just lived there and obeyed their husband. If the women did misbehave, they were usually punished by getting beaten or locked in a room. Today in life, men and women are pretty much equals.

Women in the mid 1800s were expected to marry if you were in the upper class. If you were in the lower class, you would be expected to get a job and possibly get married. In Jane Eyre, Jane was in the lower class and worked as a governess. She always felt she was not loved, so she wanted to find someone to be her companion that truly loved her. Before she fell in love, she was depressed and was constantly feeling lonely. Once she met Mr. Rochester, her mood changed. Jane was happy and for once in her life she felt like she belonged. Her single status affected some changes like: where she worked and where she was going to go in her life. Jane decided to work at Thornfield for Mr. Rochester and after she fell in love, she made the decision to be with him for the rest of her life.

In Jane Eyre, the main character is Jane Eyre, who is obviously a woman. If the character was switched to a man, the whole story would change. The story line was all about trying to fit in and feel loved as a woman. For a man to do that during the 1800s was a lot easier than a woman. All the man had to do was find a job and a wife, and he would fit in perfectly. Finding jobs were also much easier to find. Some jobs men could be were attorneys, doctors, property owners, merchants, etc. The only jobs women could really do were teachers, servants, housekeepers, etc.