Jane Eyre

After reading Frankenstein for one of my modules at university, and finding it shockingly dull, I was very hesitant to read the next text that they had set us. But alas, I begrudgingly continued and read Jane Eyre. I can now safely say that this novel by Charlotte Bronte is the most inspiring and empowering novel that I have ever read. it gave me almost as much girl power as listening to Beyoncé does (because really, who radiates girl power like Queen Bey.)

In this novel, we are introduced to Jane Eyre. Jane is a fiesty girl to say the least. The novel starts with Jane as a child and when told that naughty children go to hell, she responds with "Then I must keep in good health and not die." Even as a child jane is strong and stands up for herself which is refreshing coming from anovel of this time period. Women reading this at the time that this novel was written would have been facing oppression and they didn't even realise that they could do anything about it. Being stuck in a domestic role was normal and being rude to men (especially men of a superior class and position) was outrageous. So having a young Jane Eyre speak back to a dominant figure was a clear statement from Bronte that men are not superior and should not be treated as such.

Throughout this novel, Jane makes it clear to her audience that she is aplain young lady and that she will not be told otherwise. When Rochester attempts to compliment her, she asks that she not be lied to and that she be accepted for the plain, educated girl that she thinks herself to be. This transforms Jane into a fictional role model that young girls can admire. It puts forward the idea of self-acceptance as opposed to the self-deprecation that we are presented with in other novels, such as Jane Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice.'

In actual fact, Kane Eyre is a novel that is dominated by female characters. The only men that we are introduced to in the novel all posess a huge backlog of flaws and unlikebale characteristics. Even Mr Rochester, the apple of our heroin's eye, is rude, foul tempered and tempremental. The female characters that we are introduced to are all strong and dominant. Jane herself is self-assured, wrong willed and independent. Jane's aunt is aggressive and the head of her household. Finally, the mistress at Jane's school is kind yet authoritative. As well as giving her audience plenty of strong female characters, Bronte also expresses the importance of the bond that can exist between women. Throughout the novel, Jane has a number of mother figures, sister figures and even an adopted daughter. Through all of these relationships Bronte explores the idea that women can and will form bonds easier than men will.

Not only did I find myself feeling impressed by Jane's integrity, I also found myseld getting a bit irritated by some of the more submissive female characters in the novel. It made me think that if Jane can stand up for herself then why can't they? It was this very idea that empowered me at the end of the book. So thank you Charlotte Bronte, for I am officially a feminist.