Power In Jane Eyre

When Jane Eyre was first published by Charlotte Brontë in Victorian England, it was viewed as revolutionary. In the modern era, despite rapid changes in the role of women in both the home and workplace, the novel is still regarded as one of the greatest works of feminist literature worldwide. Brontë expertly presents power struggles between her narrator, Jane, and men, alongside conflicts with society as a whole in order to produce an overall theme of female empowerment. Within this passage specifically, Brontë alludes to her novel’s central theme by sparking a conflict between Jane and Mr. Rochester, her then employer, and through allowing the scene to characterize each of them through their respective dialogue and tone. However, through her …show more content…
Her decision to include Jane’s internal monologue adds to the development of the motif of equality through establishing that her silence is not a trademark of dumbness, but one of stubbornness and a desire to be treated as Rochester’s equal. Jane does not wish to be manipulated into thinking that she is more than an employee to Rochester, as he attempts to do. Instead, through her silence, she forces him to express a genuine interest in her if he wants a response. This situation orchestrates a significant power shift between the two. This is depicted in Rochester’s last line in the passage, where he requests that she leave superiority out of the question and “still agree to receive my orders now and then, without being piqued or hurt by tone of command.” At this point within the passage, Jane has managed to force Rochester into relinquishing some of his inherent power through being both her employer and a rich man by making him forget that ultimately, he pays her to do exactly what he has spent the entire passage trying to coerce her into doing. Brontë successfully implements the motif of equality throughout this passage through creating a power vacuum, thus permitting her narrator to become equal with Mr.