Literary masterpiece Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë creates the perfect novel to review from a social and economic position. Starting poor and dependent on the none-so-kind Reed family for food and shelter, Jane Eyre progresses in both social status and economic wealth through her time at Lowood, into Thornfield, past Moor House and the economic prosperity that it brings, and finally into happiness she finds back at the crippled Mr. Rochester. Throughout the novel, Brontë expresses a number of ideas about the dynamics of economic standing and how it directly correlates to social status in Victorian culture; however, Brontë often uses Jane to break the traditional rules of class standing and economic position to present an interesting and culture
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Brontë produces this effect in a number of ways. For one, characters that are described as physically beautiful or appealing seem to have quality of character that is actually appalling. For example, Blanche Ingram is described as a beautiful lady of rank, yet she has a truly nasty spirit with her remarks she makes towards Jane. In contrast with Blanche Ingram, Jane describes herself as rather plain and not beautiful; clearly however, Jane has a much more respectable character despite the class difference between Jane and Ingram. Beauty throughout the novel represents class and wealth, and it is not accident that Brontë describes those with physical beauty as characters with poor integrity. Additionally, Jane Eyre presents the idea that social class does not correlate to character simply through Jane’s actions and presence throughout the novel. Brontë sets the character Jane Eyre to be a free floating spirit that seems to break all social norms of the time period, as she was an independent woman, traverser of social classes, and judged people based on their integrity, not their class standing. In an essay written by Robert Reese, Reese describes Jane Eyre and Jane as “[exploring] the possibility that class relationships have no absolute boundaries that cannot be crossed… Jane is placed in between economic classes and drifts among the lower, middle, and upper classes of Victorian England” (Reese). In this statement, Reese is touching on the aforementioned topic of class not defining character perfectly. Not matter what social class Jane happens to occupy or what conditions are laid out before her, Brontë always keeps Jane’s character the same. By these examples, the inverse relationship between physical beauty and character, and the way Jane floats between classes but has an undying moral character, Brontë effectively
Brontë produces this effect in a number of ways. For one, characters that are described as physically beautiful or appealing seem to have quality of character that is actually appalling. For example, Blanche Ingram is described as a beautiful lady of rank, yet she has a truly nasty spirit with her remarks she makes towards Jane. In contrast with Blanche Ingram, Jane describes herself as rather plain and not beautiful; clearly however, Jane has a much more respectable character despite the class difference between Jane and Ingram. Beauty throughout the novel represents class and wealth, and it is not accident that Brontë describes those with physical beauty as characters with poor integrity. Additionally, Jane Eyre presents the idea that social class does not correlate to character simply through Jane’s actions and presence throughout the novel. Brontë sets the character Jane Eyre to be a free floating spirit that seems to break all social norms of the time period, as she was an independent woman, traverser of social classes, and judged people based on their integrity, not their class standing. In an essay written by Robert Reese, Reese describes Jane Eyre and Jane as “[exploring] the possibility that class relationships have no absolute boundaries that cannot be crossed… Jane is placed in between economic classes and drifts among the lower, middle, and upper classes of Victorian England” (Reese). In this statement, Reese is touching on the aforementioned topic of class not defining character perfectly. Not matter what social class Jane happens to occupy or what conditions are laid out before her, Brontë always keeps Jane’s character the same. By these examples, the inverse relationship between physical beauty and character, and the way Jane floats between classes but has an undying moral character, Brontë effectively