The sacred nature of womanhood is one that is deeply saturated with biblical, canonical, and cultural implications; the value of an individual woman during the Victorian Era was not determined so much by individual qualities, but rather piety and ability to fall gracefully into her determined social station. Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre has been examined by literary critics ad nauseam for its feminist qualities, racial implications, and social commentary. Moreover, when considering Jane Eyre, readers instantly consider how the prevalence of religion interacts with the text’s potential feminist qualities, racial implications, and social commentary. Jane Eyre is a text that, through the life of strange, intelligent Jane Eyre, examines religion
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Acting as sort of “bookends” for Jane’s narrative, Helen and Bertha provide relevant foils to help the reader understand where Jane is at in her mission to self-discovery. Moreover, the “spectrum of piety”--that is observable throughout the portrayal of these two static and supporting female characters--help give Jane Eyre massive political and social relevance to understanding the feminist connection between femininity and religious involvement. Despite being penned during the Victorian Era--a time period associated with repression--Jane Eyre exhibits profound commentary on race, social station, and gender equality. When examining the Bible verse Corinthians 11:11, “For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man” , a reader who has recently read Jane Eyre should find this statement problematic. How could female characters with the amount of thematic clout that the characters in Jane Eyre hold be simply complements to men? The qualities that make womanhood a nearly sacred topic today are bound in mystery, not out of fear, but out of previous oppression. Jane’s memorable and literary journey to self-discovery opened up the world of Literature to the womb-bearing reader; moreover, it subliminally gave authors permission to pen more dynamic female characters that would continue to revolutionize feminist Literature. Although Jane Eyre may present a few issues to feminists today, the text is responsible for much of the feminist development that has occurred in Literature. Revolutions help one step at a time. Readers should thank Jane Eyre for taking the first few
Acting as sort of “bookends” for Jane’s narrative, Helen and Bertha provide relevant foils to help the reader understand where Jane is at in her mission to self-discovery. Moreover, the “spectrum of piety”--that is observable throughout the portrayal of these two static and supporting female characters--help give Jane Eyre massive political and social relevance to understanding the feminist connection between femininity and religious involvement. Despite being penned during the Victorian Era--a time period associated with repression--Jane Eyre exhibits profound commentary on race, social station, and gender equality. When examining the Bible verse Corinthians 11:11, “For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man” , a reader who has recently read Jane Eyre should find this statement problematic. How could female characters with the amount of thematic clout that the characters in Jane Eyre hold be simply complements to men? The qualities that make womanhood a nearly sacred topic today are bound in mystery, not out of fear, but out of previous oppression. Jane’s memorable and literary journey to self-discovery opened up the world of Literature to the womb-bearing reader; moreover, it subliminally gave authors permission to pen more dynamic female characters that would continue to revolutionize feminist Literature. Although Jane Eyre may present a few issues to feminists today, the text is responsible for much of the feminist development that has occurred in Literature. Revolutions help one step at a time. Readers should thank Jane Eyre for taking the first few