Abstract
Jane Eyre is a novel written in the early nineteenth century (1847). It depicts the English society of the upper, middle and lower class and their habits and attitudes towards life. The opening of the novel points to social class, wealth and marriage as its major theme. Throughout the novel, the relationship between social awareness of class and marriage, especially dealing with money or property are highlighted, the reason why society tends to consider about social class, money and property in finding a suitable partner to marry. This paper relies on the examples from the novel to show how nineteenth-century women imagined their marriage. In terms of women�s social rights and roles, Charlotte Bronte tries to open readers' eyes to the idea that women's abilities should not be limited only to the sphere of the family. Bronte�s novel does not only attack Victorian class structure but also the issue of gender. �Keywords : marriage, wealth, property, women�s roles, gender
Highlights
This sentence from the last chapter of Jane Eyre can be seen as a Bronte's view of ideal marriage
[T]here was dawning in the nineteenth century the reluctant knowledge that the institution of marriage was seriously flawed,[E]ven more the novels of Victorian women writers clearly suggest that the economic and social bases of marriage were being threatened by the changing values of the Victorian age; time and again, married union is envisioned as an insecure and tormenting state, susceptible to the same upheavals which are breaking down the traditional social values everywhere (Barbara Weiss as cited in Dupras, 1998: 398)
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë comes as a protest against the social conventions restricting the position of women and their reliance on marriage for gaining social standing in the nineteenth century
Summary
“My bride is here,” he said....”because my equal is here, and my likeness. Jane, will you marry me?” (Bronte 267). In Jane Eyre novel, the female protagonist tries to struggle to get married in convenience. It is very difficult, regarding their social status, property, family's connection and the conventional perception about marriage in the society, the female protagonist can be together with her chosen partner in a marriage of equality. It seems that Jane Eyre as the author uses the theme of marriage as a critique of the status of women in the nineteenth century. Since marriage was one of the dominant focuses of women at that time, this paper will analyze the representation of marriage in the nineteenth century, especially in relation to position of unmarried women of the middle class
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