Social Class

Question 1

Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong!—I have as much soul as you—and full as much heart! And if God had gifted me with some beauty and much wealth, I should have made it as hard for you to leave me, as it is now for me to leave you.”

Answer 1

Jane herself speaks out against class prejudice at certain moments in the book. However, it is also important to note that nowhere in Jane Eyre are society’s boundaries bent. Ultimately, Jane is only able to marry Rochester as his equal because she has almost magically come into her own inheritance from her uncle.

Question 2

Context

Answer 2

Jane Eyre is critical of Victorian England’s strict social hierarchy. Brontë’s exploration of the complicated social position of governesses is perhaps the novel’s most important treatment of this theme. Jane is a figure of ambiguous class standing and, consequently, a source of extreme tension for the characters around her.

Question 3

Context - governess

Answer 3

Jane’s manners, sophistication, and education are those of an aristocrat, because Victorian governesses, who tutored children in etiquette as well as academics, were expected to possess the “culture” of the aristocracy. Yet, as paid employees, they were more or less treated as servants; thus, Jane remains penniless and powerless while at Thornfield.

Question 4

Jane and Rochester marrying

Answer 4

Jane’s understanding of the double standard crystallizes when she becomes aware of her feelings for Rochester; she is his intellectual, but not his social, equal. Even before the crisis surrounding Bertha Mason, Jane is hesitant to marry Rochester because she senses that she would feel indebted to him for “condescending” to marry her. Jane’s distress, which appears most strongly in Chapter 17, seems to be Brontë’s critique of Victorian class attitudes.

Question 5

Reeds

Answer 5

Exclude Jane until she “ acquired a more sociable and childlike disposition “ Mr R

Treat Jane poorly only cling to her for thier wealth

Question 6

No society boundaries are bent

Answer 6

Jane only able to marry R as his equal cuz of his inheritance
Jane re fueses to become R mistress despite he was tricked into marriage
She refuses to make herslef an outcast for love

Bronte does this to undermine social classes and say personal qualities more important than class

Question 7

Jane as governess

Answer 7

Important part of the theme
Interacts with people from every clsss
Manners and sophistication and education of an aristocrat = vast social landscape

Question 8

Figure of ambiguous class

Answer 8

Causes tension for characters around her
Victorian governess expected to possess ‘ culture ‘ of aristocracy
yet paid as employees
Treated as servants = powerless and penniless

Question 9

Blanche as a match for R

Answer 9

Socially better
Criticises and shames governess due to her higher class