The Submissive Aspect in Jane Eyre

The Submissive Aspect in Jane Eyre
Jane Eyre is a novel written by Charlotte Bronte, an English woman novelist in the 19th century. This story is set in England in the 19th century. It starts with the
ill-treatment that the heroine Jane Eyre gets in her au nt’s family and her rebellious actions towards it. The story goes on with her experience in a cruel and inhumane charitable institution “Lowood”, where she suffers coldness and starvation and witnesses death, but luckily gains knowledge. After eight years’ training in Lowood, six as a student and two as a teacher, Jane leaves Lowood and seeks a position as a governess in Thornfield. It is in Thornfield that she meets her future husband, Edward Rochester, but on their wedding day Edward is proved to be a married man. In facing this situation, Jane leaves Edward. But later, when Edward’s wife dies and Edward is disabled, Jane returns to Edward and takes the responsibility to look after him. In the end, they get married and live a happy life.
In this novel, Jane Eyre is depicted as a woman rebelling against convention. This can be clearly seen in her relationship with Edward Rochester. When she finds that she has fallen in love with Edward, a man at her father’s age, she bravely expresses her love rather than cowers back, not letting age become the barrier of love. When she receives her master’s love, she refuses those easily-obtained fortune or wealth but insists on being a governess all the same and earning her own living, holding the belief that a woman should be independent in a family. Although in this novel, Charlotte does successfully create such an unconventional woman, the unconventionality is not thorough, because the submissive aspects in Jane’s character can still be seen.
First of all, she succumbs to people’s opinions on women’s appearance. She sticks to the belief that beauty is indispensable in forming a perfect lady. Being a plain-looking girl, Jane has a strong inferiority complex about her look, even when she becomes a well-educated lady. When li ving in her aunt’s family, she attributes her
dislike by the family partly to her plain appearance. She mentions that if she was handsome, her aunt would endure her presence more complacently; her cousins would entertain for her more of the cordiality of fellow-feeling; the servants would be less prone to make her the scapegoat of the nursery. When being a governess in Thornfield and seeing Miss Ingram, she feels incompetence to win Edward’s love against such a beautiful lady at first sight. Then in the party, she carefully observes Miss Ingram and Edward, and in her mind strongly expresses the feeling that they don’t truly love each other and Miss Ingram doesn’t suit Edward in personality. As to this point, it shows Jane’s jealousy about Miss Ingram’s beaut y. She seems to declare that if she has beauty, she can no doubt win Edward’s love. And this can be further proved in her later declaration of love to Edward. She says that: 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.
In addition, she gives in to the traditional emphasis on women’s chastity. On the wedding day of Jane and Edward, Jane surprisingly knows that Edward has a living wife. Though she witnesses the insanity of his wife and realizes the hard life that Edward lived with such a mad woman, she refuses to marry him in that situation. Regardless of Edward’s confess and entreaty, Jane leaves him. If Jane was thoroughly unconventional, she could accept Edward’s love and becomes a mistress and then lives a carefree life with her beloved Edward, but she doesn't do this. She can’t accept being a mistress. As a woman, she regards legal marriage status the precondition in the combination of a man and a woman.
Last but not least, she bends her knee to God. In this story, God always appears when Jane can’t make her decision, and each time she chooses to follow the God’s direction. When Jane is deep in dilemma whether to stay or leave after the cancellation of the wedding ceremony, it is the God’s voice that ultimately leads her leaving Edward. Later in the moor house, she submits herself to St. John, a devotional God admirer, doing many harsh tasks and trying her best to meet his requirements,
though these are not favorable to her. After St. John proposes to Jane several times, Jane is bewildered. She can’t decide whether to live in England to keep her love for Edward or follow St. John to a far-away place to do divine missions. At this time, she asks a favor from God. If she didn't hear Edward’s call, most probably she would follow St. John to fulfill God’s mission as long as life endures if God directs her to do so.
Jane Eyre is one of my favorite books. In this novel, Charlotte creates a successful woman character: Jane Eyre. She is self-respecting and independent, but also has the submissive aspects as a woman. If you are interested in people of such characteristics, this book is a good choice for you to consider.。