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Independence and Autonomy in Jane Eyre - Online Essay

Independence and Autonomy in Jane Eyre

In Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë gives us a new kind of literary woman, one that thinks, acts, and lives for herself without an excessive amount of wealth, or a high-ranking social class standing. In the course of the novel, we find many qualities within the characters, plot, and powerful dialogues that could indeed disrupt the normal sense of traditional class and position roles within Victorian English society. The book even lends its very name to the main character, a poor, plain governess. This gives voice and importance to what was thought to be a lowly position, held by women whose job it was to instruct the children of much more prominent, privileged families. But Jane's character as ...

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her from the start. As she says to Helen Burns at Lowood School in Chapter 8: “…to gain some real affection from you, or Miss Temple, or any other whom I truly love, I would willingly submit to have the bone of my arm broken, or to let a bull toss me, or to stand behind a kicking horse, and let it dash its hoof at my chest” (Brontë 69). Jane wants to be loved but struggles with finding love clashing with her sense of autonomy with herself.
Throughout the story, Jane teaches us that those whose place is meant to be at the bottom have just as much of a voice as those much higher up, and that those in the lower-class often think poorly of people whose lives are dedicated to wealth and socializing. She often passes judgment on those higher up on the social ladder than she is, commenting on how they are too occupied with how to spend their money to contribute anything of value to the world. Her plain and pious lifestyle, she believes, is the most useful and sensible for a decent ...

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Independence and Autonomy in Jane Eyre. (2011, May 4). Retrieved January 19, 2026, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Independence-and-Autonomy-in-Jane-Eyre/98847

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PAPER DETAILS

Added: 5/4/2011 11:37:29 AM
Submitted By: matthale22
Category: Women's Issues
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 636
Pages: 3

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