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Living Section of the San Bernardino SUN March 6, 2005 Issue 
Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte c1847 
"Jane Eyre" - A New Perspective March is Women's History Month and therefore a month to celebrate women. For that reason I've decided to dedicate the entire month to reading and reviewing books about women. A backward glance at literature reveals that most of it deals with women's issues anyway. The acclaimed novels such as Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina," Flaubert's "Madame Bovary," Zola's "Nana,"- the list is endless - are about women victimized by male dominance and the social conventions and restrictions of their times. The study of such novels contributes to our understanding of the history of women. Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre" however, has always eluded my understanding. I first read it in Bulgaria, in the summer of 1961, when my parents were making the final arrangements for our immigration to the United States. I knew nothing about 19th century English culture and consequently, could not relate to the book at all. Life in a communist society was so different, that I could not even begin to fathom Jane Eyre's life. Most women - mothers or not - worked outside the home. My mother was one of the very few mothers that was unemployed and that was because she was not allowed to work. "Unsuitable to teach the children of communism -wife of a theologian and a clergyman," stated the rejection letter she received after applying for an elementary school teaching position. Girls were expected to get jobs when they grew up just like boys were expected to do. Until I came to the U.S., I had never heard of the notion that marriage was supposed to be the purpose of a girl's life. That is precisely why I could not understand "Jane Eyre." Jane Eyre is an impoverished orphan who accepts the position of governess in the household of the mysterious Mr. Rochester. Some rather spooky and sinister things are going on in the household underneath the pleasant appearances. Mr. Rochester himself is a glum individual. In spite of all sorts of highly suspect occurrences and his gloomy personality, Jane falls in love with him and accepts his marriage proposal. But just as they are to say their marriage vows, it is revealed that Mr. Rochester is married and that he keeps his wife locked up in the attic because she is insane. When I first read "Jane Eyre," I couldn't understand how she can fall in love with such a self-centered, rude and depressed man. I also couldn't understand why Jane accepted his explanation about his wife's insanity so readily, why didn't she wonder if he might have done something to drive her to madness. Yeas later I would read "Jane Eyre" in English and learn about its importance. Both, Jane and Rochester were a novelty in English literature for the time period it was written. He is an antihero and she is neither beautiful nor charming but rather spunky, which today, we would call having an attitude. Also, for the first time in English literature, the protagonists were openly and intensely passionate. The society in which Jane Eyre lived was very cruel to women. Rochester and Jane succeed in marrying when his wife dies conveniently. I would have understood better Jane's marriage to Rochester had she not had other options for survival. But, as it usually happens in novels of that period, Jane suddenly inherits a great deal of money providing her with independence and leverage. I felt that Jane's desire to serve her "master" (she frequently calls Rochester that) masqueraded as love for him. Years later I would also discover that I was not alone in questioning Rochester's role in his wife's insanity. In "Wide Sargasso Sea," a prequel to "Jane Eyre," Jean Rhys conjures up what might have happened between Rochester and his Creole wife and how he might have driven her to madness. Rochester's first wife is a victim of a world ruled by men, a society in which women are men's subjects. In that arranged marriage, her inheritance goes to Rochester for the privilege of securing as husband an English aristocrat. At book's end Jane Eyre tells us that she and Rochester have had ten years of wedded bliss. But I can't help wondering if at some future point he would manage to drive her to madness too with his domineering, volatile and controlling nature? Ophelia Georgiev Roop Library Director San Bernardino Public Library |
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