Masculinity in Charlotte Brontes Jane Eyre :: Charlotte Bronte Jane Eyre Essays

Masculinity in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre Throughout the novel 'Jane Eyre' we meet 5 male characters. Immediately we can notice that the number of female characters outweighs the number of male characters. It feels as though BrontÃÆ'Â « is trying to tell us that overall women will come out more influential and powerful than men. Indeed power is what our male characters have in common. Their power however alters from character to character. This is the common version of masculinity portrayed by Bront throughout 'Jane Eyre'. Many men at the time of the novel were very powerful, this power varied from wealth, influential positions and even whom you knew. Women were not entitled to their own opinions and their husbands or fathers made all the decisions. Jane however defies the conventions of the time. She has her own opinions and is not prepared to take orders from the powerful men in the novel. With power comes other traits, and this is where we can differentiate between the characters. Brocklehurst and St John both have power through the position they hold (Brocklehurst being in charge of the girls' school and St John being a parson), whereas John Reed and Rochester have power through wealth. Mr Lloyd (the apothecary) is perhaps the only man in the novel without any real power and he is the only person who listens to Jane. Rochester's masculinity is the most important, as he represents the best and worst of a man. His masculinity is typical of this period and he is shown ordering Jane around, 'bring me my horse', most women were obliging to men as they were the authority in society, although Jane resents this authority and wants to do things her own way. So from this we can see that the masculinity he shows typical of the time and incredibly dominant and powerful over women in the novel, especially Jane. As the novel progresses however Rochester becomes less masculine during the fire at Thornfield he loses everything, here we can compare him to Jane because; at the beginning she too doesn't have anything. In loosing everything he loses his masculinity and power. He no longer has his house, 'I saw blackened ruins'. His house is part of his power and this is no longer there. He also looses his sight and his hand, Jane becomes his, 'eyes and hands', and Rochester is reliant on her, 'I led him out of the wet wild wood'. The role of the dominant one is reversed. Here Rochester shows very little masculinity as he is now not in charge. Jane saves Rochester but equally he saves her, from St Masculinity in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre :: Charlotte Bronte Jane Eyre Essays Masculinity in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre Throughout the novel 'Jane Eyre' we meet 5 male characters. Immediately we can notice that the number of female characters outweighs the number of male characters. It feels as though BrontÃÆ'Â « is trying to tell us that overall women will come out more influential and powerful than men. Indeed power is what our male characters have in common. Their power however alters from character to character. This is the common version of masculinity portrayed by Bront throughout 'Jane Eyre'. Many men at the time of the novel were very powerful, this power varied from wealth, influential positions and even whom you knew. Women were not entitled to their own opinions and their husbands or fathers made all the decisions. Jane however defies the conventions of the time. She has her own opinions and is not prepared to take orders from the powerful men in the novel. With power comes other traits, and this is where we can differentiate between the characters. Brocklehurst and St John both have power through the position they hold (Brocklehurst being in charge of the girls' school and St John being a parson), whereas John Reed and Rochester have power through wealth. Mr Lloyd (the apothecary) is perhaps the only man in the novel without any real power and he is the only person who listens to Jane. Rochester's masculinity is the most important, as he represents the best and worst of a man. His masculinity is typical of this period and he is shown ordering Jane around, 'bring me my horse', most women were obliging to men as they were the authority in society, although Jane resents this authority and wants to do things her own way. So from this we can see that the masculinity he shows typical of the time and incredibly dominant and powerful over women in the novel, especially Jane. As the novel progresses however Rochester becomes less masculine during the fire at Thornfield he loses everything, here we can compare him to Jane because; at the beginning she too doesn't have anything. In loosing everything he loses his masculinity and power. He no longer has his house, 'I saw blackened ruins'. His house is part of his power and this is no longer there. He also looses his sight and his hand, Jane becomes his, 'eyes and hands', and Rochester is reliant on her, 'I led him out of the wet wild wood'. The role of the dominant one is reversed. Here Rochester shows very little masculinity as he is now not in charge. Jane saves Rochester but equally he saves her, from St