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Analysis of Social Class in Jane Eyre
The novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte is a classical masterpiece, which was an ingenious and critical lens of Victorian culture that inherently upheld class differences. The novel is an explicit reflection of England’s Victorian culture in which hierarchy, especially that depicting social class, held much importance to the society. The plot revolves around Jane’s life, which inherently consists of hardship assaulted by inequality, poignant of the 19th century Victorian age context. In the novel, Bronte vehemently portrays the hierarchal, strict class system that existed in British society in the Victorian era.
The class system depicted the social structures, which defined the modalities of social interactions and associations in the society. In this novel, Bronte implicitly brings out characters reference, fully aware, and within various social statuses. These characters judge each other based on biases and stereotypes ascribed to the positions each character holds in the society. Jane, compared to other characters portrayed in the novel, retains her virtuous standards and morals. Although her social class throughout the story seems ambiguous, Jane continually transforms as life progresses her encounters with hardship. Bronte euphemistically laughs at this society through the sarcastic portrayal of Jane Eyre’s character, indicating that there is no absolute status in class division; individuals like Jane can transcend these socially constructed boundaries. Moreover, Bronte is quick to call for reactions and behaviors that uphold integrity and morality among the upper class people like the Reeds family.
Bronte explores on transformation in which the poor can move from the lower class to the affluent class. Jane shows this when she traverses the social class of the beggar in Moor House to attain status of upper class after she was married at Ferndean. The status of Jane is ambiguous as Bronte depicted before her birth. As Bronte puts her ambiguous status, it stems from her parents as people pointed them to have social ambiguity, something which became Jane’s legacy. Jane’s mother had married a man with lower hierarchy, which translated to a legacy that saw Jane search for identity and position in the Victorian society. Even her time at Gateshead with Reed family is significant to showing a Jane fulfilling the legacy of her parents. The Reeds never recognize her and the entry scene in this novel showcases these class differences through John Reed.
The affluent class during the 19th century relied on the lower class to serve it. This marks the beginning of servitude and denigration of the poor by the upper class. John Reed, a tenacious bully representing the upper class, tells Jane, “…you have no business to take our books; you are a dependent…. You ought to beg, and not live here with gentlemen’s children like us.” The comments after this clash between Jane and John Reed is quite poignant with social class discrimination as Miss Abbot is quick to refer to Jane’s cousin as her ‘young master’ and Jane is depicted as belonging to the servitude class as opposed to her cousins who belong to upper class. In Victorian era, meager living standards and harsh conditions are reflected as the description given to the lower class. The lower class in society like Jane had to serve the upper class to eke a living. Jane symbolizes individuals in the society not contended with their social status. She strove to gain education so as to break the cycle of poverty and inherently elevate her social status. Bronte experiences at that time are brought out through the persona of Jane and advocated for education as the means to traverse from one social class to the other.
The legacy of Jane in the lower class is further exemplified as she secures a job as a governess at the Thornfield Hall. Although Jane, by becoming a governess, elevates her social status, the position is retained between the gradually blurry social classes’ boundaries in the 19th century British society. As a result of Jane’s higher education, the position of governess is depicted as neither fitting the servant class nor the upper class of Adele and Rochester. The position of Jane is portrayed as between the social statuses, and it is further exemplified when Jane meets Rochester. The people’s mindset in the Victorian era was embedded in social status, and this explains the behavior of Rochester after meeting Jane as he speculates on her social position in Thornfield. Readers take note of the way Rochester inherently eliminates Jane’s position as belonging to lower class (servant) and also realizes that she does not belong in the affluent after she tells of the governess position. Social classes in the Victorian age were significant in identifying the relationship people had with one another. Rochester’s relationship with Jane is subtle given that her position hangs between that of upper class and those of servants. The relationship is doomed from the start as Rochester has the superior complex, and this inherently tests the moral values of Jane.
Readers come to grasps with the hierarchal class system that existed during the 19th century as the plot develops in Bronte’s novel. As the Rochester and Jane’s relationship progresses, ending in their engagement, the social status of Jane becomes vaguer. Unlike other ladies from upper class people, treated with respect and having high self-esteem, Jane is treated like an object for admiration and to be commanded by Rochester. Indeed, Rochester immensely contributed the social status of Jane indistinctly by attempting to dress her in fine jewelry and silks. On the other hand, Jane is indifferent and refuses the gifts ascertaining her lower social class. This further allows the gap between Rochester and Jane to widen as she is not used to the life of fine jewelry and silks. Jane is depicted as stubborn and rejects the efforts of Rochester of adorning her. The resistance and rejection of aristocracy shows Jane’s ideals, which are important to her and despite the ascending in the social class, she wants to retain her astute personality.
The marriage of Jane to Rochester showcases a dramatic shift for Jane as she was to attain another social class. However, when Jane discovers Bertha, this brings the marriage to a stop as well as presenting moral trial for Jane. As much as Rochester tried to convince her to push through with their marriage, Jane was determined to stay true and respect herself. She knew that she would only be Rochester’s mistress and not his wife, and thus chose to maintain her morals and self-respect. On the other hand, the relationship between Blanche Ingram and Rochester demonstrates the social class, which comes with privileges given her position in the society as well as injustices associated with the upper class. The same injustice is encapsulated by Mrs Fairfax in the Victorian era as she reacts telling Jane, “Gentleman in his station are not accustomed to marry their governesses.” This points the class inequality that was prevalent in the Victorian society. Indeed, love was not enough to make people marry as other factors, like money and position of a person in society contributed to how the couple was viewed by the people in the society. This indicates the prevalent injustices and class inequalities, which threatened the Victorian society.
Although the marriage cancellation prevented Jane from attaining upper class status, her dignity is important to her; this explains the escape from Thornfield and the life as beggar who is homeless and living in impoverished life. The life of lower class can be at times quite hard to the extent of wanting to commit suicide as Jane tried, but new lease of life come after she was taken in St. John as given the position of schoolmistress. The fact that she became independent and able to support herself significantly pleases her. To Bronte, social class in the 19th century British society meant survival in which the lower class survived working as servants for the rich (affluent class).
The turning point for Jane’s position comes when she unexpectedly inherits a large fortune from an uncle who has died. This marks the final promotion in social class for Jane as she joins the upper class in her society, and inherently earns the title of woman in the upper class. This also ends the legacy of her parents and belonging to the lower class. Even when the social status of Jane is ambiguous no more, her character remains the same. The author is quite particular in the case of Jane and does bring an important point that social classes do not define the character of individuals. Therefore, it is the individual who can determine who they are and what they become in future. In the Victorian era, social classes (whether lower class or the upper class) were mainly contributed by the biases and stereotypes the society upheld. Through Jane’s character, Bronte critiques the Victorian society, which was poignant with social biases and stereotypes that divided people. Bronte through Jane transverses different realities and highlights the social classes in their weakness in discrimination and segregation as existed in the British society of the 19th century.
The affluent class is portrayed by Bronte as arrogant and immoral as she depicts the characters in her novel. The characteristics of John Reed, as Bronte brings out, portrays the mindset of the aristocratic upper class. After striking Jane with a book, which John had thrown at her, Jane is irate and compares him to ‘murderer’, ‘Roman emperors’, and ‘slave driver’. The language Jane used further stresses on the obvious ingrained corruption and vice among upper class people in the society. The immoral and unjust personality of Jane’s cousin goes unpunished whereas Jane is rebuked as tiresome, naughty, and sullen, and forced to do every chore. Bronte as a critique of this society, laughs at the social injustices and moral degradation, and euphemistically tries to agitate for change through Jane’s moral and ethical personality.
In conclusion, Jane Eyre, a classical literary masterpiece by Charlotte Bronte reflects on the Victorian culture, which tenaciously upheld hierarchal social classes and statuses in the society with high esteem. As the plot unfolds, readers come to terms with the social inequalities and injustices through Jane in her interaction with other characters. Bronte explicitly brings out the prevalent social class typical to the 19th century British society and critiques the rigidness manifested in the relation between the affluent class and the lower class.