Gender roles in Charlotte Brontë's "Jane Eyre"

Seminar paper from the year 1997 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,0 (A), University of Koblenz-Landau (Anglistics), course: Charlotte Brontë: Jane Eyre; Emily Brontë: Wuthering Heights, language: English, abstract: Introduction

In order to gain a broader understanding of Charlotte Brontë's description of her characters in "Jane Eyre", I consider it necessary to take a close look at the social and economic conditions in Great Britain in the 19th century. Charlotte's objectives and their realisation can only be understood against the framework of outer conditions and limitations the author as well as her characters were exposed to. Writing about people of her own time naturally gives an author first-hand authenticity and a close insight into contemporary views. However, it may also limit her point of view to her own personal sphere which may be, as in the case of CharlotteBrontë, influenced by her upbringing and limited by many material and social restraints. Therefore, a look at the overall conditions of life in Great Britain during the Early Victorian Age may make the author's choice of characters and events as well as any omissions she intentionally or unintentionally made, more understandable.