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Role of Women in Victorian Age or Gender Inequality

The document discusses several aspects of Victorian society depicted in the novels Jane Eyre and Vanity Fair: 1. Gender inequality was prominent, as women's rights were limited and they were expected to serve others, with some authors using pseudonyms. 2. Class consciousness divided society between superior upper classes and inferior lower classes, as shown through the mistreatment of Jane as an orphan. 3. Governesses represented women forced to work and live with employers, as depicted in the novels by Bronte and Thackeray. 4. The novels provide glimpses into social issues and conflicts of the Victorian era through the experiences of their characters.

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waheed alu
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81 views

Role of Women in Victorian Age or Gender Inequality

The document discusses several aspects of Victorian society depicted in the novels Jane Eyre and Vanity Fair: 1. Gender inequality was prominent, as women's rights were limited and they were expected to serve others, with some authors using pseudonyms. 2. Class consciousness divided society between superior upper classes and inferior lower classes, as shown through the mistreatment of Jane as an orphan. 3. Governesses represented women forced to work and live with employers, as depicted in the novels by Bronte and Thackeray. 4. The novels provide glimpses into social issues and conflicts of the Victorian era through the experiences of their characters.

Uploaded by

waheed alu
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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A writer's work is based on the society in which they live and provides us the glimpses of

same. The novels of William Makepeace Thackeray and Charlotte Bronte are the genuine
captivation of the Victorian era and the social standings of its time providing us its glimpses.

Role of women in Victorian age or Gender inequality:-


There was gender inequality in Victorian age, Women's rights were extremely limited in this
era and both single and married women had to live with hardships. There are two good
typical English literary representations of how women were treated in Victorian age first in
Jane Eyre and 2nd is Vanity fair. In Victorian age woman’s work was to bear children, run a
household and serve others, even women were not allowed to write so they used pseudo
names. Charlotte Bronte used pseudo name of “Currer Bell”, in order to conceal her true
identity from the public as women were considered to be the inferior sex, the idea of a
woman being a published author let alone the writer of such a controversial novel, would
have been considered a social outrage, So this depicts gender inequality. Victorian women
were considered to be one whom dedicated her life solely to the home, her family and most
importantly her husband. In Jane Eyre John torments her which depicts gender inequality.
He bullied and punished me; not two or three times in the week, nor once or twice in the
day, but continually: every nerve I had feared him, and every morsel of flesh in my bones
shrank when he came near. Thackeray in Vanity fair depicts the necessity of the maternal
bond for a young woman’s development while simultaneously dismissing female society.

Class Consciousness:-
One of the important aspects of Victorian era was class consciousness. Upper class
considered themselves superior and while lower class was considered inferior and was
treated badly which is depicted in Jane Eyre. John violently torments Jane and constantly
reminds her that she is an orphan and a dependent of the Reed family, forcing into her mind
that to be without a class is to be without worth. He inflicts fear into Jane and reminds her
that he is her superior; “You have books; you are a dependent, mamma says; you have no
money; your father left you none; you ought to beg, and not to live here with gentlemen’s
children like us, and eat the same meals we do, and wear clothes at our mamma’s
expense."

Governesses:-
Women that had fallen on hard times and required to work for their living earned their
living teaching and caring for other women’s children. Governesses became increasingly
popular through the Victorian era. The Queen’s College was founded in London, with the
intention of giving governesses proper training for their profession. With this institution and
the wider job opportunities provided by social change, began the transformation of poverty
stricken gentlewoman into educated, efficient women. Most governesses lived with their
employers and were paid a small salary on top of their board and lodging. From the 1840s
novelists started to put governesses into their fiction. In 1847 Charlotte Brontë published
Jane Eyre, the story of a governess who eventually marries her employer, the brooding Mr
Rochester. The same year William Thackeray started publishing instalments of Vanity Fair, in
which a scheming young governess called Becky Sharp lies and cheats her way through
Regency high society. Both Charlotte Bronte and William Makepeace Thackeray used
governesses in there novels giving the glimpses of Victorian age in there novels.

Social unrest:-
In early Victorian age there was social unrest in Society which is shown in Jane Eyre as the
main character is moving for freedom but she finds disturbance everywhere. Same is shown
in Vanity fairy the characters are moving from here to there.

Class Conflict:-
Class conflict is the most prominent and important glimpse in Victorian era. Same as, we
find class conflict in the novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. We also find class conflict when
Jane compares herself with Blanche who is the girlfriend of Rochester. She is the most
beautiful and haughty society woman. When she thinks so much about her lover Rochester,
Jane compares her simplicity with the beauty of Blanche. She also feels jealousy to Blanche
because she gets the whole attention of Rochester in the party. But she consoles herself to
remind her that she belongs to an allied class and there is a big contrast between her and
Blanche. “She resolves to restrain her flights of imaginative fancy by comparing her own
portrait to one she has drawn of Blanche Ingram, noting how much plainer she is than the
beautiful Blanche.” Actually in Victorian Era, old classes were being demolished and new
were being developed due to industrialization and urbanization.

Language Trend:
In Victorian age, there was a distinctive trend that only aristocratic class people
spoken French and Latin language. This glimpse can be seen in the novel “Jane Eyre.” When
Miss Temple and Helen begins a conversation about French and Latin authors. Jane is
amazed by the extent of Helen’s knowledge. Jane also began to learn French in school.

Victorian Hypocrisy:
Although Victorian era is well known for moral codes yet there were few Britain’s who were
from elite class and they were hypocrite. One example of this can be seen in “Vanity Fair.”
The novel is all about middle and aristocratic class. Thackrey tries to expose their follies,
arrogance, snobbishness, pride, hypocrisy and all bad qualities in the elite class. Like he says
about those people in the novel “Are greedy, pompous, mean, perfectly satisfies and at
ease about their superior virtues. They despise poverty and kindness of heart. They are
snobs.”

Jane Eyre as an excellent example of Victorian Era:


The novel Jane Eyre gives a clear picture of Victorian era. The novel hints at the social ills of
the age by showcasing the poor conditions of the orphans and the role of women in society.
She tries to expose legal, economic, social, moral, religious beliefs and ethical problems of
that era in the novel. The novel presents Jane’s suffering at Lowood and her struggle against
the narrow role that 19th century society allotted to woman. The novel also puts emphasis
on the dilemma of a young intelligent girl to have rights to love and to be loved and yet
retain her independent surface. Another main issue of Victorian era was food because
people faced too much hunger. There was need for food. Charlotte Bronte portrayed this
issue of that society in the novel “Jane Eyre.” There, food symbolizes generosity,
nourishment, and bounty. On the other hand, hunger symbolizes cruelty and lack of
nourishment. At Lowood School, there is lack of food that actually reveals the school’s
cruelty and religious hypocrisy. The Victorians during the nineteenth century had a
fascination with health, sometimes greater than that of politics, religion and Darwinism. “An
independent mind body connection gained strength, and many people saw physical and
mental health as being interrelated rather than separate entities.” This can be seen in case
of Bertha’s character through her mental illness and the physical threat she puts on
Rochester. There is decorum of culture, norms and tradition in Victorian period. This can be
seen in the novel “Jane Eyre” there is a series of events,

Fairytallic glimpses of Victorian Age:

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