The Analysis of Feminism in Jane Eyre

Abstract：Charlotte. Brontes first autobiographical fiction Jane Eyre creates a female image who is against social pressure with independence and defiance. This novel attempts to analysis the feminist spirit in detail and discuss the feminism of love to the direction of the contemporary female. This thesis is divided into three parts：The first chapter the author give us the introduction of feminism in briefly， and make a review about the novels the literature. The second chapter the author describes Janes spirit of perseverance and political and economic equality of the new love .She deeply analyzes the implied spirit of feminism in this way. The third chapter summarizes the enlightenment about the feminist thought to modern women.

Key words：feminist; Independence; Stubborn; The new love

1. The introduction of feminism and literature review

Simply put， feminism affirms womens equality with men and rejects patriarchy. Up to now， many scholars have analyzed Jane Eyre from various aspects. For example， feminist criticism Susan Gubar and Santa M. Gilbert discuss the defiance contained in the mad woman Bertha who is an neglected character for a long time. In the works The Mad woman in the Attic， they analyzed the figure of Bertha in detail and seeked the feminism. So far the praise of Jane Eyre outweighs criticism. Luo Jingguo said ，“Jane Eyre is the first English novel event he most powerful and popular novel ， which presents the modern view of womens position in society.（脚注一）After two centuries， the studies about Jane Eyre arent limited in some surface levels any more.

2. Janes  specific spirit  of feminism in Jane Eyre

2.1 Strive for independent consciousness

In the novel Jane eyre realized that a woman wanted to have dignity， first of all， she must achieve economic independence. When Jane was a little girl， she realized that her economic predicament， cause her position is not as good as servants. The pain of childhood experience forced her work energetically. Finally she became a talent teacher， and had become financially independent. When Jane and Rochester fall in love， Rochester advised her to give up work， Jane eyre were rejected .She told Mr Rochester： " I dont want nothing in addition to a sincere love." Then she said that： " I dont believe I spend your money in eating will last for a long time..." This spirit of independence not only made her feed herself but also won the respect of others.

2.2 The new love of equality personality

Jane eyre and Rochesters love is the main plot in this book. Love is equal. This is an important spouse standard for Jane to choose love .She thinks that true love must based on mutual understanding and the attraction with each other .The Relations between lover is not that women attach to man. They both love each other because she and Mr Rochesters love is based on the spirit of mutual understanding and solid harmony foundation. Their spiritual world is always the communication and exchange kingdom .In the face of true love， she never sacrificed her dignity and independence of personality. It is this love that made Jane leave for twice.

For the first time that she leave Mr Rochester. The second is the cousin who is a devout priests. The first time she leave is that she want the dignity of herself. At their wedding， Jane knowed that Rochester had a mad wife. When she knows that she cant be the legal wife of Rochester， she didnt want to become his mistress . She cant accept this unfair position she was the mistress of someones husband. Because she cant accept an immoral marriage .She do not want to lose herself in male-oriented marriage. This is a good case of Janes independence personality.

The second is she want to fight for their own love. Leaving Rochester Jane met her cousin. Her cousin want Jane to be his wife. Because there is no love between them Jane just promised him to go with him to India preaching religion， and did not promise him to be his wife. Because there is no love between them. She thought her cousin didnt put her in an equal position with him. His purpose is just that want her to be into one of his attachment. So she refused him. and then she got the misfortune about Rochester . She returned to Thornfield and found that the house was burned and Rochester was blind. Eventually she married Rochester. So whatever Mr Rochester is a polite society rich man or an distress blind man， whatever Jane eyre is a poor teacher or become a wealthy heiress in one night that cant change her overnight love for Rochester . The love between Jane and Rochester suffers tasks and hardship. This is Jane eyre to give our love.

3. the feminist enlightenment to modern women

Charlotte Bronte is  regarded as one of the most excellent female writers as the contribution of awaking female consciousness and opening the initiation of feminism. This novel let people realize the importance of womens dignity and the value of the fight for womens rights. Firstly the women must have the independent in economy and personality. Next they must have a career and must be self-reliant in her career. Only in this way can make your own life value come true. Just like Jane eyre said in the novel： “ Women are supposed to be very calm generally： but women feel just as men feel.” （Charlotte Bronte 106）

In the end ， true love cant be measured in the wealth ，power and status of people. Love and marriage only based on mutual understanding， can stand the test of time and trials. This is the charisma of Jane Eyre， as well as the pur-pose of this paper.

【Bibliography】

[1] Luo Jingguo. A New Anthology of English Literature （volumeI，II，III）[M]. Beijing： Beijing University Press， 1997.

[2] Gilbert， Santa M. Gubar， Susan. The Madwoman in the Attic： The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination[M]. Derby： Yale University Press， 2000.

[3] Bronte， Charlotte. Jane Eyre[M]. Beijing： Foreign Language Teaching and Study Press， 2007.

【作者简介】

靳媛媛（1990—），女，山东菏泽人，2015年毕业于山东政法学院外国语学院，大学期间曾先后在济南弘远教育澳美国际英语实习，毕业后于环球雅思工作。