Jane, the protagonist of Jane Eyre, seeks to find her individual sense of identity outside of societal expectations and continuously feels an outcast within her narrative; which follows her journey as a young woman into adulthood, navigating the tumultuous world of middle and upper-class society. We will examine how these expectations are portrayed through class and gender, using social identity theory, feminism and psychoanalysis as analytical lenses.
To examine the rejection of society in the novel, we must first consider the importance of social identity. According to C. Weedon (Weedon, 2004: 5) “identities may be socially, culturally and institutionally assigned […] where often they solicit active identification on the part of the subject so defined.” Where these identities are successfully internalized, they become part of lived subjectivity (Butler, 1990 in Weedon, 2004: 7) and encourage the conformity to societal identities for those around them. Rejection of social identity occurs when these assumed identities are not internalised and “they may become the basis for dis-identification or counter- identifications which involve a rejection of hegemonic identity norms,” (Butler, 1990 in Weedon, 2004: 7). When Jane Eyre was first published in 1847, it was published under the male pseudonym Currer Bell, in order to force the novel onto male-dominated 19th century bookshelves, indicating Bronte’s recognition of her assigned social identity, and her rejection of such by assuming a male identity to reach a patriarchal audience. Her frustration at a misogynistic country that forces “female” expectations upon women is embodied by protagonist Jane’s passionate character, making the novel almost semi-autobiographical, while she focuses on capturing the views of some of the 19th century women the book encompasses. When the public was unaware of the author’s gender, reviews were positive and it swiftly became a bestseller. However, negative opinions were expressed when it became known a female writer was behind the name. Many critics claimed it was inappropriate for female novelists to write such a zealous novel and be acquainted with sexuality. Whilst Brontë uses the vehical of a novel to express this rejection of social norms, if we were to take this idea of rejection and place it in modern context, women of today are more likely to use platforms such as social media to express the same notions of discontent, such as the recent “me too” movement.
Jane casts off the traditional identity of a 19th century woman, one who should be passive and confined in a house to raise children. “Jane Eyre unsettled views as to how women should act and behave, suggesting…almost an overthrowing of social order,” (Shuttleworth, 2014); in her anger and passion, Jane is far removed from the conventional model of the Victorian woman who should be “seen and not heard”. Instead, she is part of an emerging, more powerful type of woman who is the heroine of her own story, “I burnt for the more active life of the world…for the destiny of an artist, author, orator,” (Brontë, 1847: 36) isolating herself from 19th century social order. Elizabeth Rigby (Quarterly review, 2012) stated that if the author was a woman she must have “forfeited the society of her own sex,” in writing Jane Eyre as such an unconventional character. “Forfeiting society” is a strong claim, and yet powerfully reiterates the idea of Jane, and Brontë, making themselves societal outcasts, which leads us to the discussion of outgroups and ingroups. Jane’s own need for freedom keeps her from having the capacity to fit in with the likes of Rochester, a man of upper-class standing, and reiterates her exclusion in the lines, “I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself.” (Brontë, 1847: 266). This line particularly emphasizes the rejection of ingroups and social identity in the novel, as Jane declares herself “friendless,” and forces herself into the outgroups of society, amongst those who reside outside of traditional rules and expectations. “According to SIT, people tend to classify themselves and others into various social categories, such as organizational membership, religious affiliation, gender, and age cohort,” (Ashforth and Mael, 1989: 20) and by making herself “solitary,” Jane rejects the usual ingroups of society she might have belonged to, such as being a woman or being young.
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In respect to gender roles, bourgeois women of the 19th century were raised to be submissive and undemanding to fit the “angel in the house” (Avery, 2014) image portrayed by the media, and demanded by men, of the time. A woman had very few rights of her own and she was expected to quietly marry off and be the domestic submissive of her husband. There were severely limited positions other than those traditionally expected to be carried out by women, like being a governess or nurse, available in the 1800s, meaning that ultimately a woman had to rely on the work of her husband or father to bring in an income, rather than working herself. Whilst Jane attends school in the novel, university was considered lost on women because it was “reasoned that males are more evolutionarily advanced than females” (Kevics, 1986: 8) by Charles Darwin. This assertion, and previous traditional beliefs of women as inferior, led to the education of women consisting of a very limited range of subjects singing, playing piano and dancing (Lampela, 1993: 65), and certainly not to establish identity and to try to reach independency as Jane aspires to do. In more recent history, feminist ideas have since grown and condemned this old stream of thought. The women’s movement, from the 1960s onwards, has created its own perspective on literature, placing novels in the context of gendered culture at the time of writing: “the images of women in literature model the way we see women, and is important to recognise and to question these images, since they provide role models and indicate what are acceptable versions of the feminine,” (Barry, 2009: 117). To view Jane Eyre through a feminist lens is the simplest way to establish the attitudes and beliefs of the audience of the time and demonstrates just how estranged Jane is from the common notions of how women should have behaved.
In order to critically analyse the rejection of social identity in Jane Eyre further, another approach is psychoanalytic criticism. The psychoanalytical Freudian theory of women being castrated has been claimed to be a form of “social castration,” representing a lack of social power (Barry, 2009: 125). The “penis envy” that women hold (according to Freud’s theories) can be interpreted as the envy of the powerful male position in society, rather than the envy of the organ itself, just as Jane lusts after higher positions of authority at Lowood School, where she is undermined by male teachers. Psychoanalytical literary criticism is based on theories developed by Sigmund Freud and asserts how the mind works. Central concepts of Freud’s theories include the idea of the id, ego and superego or the unconscious, the conscious and the conscience. To look at Jane Eyre through psychoanalytic lenses, Jane’s rejection of social norms might be considered an overactive id not being mediated well enough by her superego. This would explain her rejection of traditional feminine identity as a selfish desire to be different, and to gain attention via this action. Another aspect of Freud’s psychoanalytical theory is the “Freudian slip” – the idea denoting all that is repressed being eventually revealed by a slip of the tongue. According to Freud, there is an association between the novelist in the script resembling somebody that dreams (Freud, 1997: 12). A dream is an involuntary action which takes place to process the day’s information, and if we are to look at Jane Eyre as a Freudian slip on Brontë’s behalf we can assume that Jane’s wild rejection of normal social identity reflects Brontë’s own estrangement from society. Brontë, just as Jane does in the novel, rejected a marriage proposal from a priest. She wrote to Reverend Henry Nussey, declining his proposal and writing in the letter that he would find her “romantic and eccentric,” (Brontë, 1848) echoing words used by Jane to reject John Rivers in the novel. Instead of marrying, Brontë worked as a teacher and governess, again replicating Jane’s actions in Jane Eyre.
To summarize, examining the rejection of social identity through different analytical theories like psychoanalysis and feminism helps us to understand the underlying cultural norms attached to Brontë’s Jane Eyre. As a commonly recognised British text, the novel has implications that carry over into our modern society about how women should dress and behave, and arguably those expectations have translated into present-day dress and action. The character of Jane allows us to see how sharing identity is implicit in modern culture, creating in-groups and outgroups, and alienating those who do not fit into a common mold. It is evident in exploring these theories that the rejection of social identity is a key theme in the novel, and Jane’s autonomy from traditional feminine roles casts her in a negative light amongst her male contemporary readers. Jane does not fit into the grand array of heroes of the simple outlook that controls the characters of other 19th century novels, such as the passive Emma Woodhouse of Jane Austen. She is purely too wild to simply lie down and allow her story to be determined by someone other than herself. Jane is indomitable, altogether “a free human being with an independent will,” (Brontë, 1847: 268) so very different from the female characters of her time. The character’s rejection of her assigned social identity echoes that of the author, publicly conveyed using a novel as a vehicle.
Bibliography
- Ashforth, Blake E., and Fred Mael. “Social Identity Theory and the Organization.” The Academy of Management Review, vol. 14, no. 1, 1989, pp. 20–39. JSTOR, JSTOR,
