3. 3
Schooling
• During the early 19th
century (1800’s), it
became fashionable to
educate females.
• However, free education
was not yet available for
either sex.
• Only the very rich could
send their daughters to
elegant girls’ schools
4. 4
Governesses
1. With the new stress on female education, governesses
were in demand.
2. Pay was poor, but it was one of the only jobs available
to educated, yet impoverished young women
5. 5
Role of the governess
• Employers & other servants
shunned the governess because
they felt she was “putting on
airs.”
• Her employers would ignore her,
too, because she had a superior
education, which intimidated
many people.
6. 6
A ground breaking novel
Why?
1. The heroine is small, plain, & poor
2. The heroine is the first female character to
claim the right to feel strongly about her
emotions and act on her convictions
3. This romantic ground had previously been
reserved for males
4. Such a psychologically complex heroine had
never been created before
7. 7
Charlotte Bronte
• Born of Irish ancestry in
1816
•Lived at Haworth, a
parsonage
•Mother died of cancer when Charlotte was 5 years old.
8. 8
The Bronte sisters
• Charlotte had 4 sisters and 1
brother.
• While at the Clergy
Daughter’s School, her 2 older
sisters (Maria & Elizabeth)
died of tuberculosis
9. 9
Charlotte’s family con.’t
• The Clergy Daughter’s School at Cowan Bridge became the model
for Lowood, the fictitious girls’ school in Jane Eyre.
• Anne and Emily Bronte were also successful writers.
• Charlotte’s brother, Branwell, was a gifted painter.
10. 10
All 3 Bronte Sisters…
• Used a masculine pen name
because women writers
were not taken seriously at
that time in Victorian
England.
• Charlotte used the name
Currer Bell.
11. 11
Marriage Bells
• In 1854 She marries her
father's curate, Arthur
Bell Nichols.
• The next year, she
became pregnant, then
ill.
• She died a month before
her 39th birthday
12. 12
Jane Eyre’s Romantic Heritage
• The Romantic
Movement
– Came into play in at the
end of the 18th Century
(1700’s).
– Championed the rights of
the individual over the
demands of society.
– Believed that humans
were inherently good
– Valued imagination over
reason
– Inspired by nature
13. 13
Charlotte’s Gothic Influence
• Jane Eyre displays some
characteristics of the
gothic novel:
– Imprisoned women
– A heroine who faces
danger
– Supernatural
interventions at crucial
moments in the plot
– A romantic
reconciliation
14. 14
Byronic Hero
• This term is created by
the famous poet George
Gordon, Lord Byron.
• Characteristics are…
– Proud
– Gloomy
– Mysterious
– Passionate
*Mr. Rochester is an example of
this type
15. 15
Jane’s Quotes
• It is vain to say human beings ought to be satisfied with
tranquility: they must have action; and they will make it if
they cannot find it.
• If we would build on a sure foundation in friendship, we
must love friends for their sake rather than for our own.
