Which feminist theory can be applied to Jane Eyre?
A classic example of a sociological feminist reading of Jane Eyre is Gilbert and Gubar's interpretation of the novel in their groundbreaking study of women's literature, Madwoman in the Attic.
Sociology, as a field, studies the structure and functioning of human societies. Feminist readings often interpret works of literature through a sociological lens to show how a patriarchal social structure impacts women's lives. Patriarchal societies are those controlled by men.
Gilbert and Gubar read Jane Eyre as an example of female rage against patriarchal society. They believe Eyre should not be pronounced as "air" but as "ire" or anger, a name representing the deep fury Jane experiences because of how women in her Victorian culture are treated. This begins with Jane's patriarchal abuse and oppression at the hands of the young John Reed, who finally excited Jane to a fit by throwing a book at her in such...
Unlock This Answer Now
Start your 48-hour free trial and get ahead in class. Boost your grades with access to expert answers and top-tier study guides. Thousands of students are already mastering their assignments—don't miss out. Cancel anytime.
Already a member? Log in here.
a way that she falls and cuts her head on a doorknob. This rage is repressed and channelled during Jane's time at the Lowood School. It emerges symbolically in her adult life throughBertha Mason, the madwoman wife that Rochester has locked in the attic of his home. In this reading, Bertha enacts all the repressed rage that Jane cannot allow herself to fully articulate, culminating in burning down Thornfield, a symbol of burning down the "house" or structure of patriarchy.
This feminist critique moves beyond Jane's personal situation to become an explicit critique of women's lot in Victorian patriarchy. Jane, for example, muses that:
Women are supposed to be very calm generally: but women feel just as men feel; they need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts, as much as their brothers do; they suffer from too rigid a restraint, to absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffer; and it is narrow-minded in their more privileged fellow-creatures to say that they ought to confine themselves to making puddings and knitting stockings, to playing on the piano and embroidering bags.