Love in Jane Eyre

Love in Jane Eyre

Love is a notion that is culturally, socially and historically evident and can be considered vital for our survival. Love subsists in many forms including that of parental love, family love, platonic love and romantic love. The discourse of love and marriage and the influence it has on humans, particularly women, has changed over time and the choices as well as the challenges surrounding it are influenced by this change in era. This metamorphosis is evident in various texts, namely, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, the film My Brilliant Career and the sonnet Love Me Not to the Marriage by Shakespeare. The eras in which each was written heavily influenced the reading of love that each provides and demonstrates the social positioning of women at the time. Love is something so simple, yet so complex and is a perception that has challenged many throughout the ages.

The challenge associated with love was experience by the main character in Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. The novel was set in 1840s England where clear social divisions and a rigid lifestyle were the norm. The main character, Jane Eyre, exists in a world where one married in one’s social class or preferably so as to better one’s financial self. This social class discourse plays a major role in the outcome of Jane’s quest for romantic love. Her initial status as a governess places her between stairs so when she falls in love with Edward Rochester, her boss, the challenge of crossing the socially acceptable barriers is presented. Mrs Fairfax has an experienced view issues such as this and when their engagement is announced she shares this view with Jane. “Equality of position and fortune is often advisable in such cases.” She highlights the issues that could tear Jane and Rochester apart once the façade of lust has fallen away. This choice that Jane is then required to make is one that she is challenged by as she deals with her newfound wealth.

However it is evident that Jane’s response to love is...