The Status of Women in the Nineteenth Century Victorian England

The aim of this study is to examine Charlotte Bronte‘s contribution to the feminist question in her selected novel Jane Eyre. The study shows how Bronte‘s novel examines the suffering of women and how they could overcome difficulties and achieve success.It is clear that Charlotte ideology in her portrayal of her heroine based on her real world, established herself as a distinguished feminist woman writer in her treatment of women‘s situation. In this regard, the dissertation is divided into four chapters .The first chapter involves an overview about the Victorian literature. Its aim is to show the characteristics of literature in the19th century .The second chapter studies the historical and social backgrounds and the life and works of the author .The aim of this chapter is to spot the light on circumstances in which the work is produced and affected the writer. The third chapter involves a study of the form and style of the work under study. The aim through it is to analyze the literary techniques used by Charlotte Bronte to explore the concerns of her age through language .Finally, the fourth chapter, centers on the analysis of the novel focusing on the content through a discussion of the status of women in the 19 th century England. General Introduction General Introduction In the nineteenth century, women lived in an age characterized by gender inequality. They enjoyed a few of legal, social rights and they were expected to remain subservient to their father or husbands. They were still dominated in many ways .For example women were confined to their house and in obedient position in which they are pursuit for freedom and self esteem .Thus Victorian period was a period of progress and reform, industrialization and social upheaval in which England witnessed a sweeping changes across Victorian time .Changes that influenced English society in culture, politics, economy and social norms. Also, the effect of industrial revolution in which England become the first industrial nation .Although it might had been an era of growth, it was also a period of trouble and anxiety. Thus, the Victorian period was a transitional period and an important one of English literature. It dealt with the contemporary issues and problems of the day including social economic, religious and intellectual subjects, troubles surrounding the industrial revolution, in addition to that, changes in the role of women who were not expected to have interest in literature or any other field, who had limited status in Victorian society .All of these cases informed Victorian literature with its emphasis on a realistic portrayal of social life, touched on education, women‘s employment as well as poverty as Jane Eyre who strives for economic and personal independence, Bronte touches on the issues of class, economics, and gender roles that affected Victorian England at large . Furthermore, the nineteenth century novel represents many Victorian conditions in the stories of its characters. It sought to engage with the contemporary circumstances, and debate about social representation of women dealing with controversies about the nature and the role of women. This paper intends to focus on the fictional representations of the conditions of women, which were as inspiration for several Victorian writers as Charlotte Bronte, Charles Dickens and Thomas Hardy, who attempted to depict a real picture of their society and focusing on women at that time through many of their works. Like many female writers, Charlotte Bronte is one of the prominent literary figures of literary world. Her works have been popular and well-admired by many readers. Her representation of women in her novel Jane Eyre which mirrored a sample of English society and English literature of that time .It is generally considered to have been written by woman, for woman and about woman .It provides a deep understanding of the role of women in Victorian England during the industrial revolution .Thus, the reader can find pieces of information on women, their lives in the nineteenth century and their attitudes towards the ideologies of their society. Being a nineteenth century author, Charlotte Bronte conforms to the writing the conventions of the period. Since Jane Eyre is one of the greatest heroines of literature, which Charlotte Bronte has created .It is a literary work that reflected Victorian England focusing on feminist view. In fact, Charlotte Bronte lived in society known by its subjugation of women .The message was supposed to fulfill was her portrayal and depiction of a particular view of reality as seen by her. So, the choice of Charlotte Bronte is mainly based on our interest in her novel which reflected a picture of the women in English society in the early of nineteenth century, when women were suffering and struggling to achieve self fulfillment and happiness. Also, show women the way to obtain meaning in life and realize their identities. Thus, the research aims to answer the feminist question; the suffering of Jane Eyre life, and represent the women standing up for her self. So, the following problematic addresses: to what extent is Charlotte Bronte‘s portrayal of women of Jane Eyre representative of the condition of women in the 19 th century Victorian England? To carry out the study, it is supposed that Charlotte Bronte has chosen a woman to be a heroine of her novel. It means that the work describes woman in society seen from a woman point of view in the case in Jane Eyre novel, which, reflected the title and supported by the character of the heroine .Also, the way in which they are represented. So, Charlotte Bronte portrayed the women in Victorian England as a representation of her own life through the content of Jane Eyre. Thus, in our research, we attempt to show the status of woman in English society, seeking to uncover woman‘s social life; the following questions could be raised: What is the position of women in Charlotte Bronte‘s Jane Eyre? How does Jane Eyre represent the women in the nineteenth century? What is the reason behind Bronte‘s writing of Jane Eyre? To achieve the objectives of the study, Feminist literary theory will be the tool employed to analyze the role of female character in society as portrayed in Charlotte Bronte‘s Jane Eyre. In attempt to answer the former questions that constitute our dissertation the framework of this paper is divided into four chapters. The first one entitled on Victorian literature, will deal with the characteristics of literature in the 19 th century take the glance at the themes and styles, the novel in the 19 th century, English women writers and the themes that treated in their literary works. The second chapter entitled on backgrounds, will concern on English society in the nineteenth century and to be more explicit we will deal with the social life, economy and the position of women, also, Charlotte Bronte‘s life and works and discuss the theory to be used for the research study which is Feminism theory. Third chapter entitled on the study of the form, will focus on the techniques and style used in Bronte‘s Jane Eyre concerns on diction narrator point of view, mood, sentence structure and the figurative language .Also, focusing on language by analyzing the ways in which meaning is produced. Finally, the fourth chapter entitled on the study of content, will involve a deep analyses of the novel dealing with the social classes, the conditions of women in the nineteenth century and the status of women dealing with women suffering and success, also, women and sense of responsibility.