“The modern governess system is a case between woman and woman.”
(“Hints on the Modern Governess System” 571)
The magazine article from Fraser’s critiques the governess system by an aim at the domestic sphere. The women hiring the governesses are the intended audience, and the article repeatedly relies on a mother’s empathy. But wait… there’s no wife at Thornfield Hall. How does this change the governess critique? How does it relate to Jane Eyre? My blog post uses the quote as a starter topic, and will seek to explore how Brontë treats the governess’s duty in a home without a motherly domestic influence.
As Mr. Rochester is a bachelor, and spends much time away from Thornfield, the main female influence over the home is Mrs. Fairfax. When Jane sends out the ad for employment (a necessary step in ensuring her survival, aligned with Fraser’s comments) she expects that the woman answering it, Mrs. Fairfax, is the home’s owner. She is mistaken. The home’s structure is unique, and confusing for Jane.
The readers finds out that Adèle is Mr. Rochester’s ward, and that she may or may not be his daughter. Adèle’s mother abandoned her for a romantic endeavor, then died. Rochester felt a duty to rescue the girl, yet still considers her to be less than worthy of his time or attention. Adèle speaks solely in French, sings, dances, quotes improper poetry, and is more interested in gifts or dresses than learning. This is not good behavior. Jane comments that she had been “carefully trained,” (170) and that her spoiled behavior/wayward actions could be remedied by teaching. Jane’s role is to mold her, exerting a good influence through her duty as governess.
As a parental figure, and probably as a male concerned with another sphere, Rochester seems bored of Adèle’s spoiled behavior, and disappointed in her dismal talents. He connects the failures to her mother, the French opera singer Celine Varens, “…Coquetry runs in her blood, blends with her brains, and seasons the marrow of her bones” (211). With such blame and motherly abandonment comes a child with a strong need for education. Yet Adèle barely feels any womanly influence besides her nurse and Jane, who rarely interacts with Sophie.
Jane is more often connected to Rochester. Jane’s duties as a governess become muddled when Mr. Rochester arrives. An example would be page 211, when Rochester ignores Jane’s duty as a governess in putting Adèle to bed, as he wants to continue having a conversation with her. Again, this “between woman and woman” line in the article changes meaning in Bronte’s text, as do class lines between employer and employee.
Works Cited
Brontë, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. Ed. Richard Nemesvari. Toronto: Broadview, 1999. Print.
“Hints on the Modern Governess System.” Fraser’s Magazine November 1844: 567-577. Print