“Hints on the Modern Governess System” is an article that sheds negative light on the idea of governesses.  The article takes a satirical tone to it as it discusses the role of women as governesses, and mocks and demeans the behavior of women who pursue that role in society.  The article says that “Many [women] left their quiet homes for the school-rooms of halls and castles…There was no place left for them but that which they had chosen.  Like much else, it looked best from a distance” (569).  This passage reflects on women leaving their place in the home to become governesses in schools or castles, and essentially says that it looked like a good idea at first, but once the women were on the other side, they regretted their decisions and wanted to go back to their old lives.  By saying this, the author is instilling a false sense of fear in the target audience and making a mockery of the women who had chosen this path. Because of the great numbers of women that fled into the governess path of life, there was a large amount of competition—some had to lower their standards and marry below them just to keep food in their stomachs, while others had to take ridiculous deals from families to ensure that they’d be able to keep themselves from hunger.  The article says:

“The policy of the world is to take advantage of want.  It became apparent that a whole family of daughters might be taught by one of these single women, struggling for bread, for less than it formerly cost to send one girl to school” (570).

Employing them for cheaper than the deserved price was an acceptable act during this time period, and one that the article encourages. The article further mocks the role of governess by saying that “The governess must endure all thigs, or perish.  A low marriage or a slow death are her only loopholes of escape” (575).  The author of the article is arguing that women who strive to be a governess are only burying themselves and putting themselves in a horrible position—there’s nothing positive to come out of this line of work, according to the article.

Charlotte Bronte’s portrayal of governesses in “Jane Eyre” argues against the points made in this article—her novel shows the benefits of being a governess and instills the idea that it is a reasonable path to follow for a woman.  Perhaps it is Jane’s personal situation that makes the role of governess more bearable, but nevertheless, the novel emphasizes that Jane makes a life for herself by becoming a governess and escaping the misogynistic pressures of the Reed household where she had been residing.  Jane has carved a sense of freedom for herself in the role of governess; one she could not have obtained if she had stayed with the Reed’s.  It is through Jane’s motivation to become a governess that she obtains her own freedom and independence from the gender stereotypes and crushing patriarchal values of this time period.  Upon receiving a response to her governess advertisement, Jane says:

“this circumstance was satisfactory: a private fear had haunted me, that in thus acting for myself and by my own guidance, I ran the risk of getting into some scrape; and above all things, I wished the result of my endeavors to be respectable…” (154-55).

It is clear in this passage that the stigma of being a governess and risking their lives, essentially, was on the line.  However, Jane takes the job at Thornfield.  The audience gets a taste of what the argument was saying—that women who were governesses had been putting themselves at risk of debt and putting themselves in a bad situation.  However, it is clear that Bronte, at the very least, supports the efforts of Jane and her role as a governess.  If Bronte were against it, she would have written a story where Jane falls into debt and has to marry beneath her, or one which she refuses any governess jobs.

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