The Victorian’s beliefs about the governesses were harsh and unapproving. This connects with their standards for women and how far they should rise, academically and socially. Bronte argues against this belief by presenting us with Jane Eyre. As a governess, Eyre is more than qualified intellectually and cares deeply about her student.
The article in the appendix shows how Victorians saw the majority of governesses as wasting their time. They were wasting the child’s, the parent’s and their own time through this form of “second-rate school.” They were poorly swimming upstream as the article states that “she is hourly tried by those childish follies and preservatives which need a mother’s instinctive love to make them tolerable” (571). Why let this strange women into your house to teach your kids when they can gain no control over them. The prejudices of women is also prevalent in their beliefs on governesses, claiming that the governesses and their students should “Becomed fitted to be good wives and good mothers” (577) And if they do not marry, they should be working to know how to run a household. These are the standards that women were supposed to be meeting, not rising in intellect to the point that they can teach the new generation.
Eyre breaks both of these beliefs as she serves as a great and caring parental figure to Adele as well as improving her intellect and sharpening her skills. Adele is being raised by a man who may or may not be her biological father who is never at the same place as her. We have not yet seen a large amount of moments between Jane and Adele, but there are moments when the reader can see how Jane cares for Adele, for instance when Jane says this to Mr. Rochester “I have a regard for her, and now that I know she is parentless—I shall cling closer to her than before” (Bronte 218). The governesses is on the way to becoming the greatest parental force that Adele has ever had. She is also enhancing Adele’s intellect, as Mr. Rochester states “She is not bright, she has no talents, yet in a short time she has made much improvement” (191). Even when he is critiquing his new resident of his house, Mr. Richmond still can not hide the fact that Jane has been an efficient teacher.
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
The Victorian views are materialized in the novel through the Ingrams, who at one point describe their past interactions with a governess: “…and then we sermonized her on the presumption of attempting to teach such clever blades as we were, when she was herself so ignorant” (255). The Ingrams were not fond of governesses because they saw them as beneath them and were unwilling to learn from them. Lady Ingram was unwilling to ever go through such an experience again and held prejudice against all governesses for their presumably lower class knowledge.