Jane Eyre

Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre and the Victorian Position of Governess

~ Rachel W. ~ Leave a comment

The position of governess in Victorian society is an awkward one. The author of “Hints on the Modern Governess System” views the governess system as problematic for both governesses and the families they serve. The author writes:

Whether it be right or wrong, as a general rule, for mothers to delegate their most sacred trust to hired strangers, we are not here to discuss. The fact exists. Is the system carried out fairly for all parties? Is there any question astir as to its abuse? Philanthropic eyes are scanning many social evils. (570)

The author is particularly concerned with the plight of the governess. They are concerned that governesses are not paid enough, that they are not viewed as an equal to the mother of the children they govern, that they must deal with rambunctious and insolent children, and that they are going insane and living in asylums–a fact that is misleading, since, as the editor notes, many governesses without families and between positions would stay in asylums because it was a cheap and somewhat respectable place to stay (“Hints on the Modern Governess System” 571).

However good the author’s intentions may be, they come off as slightly patronizing when this article is juxtaposed with the text of Jane Eyre.  While the author believes that being a governess is mentally exhausting for a governess must deal with child intellect all day:

Hour after hour she has bent down her mind, and raised the children’s to given points, which, however interesting, are exhausting. A young thing, perhaps, still herself, ready to spring up again at one kindly touch. Do not even fond mothers, who teach their own children, feel that after the labors of the day they need some interchange of mind? (573)

this opinion is never expressed in Jane Eyre by Jane or any other character. On the contrary, Jane is very fond of teaching and caring for Adele. After Mr. Rochester speaks of Adele’s unfortunate and disgraceful family situation, Jane defends the orphan, “I have a regard for her, and now that I know she is, in a sense, parentless — forsaken by her mother and disowned by you, sir, — I shall cling closer to her than before” (Brontë 218).  Jane’s affection for Adele isn’t based solely on the orphan connection. Jane is fond of Adele’s character: “Still she [Adele] had her merits; and I was disposed to appreciate all that was good in her to the utmost” (218).

The author of “Hints on the Modern Governess System” takes issue with the lower class distinction that a governess holds. The author believes that there is no “greater anomaly than that which makes a woman responsible for children, and their exemplar in all things, whose mother treats her as if she were unfit to associate herself and her guests” (571). Brontë portrays this negative and classist view of governesses in Victorian society in the scenes where Mr. Rochester’s guests mock Jane right in front of her face. In one instance, Blanche Ingram says:

You should hear mama on the chapter of governesses: Mary and I have had, I should think, a dozen at least in our day; half of them detestable and the rest ridiculous, and all incubi – were they not mama? (254)

However, Brontë is making the case for governesses as being equals to their employers, as Mr. Rochester insists that Jane continue to be present when his guests are over (259). In this regard, the author of “Hints on the Modern Governess System” and the author of Jane Eyre are in agreement.

Works Cited

Brontë, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. Ed. Richard Nemesvari. Toronto: Broadview Press. 1999. Print

“Hints on the Modern Governess System.” Fraser’s Magazine. 1844. Jane Eyre. Ed. Richard Nemesvari. Toronto: Broadview Press. 1999. 567-577. Print.

Women and Liberty

~ Autumn H ~ 6 Comments

“Hints on the Modern Governess System” describes the role as a governess as an opportunity for lower class woman, but an opportunity for loneliness. The beginning suggests that the role of a governess would suit women because women were born for a quest for knowledge. The author refers to Genesis and the fall as women’s first documented quest for knowledge. It from this quest that men have punished women for suppressing women’s natural thirst, but this issue is slowly turning when more women remain single rather than get married (568). The increase in single women ignited the governess system because “Women must have bread as well as men…They found, if they would not sink in the scale, they must work with their heads, and not with their hands” (569). The role of the governess simultaneously for a task that allowed single, poor women to leave the home, while keeping wealthier women in the home to learn and eventually become wives. The idea of middle class women being able to learn from home was admired by the author. The author seemed to appreciate the governess role for that regard, but deemed the governess as a lonely job.

Charlotte Bronte seems to be playing with this scenario at extremely exaggerated levels to stress the importance for women to leave the home in Jane Eyre. Jane is happy to be able to. She becomes the governess to Adele in the Thornfield estate. Jane feels like she has a purpose and thus does not feel lonely nor misses ‘a home’ which she reveals to Mr. Rochester when he catches her walking the grounds at night and he says to her: “I should think you ought to be at home yourself” (183). Jane likes being away from home which is contrasted to the screams she hears from the attic. As the novel goes on, and the Mrs. Rochester is still missing, the screams suggest the wife’s desperation to escape the home. This idea opposes the argument in Fraser’s Magazine. Women like to be away from home and if they are not able to, they will feel trapped and are held as prisoner. Society wants women to remain in the home, but women do not feel the same.

 

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

Jane Eyre and Fraser’s Sympathy for Governesses

~ n02714729 ~ 2 Comments

This article, “Hints on the Modern Governess System” from Fraser’s Magazine presents the conflict of isolation in the role of the governess. While it does not outright combat the morality of whether a mother should teach lessons to her own children (as opposed to trusting them in the hands of a “stranger”), there are instances in the article that certainly seem to object to the idea of governesses, not because of any inadequacies, but because of the conditions of which they work under. The author writes, “Day by day the governess is worn by the disappointments the most promising child must inflict upon its teacher; but to whom can she, in her weariness, turn for sympathy?” (573) The writer indicates that the parents of the children do not want to hear of their child’s shortcomings, especially by a “third person,” so it leaves the governess in a complicated position. The indication of the governess as a “third person” also establishes her sense of inferiority to the rest of the household. This is just one aspect of the governess’s loneliness. She is also condemned to mere isolation when she is not with the children, “It is only the governess, and a certain class of private tutors, who must hear the echoes from the drawing-room and the offices, feeling that, in a house full of people, they dwell alone” (574).
Perhaps this idea of loneliness of the governess expands further than just her job at an estate. In Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, when Jane becomes a governess at the Thornfield estate, she is initially insulted and demeaned by Mr. Rochester (“No wonder you have rather the look of another world” (192)), even though Jane nonetheless, returns his insults with clever wit, this still confirms Jane as an inferior, given her position in the household. However, Jane has a more clever insight: “It is in vain to say that human beings ought to be satisfied with tranquility…Women are supposed to be very calm generally: but women feel just as men feel: they need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts just as much as their brothers do” (178). I feel that this quote responds to the condition of women in general of course, but in terms of governesses specifically, it connects with the claims made in Fraser’s article, as these women who are deemed “odd” by Victorian society are subject to even greater loneliness even more when they support themselves.

Works Cited

Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre Ed. Richard Nemevari.Peterborough, Ont: Broadview, 1999. Print.

“Hints on the Modern Governess System.” Fraser’s Magazine. November 1844: 567-577 Print.

Gender Influence and Governesses

~ philliph1 ~ Leave a comment

“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. Continue reading →

Victorian Governesses

~ reevesj2 ~ Leave a comment

The Victorians looked down on the idea of governesses because they upset the social balance. They were educated women who broke away from their life course in order to explore paths that were not previously open to them. It was stated that “many left their quiet homes for the school-rooms of halls and castles” (569). Many governesses turned their back on their old comfortable lifestyles. This ended up costing them because they were forced to work for an income or resort to a marriage beneath their ranks in order to live in comfort. Therefore, they were taken advantage of by the families who hired them because of their desperation. Becoming victims of their own circumstance, governesses were seen as unhappy women who were wasting away their youth on the education of families of varying social rank. Their position held little prestige because of its overabundance on the market. All they accomplished was upsetting the social order of things.

Brontë’s portrayal of governesses goes against the societal views. It offers a circumstance where being a governess is better than the alternative. While Jane is a ward of the Reed’s, her life is very bleak there. She is unhappy and poorly treated by her peers on a regular basis. It is not until she moves to Lowood that she is able to pursue her own education and start up a life based on her own wants. Jane remarks: “I had the means of an excellent education placed within my reach; a fondness for some of my studies and a desire to excel in all…” (149). While before she was just a girl living in ignorance and isolation at the mercy of her guardian, now she is set on a path toward independence and is happier than she ever imagined possible. If one had to pick from the two options available, the one that she chose certainly appears to be more agreeable.