The role and standing of women in the Victorian era is considered by Bront? in Jane Eyre, specifically in regard to Jane's independence and ability to make decisions for herself. As a young woman, small and of relatively low social standing, Jane encounters men during her journey, of good, bad, and morally debatable character. However, many of them, no matter their ultimate intentions, attempt to establish some form of power and control over Jane. One example can be seen in Mr. Rochester, a man who ardently loves Jane, but who frequently commands and orders Jane about. As a self-assured and established man, and her employer, Mr. Rochester naturally assumes the position of the master in their relationship. He sometimes demands rather than questioning Jane, tries to manipulate and assess her feelings towards him, and enjoys propping up Jane through excessive gifts and luxuries that only he would have been able to provide. Jane, however, believes in the importance of women's independence, and strives to maintain a position in life devoid of any debts to others. Her initial lack of money and social status unnerves her, as she realises that without the means to be an independent woman, she is bound to either struggle through life trying to make a living or marry and become dependent on a man. Even after Jane agrees to marry Mr. Rochester, and is swept up in the passion of the moment, the feminist elements of her personality still show through. She is uncomfortable with the showering of lavish gifts, as she resents that they will make her further reliant on and in debt to Mr. Rochester, and thus tries to resist them. Furthermore, Jane asserts that even after she is married to Mr. Rochester, she will continue to be Adèle's governess and earn her keep. This plan, which was entirely radical and unheard of for the time, further illustrates Jane's drive to remain a somewhat independent woman. While the significant men present in Jane's life throughout the novel all try to, in some form or another, establish themselves as dominant over Jane, she in most cases remains resistant at least to a certain degree, refusing to submit fully or lose all of her independence. This final adherence to her strong convictions on the independence of women point out Bront?'s similar views on the patriarchal Victorian society of the time.
Search for home and family[edit source | editbeta]
Without any living family that she is aware of (until well into the story), throughout the course of the novel Jane searches for a place that she can call home. Significantly, houses play a
prominent part in the story. (In keeping with a long English tradition, all the houses in the book have names). The novel's opening finds Jane living at Gateshead Hall, but this is hardly a home. Mrs. Reed and her children refuse to acknowledge her as a relation, treating her instead as an unwanted intruder and an inferior.
Shunted off to Lowood Institution, a boarding school for orphans and destitute children, Jane finds a home of sorts, although her place here is ambiguous and temporary. The school's manager, Mr. Brocklehurst, treats it more as a business than as school in loco parentis (in place of the parent). His emphasis on discipline and on spartan conditions at the expense of the girls' health make it the antithesis of the ideal home.
Jane subsequently believes she has found a home at Thornfield Hall. Anticipating the worst when she arrives, she is relieved when she is made to feel welcome by Mrs. Fairfax. She feels genuine affection for Adèle (who in a way is also an orphan) and is happy to serve as her governess. As her love for Mr. Rochester grows, she believes that she has found her ideal
husband in spite of his eccentric manner and that they will make a home together at Thornfield. The revelation – as they are on the verge of marriage – that he is already legally married – brings her dream of home crashing down. Fleeing Thornfield, she literally becomes homeless and is reduced to begging for food and shelter. The opportunity of having a home presents itself when she enters Moor House, where the Rivers sisters and their brother, the Reverend St. John Rivers, are mourning the death of their father. She soon speaks of Diana and Mary Rivers as her own sisters, and is overjoyed when she learns that they are indeed her cousins. She tells St. John Rivers that learning that she has living relations is far more important than inheriting twenty thousand pounds. (She mourns the uncle she never knew. Earlier she was disheartened on learning that Mrs. Reed told her uncle that Jane had died and sent him away.) However, St. John Rivers' offer of marriage cannot sever her emotional attachment to Rochester. In an almost visionary episode, she hears Mr. Rochester's voice calling her to
return to him. The last chapter begins with the famous simple declarative sentence, "Reader, I married him," and after a long series of travails Jane's search for home and family ends in a union with her ideal mate.
Gender Relations
Jane struggles continually to achieve equality and to overcome oppression. In addition to class hierarchy, she must fight against patriarchal domination—against those who believe women to be inferior to men and try to treat them as such. Three central male figures threaten her desire for equality and dignity: Mr. Brocklehurst, Edward Rochester, and St. John Rivers. All three are misogynistic on some level. Each tries to keep Jane in a
submissive position, where she is unable to express her own thoughts and feelings. In her quest for independence and self-knowledge, Jane must escape Brocklehurst, reject St. John, and come to Rochester only after ensuring that they may marry as equals. This last condition is met once Jane proves herself able to function, through the time she spends at Moor House, in a community and in a family. She will not depend solely on Rochester for love and she can be financially independent. Furthermore, Rochester is blind at the novel’s end and thus dependent upon Jane to be his ―prop and guide.‖ In Chapter 12, Jane articulates what was for her time a radically feminist philosophy:
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 as much as their brothers do; they suffer from too rigid a restraint, too absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffer; and it is narrow-minded in their more privileged fellow-creatures to say that they ought to confine themselves to making puddings and knitting stockings, to playing on the piano and embroidering bags. It is thoughtless to condemn them, or laugh at them, if they seek to do more or learn more than custom has pronounced necessary for their sex.
第二篇：鉴赏简爱
女性的个性魅力：自由平等，独立自主
--------鉴赏《简爱》
“难道就因为我贫穷,地位低下，相貌平平而且身材矮小就没有灵魂，没有一颗心吗？你想错了，我的心灵和你一样丰富，我的心也和你一样充实。”
这是来自19世纪“勃朗特三姐妹”之一的夏洛蒂·勃朗特的小说《简·爱》的女主角对平等的宣言。书中的男主人公罗切斯告诉简爱他要和英格兰姆小姐结婚后还要求简爱继续留下来当家庭教师时，简爱拒绝他要求时说的几句话，这短短的几句的话中的傲气却已经足够显现一位女性的尊严和魅力。简爱总能以自己的满腔的热情深深打动别人。别人，无论在理智上还是在情感上，都会被她的这种独特的“个性魅力”所吸引。一名出生贫穷，相貌平凡的女性却以她的自强不息和独具傲气的魅力深刻地征服了我们的同样是女性的读者，也感动了一代又一代的读者。
小说中女主角简爱是不幸的，自幼就失去了双亲，唯一疼爱并领养她的舅舅早年过世了，初涉人世就被迫寄人篱下，过着任人驱使的悲惨生活，饱受人情冷暖世态炎凉的痛苦。从小就过着与同龄人的生活，姨妈的嫌弃，表姐的蔑视，表哥的侮辱和毒打......面对表兄约翰里德的虐待暴打，习惯于服从他的小简爱终于忍无可忍，勇敢地站起来自我保护，与他反抗，骂他是：“残酷的坏家伙，像个杀人犯，像虐待奴隶的工头，像那些罗马暴君”。把他打得大声哭叫，最后小简爱被凶恶的舅妈锁在恐怖的红屋子里。然而她并没有因此而对生活绝望，自我摧毁，或是在暴打虐待的侮辱中沉沦。她把自己的感情希望寄托在酷爱的的书和大自然里。书丰富了她的感情世界，陶冶了她的性情，而不幸和苦难磨练了她的意志，使她养成了坚强不屈的精神，内柔外刚的性格，不可战胜的内在人格力量。这个时候简爱开始认识到要靠自己的力量来争取自己的地位和权力。
在和桑菲尔德府的主人罗切斯特先生相处过程中，面对罗切斯特的傲慢，莽撞的态度，简爱始终没有胆怯退缩，而是不卑不亢，冷静地应对。在罗切斯特面前，她从不因为自己是地位低微的家庭教师而感到自卑。反而认为他们是平等，不应该是佣人就不能受到尊重。尽管是陷入爱情的甜蜜中，她也没有迷失自己，成为爱情的俘虏，而是保持自己追求自由，平等，独立的人格。因为她的高尚，独立独特的性格。她坦然地告诉罗切斯特她不喜欢他送的钻石项链，不喜欢被打扮成一个美人，因为那就不是她自己了。她还要求继续做阿黛尔的家庭教师，坚持要靠自己的能力养活自己。因为她意识到一个经济上不能独立的人就人格上的独立。正是因为简爱的高尚，独立，正值，纯洁没有受到世俗社会的污染。让罗切斯特为之震撼。并把她当做一个他可以在精神上交谈的人。
简爱的独特人格与特质为自己迎来幸福的爱情和受到社会的尊重。在爱情方面，她坚持不一味的迎合对方的品格。她鄙视那些论门第出生，追求虚荣的上流社会之辈。她始终保持清醒的头脑，没有让自己成为爱情和金钱的奴隶，陷入世俗的漩涡里。
小说里简爱的自由平等，独立自主的独特品质告诉我们，女性一定要有自己的个性，不能因为生活的困难与波折而放弃尊严地活着，不能因为社会世俗的束缚而放弃自由平等权利的追求。在当今社会，有很多人在疯狂地为金钱和地位放弃了尊严和对自由平等的追求。女性都希望以容貌改变命运、改变生存状态。在她们的生活中，她们的亲身经历会不断强化这种“美丽优先”意识：同等学历的女性找工作时，貌美者优先录取；身无所长的美女，嫁大款享受富贵。如今越来越多的女性对自己表现出不自信，不想什么依靠什么经济独立养活自己。看到身边一个个女性通过“傍大款”迅速得以致富、不经过个人奋斗就能达到个人的理想。《简
爱》所展现给我们的是化繁为简，是一种返朴归真，是一种追求全心付出的感觉，是一种不计得失的感情，它犹如一杯冰水，够净化读者的心灵。是一部能够给予我们当今茫然失措的女性指明积极生活的启示，值得我们当今女性阅读一番。