Ambiguity in the 19th Century

Jane Eyre is a complex character that is on a road to discovery but at the same time knows so much about herself and how she should be according to her society. The role as a governess is something that is just as complex as her inner self but being portrayed for the world to see. In her own emotions she recognizes herself as being intelligent and mentally up to par with the people of the upper classes and could fit there just fine. The only thing that holds her back is her title as governess, this is considered servant work and based on that she is treated as such. A governess's job is to teach children, mostly young girls, academically, socially, and artistically. She has knowledge on how to interact, read, write, behave, and express herself on a level that those of a higher class can, yet because of the title itself she is very limited as to how much she can express to others. Another aspect that keeps her in this lower class is because she is paid as a servant in the house and could never be seen as anything better than that. This portrays the confusion she has internally regarding her place in society. She is no more than a servant yet at some points in the book she compares herself to Miss Ingram. This of course would be a common thought today, yet back then that sort of thing was not even to be considered. To others she would never be able to amount to anything Miss Ingram was because of the societal standards, even though it is clear she was much smarter than her in many ways. She does break the standard norms for people of her time in this exact moment of comparison. Women in her working class are not supposed to step out of the box they are placed in. She is placed in a box where she has to only do her job, be present when necessary, and remain quiet about her thoughts and ideas. Jane expresses her emotions and sometimes wishes to be out of the seen differently by others. The next huge area in which she steps out of the 19th century role for women with this idea for independence she is in search of. She leaves Gateshead for her school and she is searching for her independence through that and in some ways she gains it. When she leaves Lowood for Thornfield Manor she is also gaining that new found freedom she never had before. Each time she moves somewhere she gains a bit more freedom than the last place. Her final place before heading to Ferndean where she ends the novel is Marsh End where she gains the most independence and can learn to be alone and to rely on herself for her needs. Women of this time are not supposed to be this way, they are expected to maintain that dependency on the men around them. All the rules around them make it so that they have no other way but to be dependent. As I recall, we discussed in class how a widows inherited land from the death of her husband is never hers, it is given away and she only gets a small portion of means to survive from it, but that is barely enough. This dependency means that women of this time are to keep relations with men their whole lives, and not rely on their own ideas or work to get them by. She takes these giant strides of independence each time and learns what it really is to be alone and free of a bond or tie to anyone. This is the one idea that sets her free ultimately and she can return to Thornfield. Jane's role is complex; as is her job, her internal emotions, and the role she has to fit into cannot contain these aspects of her character, so she is forced to be conventional and find ways around it. Bronte must have wanted to convey this internal emotion to others through her writing. Charlotte expresses the idea of woman's independence, freedom and autonomy so well through this book by making Jane a person that is a non-conformist. It proves her strength and endurance as well as her maturity. These are all characteristics that people admire and will ultimately model themselves after so she did very well in showing them and making them something restricted females can relate to.