Jane Eyre's Message: "Keep Within Compass"

The message of this image "Keep Within Compass" is showing an ideal girl/woman, and she is doing right while the women in the pictures around her are the “troubled women" she is trying not to be like. It gives women hope that as long as they keep within the standards set for them they will obtain peace, happiness and enjoy life. It makes the contrast clear by showing what happens to those who do not follow along as the woman in the middle does. The main woman is keeping within the compass and remaining within the confines of these areas that they are supposed to be working in. It is a very realistic depiction because other than tending to the family they are supposed to depend on the men to work and provide for them. It is also symbolic of the presence that women are supposed to have around men. No woman should be doing the things that the women in the surrounding images are. Society would condemn them to a life of disgust and eternal pity . The symbolism makes it easy to see the contrast of how they should behave and how they should not behave, not only with written words but images as well. The women around the middle picture are seen as having a life with troubles. The top left hand corner is showing a woman who has a baby on her lap and from the way the baby is almost falling out of her lap she is having much trouble. The picture in the top right hand corner is showing a woman who is working as a domestic or tavern worker, these people are not thought very highly of. The bottom left hand corner image is of a woman standing in a street selling things to make her money and again this is not what women are supposed to do. The last image on the bottom right hand corner is of a woman who has probably taken on a life of prostitution. All of these lifestyles around the main image are not ideal and they are not to be followed because they lead to a hard life. They are the "troubled women" because they have engaged in the ways that are not expected of women. By doing so they have fallen upon hard times and now must live in shame and through many hardships. No respect is given to them in the smallest form where as a bit more is given to those who do not step out of their boundaries. One interesting aspect about this image though is not just the pictures of the women themselves but the actual shapes used. The woman who is doing good is placed in a triangle which means much more. The triangle most times is the symbol representing god or holy beings and actions. The woman in the middle is surrounded by this triangle because according to the text she is doing right in god's eyes and being true to what women are expected to do. The women around her are not and they are wrong. This same moral message is in Jane Eyre and we can see that in many ways. The main example is Bertha. She was a crazy woman who lived her life known as a lunatic. As Rochester's wife she was taken care of but still was in the wrong and her life could never be filled with happiness she probably longed for. She ended up having a hard time through it all and could barely even see the light of day. She could be considered one of the troubled women in the images because her life was full of misery.