Post by Emily Werkheiser on Nov 18, 2015 21:40:41 GMT
As discussed in the article, The Madwoman in the Attic, nineteenth century society defined the ideal woman as one who is frail, dainty, self-denying, and submissive. Stressing this ideal revealed society’s expectation that a woman must be “killed into passivity” in order to comply without protest to her “duty” of denying oneself certain rights in relativity to men. This conveys how society viewed a woman as one whose purpose was purely to serve men and to sacrifice their own desires and dignity in order to do so. By setting the standard that women were to submit themselves as an object to their male companion, men gained the power to remove women’s’ drive and passion in order to make it easier to dominate and possess them as practically slaves to men’s desires. This restrictive and oppressive expectation made it nearly impossible for a woman to define herself as an individual, identify her own personal goals, and yet even harder to break out from this position.
This concept of men killing women into passivity is demonstrated in Charlotte Bronte’s novel Jane Eyre as well as Jean Rhys’ Wild Sargasso Sea, which work hand in hand to reveal an interesting statement on societal standards. In Jane Eyre, Jane is constantly faced with men who try to kill her into passivity, and they are partially successful. For instance, her cousin John Reed’s bullying (which prompted Jane being locked in the red room), and Mr. Brocklehurst’s harsh and unforgiving treatment, both forced Jane to become quieter and learn to hold her tongue when faced against injustice. Later at Thornfield, Rochester treated Jane as his possession, as he tried to control her according to his own agenda. Although Jane internally recognized her value of independence and respect, she remained reserved, and if it weren’t for discovering Bertha Mason’s existence, Jane would have married Rochester even though he did not treat her with equality. The idea of men killing women into passivity is also demonstrated in Wild Sargasso Sea, in which Bertha Mason let herself become completely dependent on Rochester’s love. Yet in return, Rochester treated her as property and he coldly denied her of his affection. Instead of refusing to let this defeat her, Bertha passively let his lack of love for her destroy her entire being as she descended into madness.
The reactions of both of these women towards men trying to kill them into passivity provide an interesting contrast, and function to convey a certain meaning. The reason that Jane did not fall to her passivity is because although she was often forced to hold her tongue, she refused to let her inner passions, thoughts, and sense of justice/ equality die. In contrast, Bertha experienced this same oppression, yet she represents the majority of women at the time, who could not overcome this oppression and as a result lost their sense of identity and became completely submissive to a male figure and society as a whole. In Jane Eyre, Bronte uses the expectations and position that society puts on women to her advantage, in order to subtly hint at the faults of society’s standards and to initiate a woman’s potential to break out of these standards (while still being able to receive love) through self-confidence and strength of will.
This concept of men killing women into passivity is demonstrated in Charlotte Bronte’s novel Jane Eyre as well as Jean Rhys’ Wild Sargasso Sea, which work hand in hand to reveal an interesting statement on societal standards. In Jane Eyre, Jane is constantly faced with men who try to kill her into passivity, and they are partially successful. For instance, her cousin John Reed’s bullying (which prompted Jane being locked in the red room), and Mr. Brocklehurst’s harsh and unforgiving treatment, both forced Jane to become quieter and learn to hold her tongue when faced against injustice. Later at Thornfield, Rochester treated Jane as his possession, as he tried to control her according to his own agenda. Although Jane internally recognized her value of independence and respect, she remained reserved, and if it weren’t for discovering Bertha Mason’s existence, Jane would have married Rochester even though he did not treat her with equality. The idea of men killing women into passivity is also demonstrated in Wild Sargasso Sea, in which Bertha Mason let herself become completely dependent on Rochester’s love. Yet in return, Rochester treated her as property and he coldly denied her of his affection. Instead of refusing to let this defeat her, Bertha passively let his lack of love for her destroy her entire being as she descended into madness.
The reactions of both of these women towards men trying to kill them into passivity provide an interesting contrast, and function to convey a certain meaning. The reason that Jane did not fall to her passivity is because although she was often forced to hold her tongue, she refused to let her inner passions, thoughts, and sense of justice/ equality die. In contrast, Bertha experienced this same oppression, yet she represents the majority of women at the time, who could not overcome this oppression and as a result lost their sense of identity and became completely submissive to a male figure and society as a whole. In Jane Eyre, Bronte uses the expectations and position that society puts on women to her advantage, in order to subtly hint at the faults of society’s standards and to initiate a woman’s potential to break out of these standards (while still being able to receive love) through self-confidence and strength of will.
