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Jane Eyre Social Rules

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Throughout the novel Jane Eyre wrote by Charlotte Bronte, the main protagonist, Jane Eyre, did not strive to abide the social “rules” set in her time period. Taking place back in the nineteenth century, one can imagine how absurd the social standards are. In this time, people were told that if they would happen to go anywhere but up in status, that they would be disowned or looked down upon. The biggest three rules that Jane Broke through the novel include her looks and possessions not affecting her status, the fact that Jane did not marry within the social class in which she was born into, and finally Jane did not stay in the social status she was born into. One of the societal rules Jane broke throughout the novel involved her not being …show more content…
Most people born into low status never could ever imagine that they would marry someone of high status. After for the first time that Jane enters the middle social class, Rochester shows interest in her. However when Jane runs away from Rochester, she falls far back into the lowest class. Then St. John Peters who is of high status, comes along and takes her under his wing. Jane is asked by St. John to marry him but she declines. After her response, he pressures her to go to India with him as his wife. When Jane is about to tell St. John she would marry him, Jane hears Rochester’s voice in her head. Jane sees this as a sign so she leaves St. John and goes to Rochester. Jane goes to Ferndean where she finds Rochester left blind from a fire a few months ago. This is where Rochester finally asks to marry her, without hesitation she says yes. The fact that Jane had an opportunity to marry two men when she was born into a low status is very uncommon. Marrying into a lower status was even looked down upon making Rochester very brave for going through with the marriage. Jane even had a kid with Rochester making this a whole situation super uncommon. Jane should be very content with how her life turned out considered she beat all odds and married someone who most would not even get the chance to talk …show more content…
During the whole novel, a noticeable change made throughout Janes whole life is her changing her social class status. When Jane Eyre is first introduced into the plot we learn that she lives with her cruel aunt, Mrs. Reed, and that she is an orphan. Being an orphan already puts her at a low status. Throughout Jane’s childhood at a boarding school called Lowood, her status stayed low. The first time Jane’s status was altered occurs after her dreary experience at Lowood. The education she obtained and a job as a governess at Thornfield she gracefully accepted excelled her into a lower middle class. At Thornfield, she meets her future husband, Edward Rochester, who will later be her key into a higher status. After Jane works at Thornfield for a while, complications with the relationship between her and Rochester arise, causing Jane to leave. Jane becomes a hopeless and homeless runaway. Being at one of the lowest points of her life, Jane tries bartering her handkerchief for a piece of cake. “Almost desperate, I asked for a piece cake,” (Bronte 323). After she is denied she wonders if they would accept her gloves. “Would she even take my gloves?”(323). After being denied the food, she is further humiliated by the bakery worker and does the only thing she can and becomes a beggar. After this event, Jane’s status lays at the bottom

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