In this term paper I am going to examine and compare how societal structures and social status are depicted in the fictional autobiography Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë and the social satire Emma by Jane Austen. The decision for this topic and why I limited the survey to these two novels is based on several reasons. Concerning the topic I was influenced by my first reading impressions in which I was astonished at the depicted variety and importance of societal structure which thus simply inspired me to learn more about it. In respect to the selected novels my choice was more differentiated. When I started working on this paper I wanted to include Dickens´ ”Great Expectations” but soon I decided that this might lead – due to the limited length of 20 pages – to a quite superficial examination of the topic. Moreover, excluding Dickens appeared rational to me due to the fact that the novels by Austen and Brontë seemed to provide, with their similar themes and their female protagonists, a greater basis for comparison. Knowing that the Brontës did not like what and how Jane Austen wrote confirmed my speculations in regard of these novels providing an interesting basis for comparison. Furthermore, the thirty years which lay in between the publications of Emma (1816) and Jane Eyre (1847) make it possible to examine in how far society had changed in the meantime. Starting off with a comparative structural analysis of the novels in the backdrop of the question how social status influences the heroine´s progresses, I want to show how much social status mattered and which consequences were connected to it. In the following sections, Emma and Jane Eyre shall be examined and compared with regard to the parts of society that play a role in them, concerning the restrictions and social mores connected with their marriage plots and in respect of the special rank governesses seem to have occupied in it. This shall be done to get an impression of the distinctions that characterised the different groups in nineteenth-century class society as well as to get an insight into the social mores that laid the foundations for it and finally to explain and understand the socially ambiguous rank of governesses. In the last section I am going to prove with the help of nineteenth-century reviews if the way and the conditions which were taken into consideration in the previous sections corresponded to or contradicted the ideas of class society of Brontë´s and Austen´s contemporaries.
Table of Contents
I. Introduction
II. How does social status influence the progress of the novel´s heroines?
III. Prominent features of social class covering both novels
III.1. Which parts of society are Austen and Brontë actually dealing with?
III.2. Marriage as an indicator of social mores and an affirmation of class society
III.3. The role and social rank of governesses in class society
IV. Nineteenth – century reception in the background of class-society
V. Conclusions
VI. Bibliography
Objectives and Topics
This paper examines and compares the depiction of societal structures and social status in Jane Austen's Emma and Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre. It investigates how social class influences the maturation processes of the respective heroines, analyzes the role of marriage and the social rank of governesses, and explores contemporary nineteenth-century reception of these works against the backdrop of changing class conditions.
- Comparative analysis of social status and its influence on female protagonists.
- Examination of marriage as a reflection of societal norms and class expectations.
- Evaluation of the socially ambiguous position of governesses in the nineteenth century.
- Discussion of historical reception and how nineteenth-century class society perceived these novels.
Excerpt from the Book
III. Prominent features of social class covering both novels
Before starting to take a look at marriage, the social rank and the role of governesses (and orphans) in class society, I am going to mention with which parts of society Jane Austen and Charlotte Brontë are actually dealing with in their novels Emma and Jane Eyre.
In her novel Emma Austen is actually dealing with the above mentioned “micro-cosm” of Highbury which she herself called “neighborhood”. In my opinion, “micro-cosm” seems to be an adequate term for the part of society she depicts since, within the small community of Highbury, she does not write about all the members but concentrates only on a few.
She meant by it not the tenant farmers, the rural laborers, the country-house or the village tradesmen. They did not belong to the world of neighbourhood. Rather she meant by neighborhood their social superiors, who lived in large houses and whose dining, dancing, and marrying provided the substance of the story.
Although this section of society she takes into focus seems to be comparatively small, there seem to be enough possibilities of even distinguishing between them. According to David Spring, there were three groups of the “rural elite” Austen concentrated on. The first two groups were those of the “landed aristocracy” and the “gentry” which could be distinguished from the third because of the fact that “they made their money in the same way – mainly by letting land to tenant farmers.”
Summary of Chapters
I. Introduction: This chapter outlines the scope of the comparative analysis between Jane Austen's Emma and Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, focusing on how societal structures impact the protagonists.
II. How does social status influence the progress of the novel´s heroines?: This section discusses the moral and psychological development of Emma Woodhouse and Jane Eyre, highlighting how their social standing dictates their individual paths toward maturity.
III. Prominent features of social class covering both novels: This chapter categorizes the societal groups depicted in both works, exploring class distinctions, the marriage market, and the professional challenges faced by women.
IV. Nineteenth – century reception in the background of class-society: This chapter analyzes contemporary reviews to understand how nineteenth-century readers perceived the social critiques presented in the novels.
V. Conclusions: This chapter synthesizes the main findings, summarizing how social status functioned as both a privilege and a barrier during the nineteenth century.
VI. Bibliography: This section lists the primary and secondary sources used in the paper.
Keywords
Social status, societal structures, Emma, Jane Eyre, nineteenth-century literature, class society, marriage plot, governess, female independence, Victorian values, social mobility, literary criticism, Austen, Brontë, social satire.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this paper?
The paper provides a comparative structural analysis of how social status and class structures are represented in Jane Austen’s Emma and Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre.
What are the central themes discussed in the work?
Key themes include the impact of social standing on the protagonists' development, the role of marriage as a social indicator, the status of governesses, and the historical reception of these novels regarding class critique.
What is the research goal of the study?
The study aims to demonstrate how social class determined the opportunities, vulnerabilities, and life trajectories of the heroines in both novels and how these authors used their narratives to comment on social conditions.
Which methodology does the author use?
The author employs a comparative structural and literary analysis, utilizing contemporary critical theory and nineteenth-century reviews to ground the interpretation of the texts.
What topics are covered in the main body?
The main body covers the socioeconomic backgrounds of the characters, the function of marriage within the class system, the professional and social realities of governesses, and an analysis of how nineteenth-century readers reacted to the novels' messages.
How would you characterize the keywords of this research?
The keywords center on the intersection of gender, class, and literature, specifically identifying the Victorian context, the role of the governess, and the comparative study of Austen and Brontë.
How does the author distinguish between the social status of Emma and Jane?
The author contrasts Emma's high status, which provides her with security and "carte blanche" to make mistakes, against Jane Eyre's social inferiority, which makes her life precarious and requires her to rely on personal effort and fortune to achieve independence.
Why are governesses considered an important focal point in the study?
Governesses are analyzed because their position was uniquely ambiguous, combining features of the aristocracy (through their education and "accomplishments") with those of the working class (through their economic dependence and subordinate status), serving as a primary means for upward mobility.
- Citation du texte
- Stefanie Däne (Auteur), 2005, Survey on social status and societal structures in the novels "Jane Eyre" and "Emma" , Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/154187
