WindySkies t1_je500qv wrote
Is Jane Eyre the proto "white feminist" protagonist? How do we reconcile her desire to give more rights to a certain type of woman at the exclusion of others? (That type of women she advocates the advancement of being those like herself - white, native-born, religious, and conservative with money.)
- Jane often compares herself positively to other women, emphasizing her pale skin and English-ness. She disparages the foreign French and German ladies Rochester had known before.
- The incredibly racist treatment of Bertha being from Jamaica and being Creole in origin. Rochester marrying a beautiful and racially ambitious woman is treated like a curse on his house... that only Jane can fix ofc by usurping the position of wife and birthing a 100% Caucasian male heir.
poohfan OP t1_je50lfh wrote
One of the questions I was thinking of asking, is how much Jane would have been looked down upon, in Rochester's social setting. She was a penniless governess, who ends up with the lord of the manor. I like your line of thinking though....those are some very good thoughts!! Thanks!!
RoseIsBadWolf t1_je7l1zx wrote
Creole in this era meant (most of the time) a white, British person born abroad. I don't think anything in the book indicates otherwise.
British people believed that being born abroad/living abroad could mess you up. But Bertha is probably white.
Charlotte Brontë's beef with the French is kind of hilarious though.
Vio_ t1_je6ehij wrote
Jane always came off as a kind of Mary Sue to me so many times. She was just the best at everything to where I was rolling my eyes at times.
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