Starting with this extract, how does Bronte present Jane as a strong female character?
Throughout this extract, Bronte uses a series of techniques to present Jane as a strong female character, including a list of rhetorical questions, strong verb choices and exclamations. Bronte also presents Jane as a strong female character elsewhere in the 1847 novel, such as in her first conflict with John Reed and in her unwavering refusal of St John’s proposal of marriage.
In this extract, Bronte uses a list of rhetorical questions to present Jane as a strong female character. Jane cries:
‘Do you think I can stay to become nothing to you? Do you think I am an automaton?- a machine without feelings? And can bear to have my morsel of bread snatched from my lips and my drop of living water snatched from my cup?’
Bronte generates a demanding tone through the anaphoric repetition of the phrase ‘do you think’, an effect which is only confirmed through the use of harsh and percussive mono and disyllables. What’s more, the strong terms in which she phrases her judgement, for example using the hyperbolic term ‘nothing’, suggests the clarity with which she sees her position, only emphasising her role as a strong female character.
Furthermore, Bronte uses a series of strong verb choices to present Jane as a strong female character. Jane says:
‘I tell you I must go!’ I retorted, roused with a sudden passion.
The verbs ‘retorted’ and ‘roused’ are both quite violent, associated, as they are, with strength of feeling. Even in Jane’s own speech, she uses the modal verb ‘must’ suggesting that her powerful sense of duty leaves her no option. Furthermore, Jane repeats the pronoun ‘I’, showing the way in which she is prioritising her own desires over Rochester’s. The brevity of the phrase ‘I tell you I must go!’ is also in contrast to the more verbiose style of the narration in the rest of the novel, and indeed in many Victorian novels, including ‘Wuthering Heights’ and ‘Great Expectations’. This contrast allows Jane’s speech to make a greater impact, showing her clarity of thought and immediacy of action.
What’s more, Bronte uses exclamations to present Jane as a strong female character. Jane cries:
You think wrong!- I have as much soul as you and full as much heart!
Here, exclamations serve to represent a strong statement, something which Bronte uses to hint at the strength of Jane’s character and her sense of her own worth. In particular, the equivalence created between ‘I’ and ‘you’ through the use of the phrase ‘as much as’ uplifts Jane: living in a 19th century patriarchal society, for Jane to suggest that she is equal to Rochester is to suggest that she has much greater power and strength than the average woman.
Elsewhere in the novel, she stands up to John Reed after he strikes her. This shows that Jane is a strong female character, since in the socially stratified society of 19th century Victorian England, it would be unexpected for a young woman of lower class to stand up to an older boy of a higher class. In the novel, Jane recalls:
The cut bled, the pain was sharp: my terror had passed its climax; other feelings succeeded.
"Wicked and cruel boy!" I said. "You are like a murderer — you are like a slave-driver — you are like the Roman emperors!"
The powerful apostrophe ‘wicked and cruel boy’ has a strong, judgemental tone, and helps to elevate Jane’s position to one of judge over perpetrator. Furthermore, Jane describes John Reed using a triad of similes which compare him with historically condemned figures. These similes don’t only serve to represent John Reed as ‘bad’; they also confine him to the past, making him look outdated and irrelevant. What’s more, the fact that Jane records that she learnt about these figures from a book also shows her strength as a female character. This is because education wasn’t widely available to young women of this period.
Furthermore, her refusal to compromise with St John about his demand that she go to Africa with him as his wife also shows her strength as a female character. In the novel, Bronte writes:
"I repeat I freely consent to go with you as your fellow-missionary, but not as your wife; I cannot marry you and become part of you."
"A part of me you must become," he answered steadily; "otherwise the whole bargain is void. […] How can we be for ever together — sometimes in solitudes, sometimes amidst savage tribes — and unwed?"
"Very well," I said shortly; "under the circumstances, quite as well as if I were either your real sister, or a man and a clergyman like yourself."
Jane’s repetition of an idea shows how strongly she feels it to be true. What’s more, the simplistic, Germanic language which she uses demonstrates her unwillingness to skirt around the point: she merely wants St John to understand and respect her decision. Furthermore, the use of the adverb ‘shortly’ suggests the gravity with which she speaks: she can say very little and still make a great impact. Moreover, the triad of ‘I’s in the Jane’s first speech highlights the fact that she is prioritising herself over his demands and ideals.
Overall, therefore, in this extract, Bronte uses a series of techniques and ideas in order to demonstrate Jane’s strength as a female character. This is something she does throughout the novel, to great effect.
