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Jane does not want to occupy a subordinate position in any household. Hers is a quest for power. Discuss
by Pilar Cabello (2008-09, 5ºC)
Although I could easily subscribe the first part of the statement without much further discussion; as regards the second part, "hers is a quest for power", raises a lot of doubts in my mind. A lot of pondering and thorough thinking would be necessary to elucidate this question.
From my point of view, Jane's social position has never been a clear one, which is quite a thorny position, especially for a woman, within the rigid English society of the 19th century. Lines and boundaries among social classes were very clearly established; upper classes knew them perfectly well, nonetheless lower classes kept and respected them even more profoundly, since it was their tendency to be more reluctant to accept social changes.
Hence, Charlotte Brontë precisely chooses people belonging to these lower classes to reveal Jane's uncertain and unclear position in society; giving now and then some hints to the reader.
Firstly this conversation Jane overhears at Gateshead between Bessie, the nurse, and Miss Abbot, the lady's maid, that reveals that Jane's origins and birth could be much higher than her actual position in the family's household, for she is a Reed by full right of birth. (1)
Then, when some eight years of Jane's life have elapsed at Lowood, it is Bessie anew the one who gives the reader another hint when visiting Jane on her last day at the school. We learn, together with Jane, that Jane's father, this poor clergyman who made a match above his means, may belong to a much better and richer family than we previously thought. It is Bessie, the nurse, who let us know that the Mr. Eyre who went to Gateshead "looked quite a gentleman" and she is the one who believes that the Eyres "may be poor, but as much gentry as the Reeds are". It is Bessie who lifts Jane to a lady's position in the eyes of the reader: "Oh, you are quite a lady, Miss Jane". She certainly upgrades Jane socially. (2)
Now let's consider Jane's feelings and deeds. That she does not want to occupy a subordinate position in any household is crystal clear from the very beginning. Already In her early childhood Jane rebelled violently against her firstborn cousin: "Am I going to call Master Reed to my cousin?"
In Lowood things are different; Jane is among her peers, orphan girls of no means. Her ascend in this secluded reduced society is not fulgurating, but steady: first she has to endure and overcome the shame of the public exposure Mr. Blockerhurst subjected her to. Then she puts her clever mind at work and step by step she becomes first the brightest pupil in the school and next a teacher.
She has earned with her own effort not only her own preeminent position in the school, but also the appreciation of Miss Temple, the most beloved person at Lowood.
Does Charlote Brontë want to show us that you may have a position in life according to your birth, but that you can also earn it by the sweat of your brow?
As time passes by and Jane becomes a dweller at Thornfield, her social position is not much clearer than in her early childhood at Gateshead, although it has much improved. Jane is still among troubled waters, for she is neither a servant nor does she belong to the gentry; for she has all the accomplishments a young lady should have without being one. Her strength of mind and character defines her as an independent person and not only is she a dependant, but also a dependant of the master and man she has fallen in love with.
All these contradictory situations are the extremely well designed and thrilling plot Charlotte Brontë has presented us so far, in the first third of her novel: a young strong character fighting for her position in life, most probably for a position that she should have had by right of birth but life has denied her thus far.
Until now Jane is preserving what she has earnestly and thoroughly earned with her own hard work and effort. So far, hers is more a quest for endurance and survival than a quest for real power. Although I would not be much surprised if the tables start to turn, and her quest becomes a quest for love and power in a near future.