In a manner of speaking, Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre reinvents the concept of romance. One hardly expects a sordid tale of domination and submission from a sickly country girl, yet Bronte dabbled experimentally with the idea of feminism and power play in her hugely successful first novel. Jane Eyre represents the burgeoning feminist in Bronte, though the passionate, overzealous Mr. Rochester tempers her strict rationality. Given their circumstances, it is impossible to imagine the novel without some form of power exchange – Jane must play the role of submissive in light of her sex, her employment, and her age, while Rochester's greater experience, station, and machismo demand that he play the part of dominant.
[...] Charlotte Bronte presents Jane as the docile partner to Rochester's sheer virility, but she also acknowledges that gender, affluence, and age all play a part in this interaction. Society and convention conspire against the governess. Bronte undermines traditional social convention by slowly turning the male dominant culture on its head. Her heroine respects and loves the lord of the manor, but she does not submit blindly. Indeed, she is well aware of his faults. Thus, once she strips away the artificial restrictions society places on her, she becomes Rochester's equal. [...]
[...] She depends on him for food, shelter, and employment; all of this is achieved through money as well as his social standing in general. thought to myself Mr Rochester is peculiar,” she admits. He seems to forget he pays me thirty pounds per annum for receiving his orders She is little more than a servant, although her title of governess affords her a little more respect in his eyes than, say, Mrs. Fairfax. Nonetheless, because of his position as the master of Thornfield, Rochester exercises authority over all its residents, which, at this point in the story, includes Jane. [...]
[...] He and Jane engage in a little tête-à-tête, in which Rochester claims supremacy over his young employee, stating, claim only such superiority as must result from twenty years' difference in age and a century's advance in experience Commanding, experienced, and of greater social standing that she, Rochester wields his authority easily. He is aware of the abruptness of his authority, but cannot be bothered to change his ways. Because this dominance is merely superficial, that is, bound to the conventions of society and not achieved through Rochester's personal attempts, Jane contents herself with her role as the submissive. [...]
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