Marriages In Frankenstein Jane Eyre English Literature Essay

Marriages In Frankenstein Jane Eyre English Literature EssayThough feminists have long questioned the inductionof union by claiming that it has been a natural site of wo handss onerousness, it is not until the nineteenth ascorbic acid that organized feminist movements began to emerge and feminist voices grew louder and untouchableer. Meanwhile, in the 19th century British literature, both or so women writers and men writers began to focus on the well-being of women, their social position, and women and men relationship in their literary works one of the crucial issues they atomic number 18 concerned with is the issue of man and wife. This piece of music is dedicated to the analysis of marriages in three 19th century British novels-Frankenstein, Jane Eyre and The Odd Women in order to offer a general idea of the feminist progress in the 19th centuryWomen in the 19th CenturyFirst of all, a general picture is given to showcase womens status in the institution of marriage thro ugh the 19th century Briton. As a whole, feminists have long criticized that marriages cast women as inferior by degrading women or constraining their appropriate options and ambitions2.Marriages rein stuff the gendered division of labor, positioning women as domestic and less independent than men. Women were largely described as mentally inferior, irrational, passionate and emotional. It was considered that completely marriage justifies their existence, that is, to provide companionship formen, a cure or moral outlet for lust, a re lateal of species3. As the inferior in the family, women were confined in the domestic sphere to take care of babies and do chores in the house. Though later in the 19th century, some women began to work in factories or as governess, what they did was some low level jobs, and women were paid much less than men ( rase when they did the same job).In the eyes of the law, women were treated as the second class citizen in society. Women did not exist as lega l beings in their own right in a marriage, women did not possess whatever property (anything a cleaning woman earned or inherited became her mans property, and her earnings were paid directly to him), and even the children belonged only to the husband husbands legally had rights to beat their wives, provided the stick was not thicker than his thumb even under the husbands violence, a woman had no rights to sue for divorce4.Through the 19th century, womens virtue was to be the Angle in the House who was expected to be devoted and submissive to her husband5. This name seems to redefine a womans role in a marriage, giving her glory and dignity. However, the so-called angel is more a yoke than a crown, because the holy person must be passive and powerless, meek, charming, graceful, sympathetic, self-sacrificing, pious, and above all-pure6. Under the requirement of being pure, womens sexuality must be repressed. Even in a marriage, the woman was not permitted to enjoy sexual pleasure , or she would be considered by both her husband and others as a whore.Women in the 19th century did not share equal rights with men, and the truth was disclosed and the cure was explored by some 19th century writers. On one hand, many women writers like embrace Shelly and Bronte sisters began to emerge. On the other, some men as well began to speak for the better-off of women, for example, Gorge Gissing. In Mary Shellys Frankenstein, Charlotte Brontes Jane Eyre, and Gorge Gissings The Odd Women,women and marriages were important and meaningful themes informing of the 19th century feminist awareness. In Frankenstein, Elizabeth was killed on her wedding night with master key. Is her finale inescapable? In Jane Eyre, why must Rochester be made imperfect to be together with Jane? In The Odd Women, does Rhodas refusal to Everard have other layers of meaning? The answers are related to what the woman character is like.Frankenstein the Death of Obedient Women in a antique InstitutionT he marriage between Victor and Elizabethis short and bloody. Their wedding room became a tomb for Elizabeth, for on the wedding night, the bride was killed by the monster, Victors own creation. Shelly seems to make the death of Elizabeth, to some degree, quite unreasonable. How can victor fail to figure out the monsters intention to kill his lover after its numerous killings of his beloved ones- his bother, his sister, and his best booster rocket? Isnt it obvious that the monster aims to make Victor suffer instead of kill him directly? Anyway, Shelly does not believe Elizabethcan escape death.Elizabeth belongs to Victor since the day she was authoritative in the family. She was a pretty present7that Victors mother gave him, and that, luckily, won Victors protection and love. As was said by Victor, since till death she was to be mine only8. However, Elizabeth brings hurt to Victor as well, for Victors most beloved mother died for nurturing the sick Elizabeth. Soon after his mothers death, Victor left for Ingolstadt. Though the death of Victors mother did not diminish his love for Elizabeth, it did lit dangerous fire in Victors heart-to make dead alive. The birth of Victors monster brings about the agony of Frankenstein family, including Elizabeth. During Victors struggle with the monster, Elizabeth became his sole alleviate and comforts. Unfortunately, his final hope of happiness was destroyed due to Victors ignorance. Victor blamed the monster that had blinded him to his real intentions9. Anyway, it is Victor that had created the killer who finally destroyed Elizabeth (does Victor unconsciously want Elizabeth dead?).The tragedy of Elizabeth and Victors marriage is doomed. Elizabeth is a perfect brothel keeper of the day-pure, beautiful and willing to sacrifice for Victor. It is reasonable to believe that she would have been an Angel in the House if hermarriage with Victor had not been disturbed by the monster. Ironically, the monster is her mans creation.In this sense, Elizabeths death embodies the womens sacrifice in a patriarchal marriage. As is known, Marry Shelly is the daughter of Mary Wollstonecraft (author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman) who is considered to be one of the major figures of first wave feminism. Influenced by her mother, Shelly besides highlights the inequalities between the sexes. In Frankenstein, as an embodiment of subservient women, Elizabeths death is inescapable.Jane Eyre Pursuit of Gender Equality in a MarriageJane and Rochester are from different classes. One is the master, while the other is a governess one is rich,while the other is poor. Rochester with his good blood and fortune is thought by the hierarchical system to deserve a beautiful and graceful lady like Ingram. Even though there is this huge gap between Jane and Rochester, Charlotte Bronte deliberately plotted a happy marriage between them which exhibits gender equality. To illuminate this gender equality, Jane must be instigative to social oppression on women, and meanwhile, Rochester has to reconcile himself to the demands of gender equality.Different from social and religious norms of women-to be obedient, Jane is a inflammatory woman. She is blessed by Charlotte Bronte with her wish of a woman, that is, to have minds and independence, and deserve a good man who cherishes a woman for her mind instead of outward dish and material wealth and who regards her as an equal companion. All these blessings require Jane Eyre to be seditious against both class and gender inequalities in the contemporary society.Janes left from Rochester and her refusal to St behind is her struggle to get away from being chained by gender inequalities. St John is a typical patriarchal man who also embodies the religious oppression on women. In his eyes, Janes virtue is to marry him and accompany him to fulfill his mission. He expects Jane to obey him, to satisfy him, and to please him, because he is in the name of Gods clergyman. Ho wever, this god refuses Jane to be like St John and to do the same things. What the god wants from Jane is to ask her to fulfill a wifes duty, and its church gives St John more power than Jane. Janes own identity is exist in his realm. I felt daily more and more that I must disown half of my nature, stifle half my faculties, wrest my tastes from their original bent, force myself to the adoption of pursuit for which I had no natural vocation10. Janes refusal to St John is her struggle against outward oppression, while her left from Rochester is her struggle against her own weakness. Rochester and Jane see separately other as soul mate. They determined to get married regardless of the gap between their statuses. However, Rochesters mad wife became an invincible obstacle that made their marriage impossible. Jane was confronted with two choices to be Rochesters mistress, or to leave Rochester forever. Although Jane loves Rochester and would like to accompany him, she finally chose to leave Thornfield. Jane realized that there was still distance between Rochester and her. She is the paid order who was less beautiful than Rochesters other mistresses. Moreover, she remembers Rochesters degradation of his other mistresses. Hiring a mistress is the next worse thing to buying a slave both are often by nature, and always by position, inferior to live familiarly with inferior is degrading11. Jane would prefer to earn thirty pounds a year as a governess than be hired as a mistress or brought as a slave. Jane rejected Rochester and left this way, she could main mentally equal with Rochester.Charlotte believes Jane deserves to be together with Rochester, but their union can be possible only when Jane and Rochester are totally equal. To win this equality, thestronger one shall be weakened, while the weaker one shall be made better. As it turned out, on their way to be together, Jane becomes stronger both in terms of her mind and economic power while Rochester becomes less strong due tothe burn down of Thornfield and his loss of eyesight.The Odd Women Willing to Be the Odd and New WomenRhoda in The Odd Women by Gorge Gissing is another subversive woman. Different from Jane, she finally refused marriage.Rhodas refusal to marriage embodies a huge step that women take in protecting their rights. As was in the 19th century Briton, the unmarried women were considered suspicious which means abnormal, strange and eccentric12. Being odd is marked with radical and agony by the patriarchal society. In The Odd Women, Rhoda does not believe Everard (or any other man) can give her an independent and free life after marriage. Her determination to refuse marriage is made gradually. At first, Rhoda thought she had chosen the whiz life for a life time with conviction. She scorns marriage as well as those weak women who regard marriage and men as indispensable. However, Rhoda, in some part of her heart, still is weak. After she and Everard fell in love, she forced Ev erard to propose to her. Rhodas decision to refuse marriage is eventually consolidated after her witness of Monicas experience. Monica, timid of being odd and poor, married Widdowson. Soon after their marriage, Widdowson was overwhelmed with jealousy and possessiveness which symbol the stifling patriarchal values, and Monica fell in love with another man which embodies womens failed flee. Their marriage ended in Monicas death for childbirth. After Monicas death, Rhoda eventually made her determination to refuse Everard.Rhoda, after her refusal of Everard, with Miss Barfoot belongs to the new women who are willing to be odd. They miss the spell of being odd, and work to alleviate the social plight in which women find themselves by training them to be fit for positions13. Gorge Gissing, like Charlotte Bronte, also gives the feminism blessings. The end of marriages (Monica and Widdowson, Rhoda and Everard), the new born girl in Rhodas arm, and the flourishing of Miss Barfoots work (l ike a green bay-tree) promise the bright future of the new women like Rhoda and Miss Barfoot.To sum up the above mentioned marriages in the novels, through the death of Elizabeth in her marriage with Victor, Shelly highlights the sacrifice of the obedient women in the patriarchal institution of marriage Jane Eyres marriage with Rochester shows her pursuit of gender equality Rhoda Nunns refusal to marry Everard marks the emergence of the new women. Charlotte Bronte and Gorge Gissing conveyed their support of feminist awakening by describing subversive characters in their novels. Overall, the 19th century British literature exhibits the contemporary feminist voices, that is, women are awaking and asking for greater freedoms, more social opportunities, and equal status with men.CitationsBronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. capital of the United Kingdom Thomas Nelson and Sons, Ltd. 1937.David, Deirdre. Ideologies of Patriarchy, Feminism, and Fiction in The Odd Women. Feminist Studies, Vol. 10, No. 1 (Spring, 1984), p 117.Lesser, Wendy. Even-Handed Oddness George Gissings The Odd Women . The Hudson Review. Vol. 37, No. 2 (Summer, 1984), pp. 211.Nadelhaft, Jerome. The English Womans Sexual well-bred War Feminisn Attitudes Towards Men, Women, and Marriage 1650-1740. Journal of the History of Ideas. Vol. 43, No 4 (Oct. Dec., 1982).Shelly, Mary. Frankenstein. London Penguin Books. 1978.