Victorian society had many conventions concerning women and their "proper place" in the public eye. One of these conventions was that women were the "fairer sex" and it was their obligation to oblige by their husbands, fathers, male guardians, or other dominant males, and to carry out any means necessary to accomplish this. It was during these times that Charlotte Brontë demonstrated her defiance of the conventions of Victorian society and her feministic views through her novel and character Jane Eyre.
Jane Eyre and Charlotte Brontë are one in the same in many ways, including their vocation to be independent members of society and not give into the pressures of the then male dominated civilization. Charlotte Brontë was an independent woman for the majority of her life, living by her pen and remaining unwed until a very late age. Jane Eyre is essentially based after Charlotte Brontë and was also an independent woman for much of her life, working as a teacher, governess, headmistress, and finally marrying a man that she personally chose for love. Both of these women were shining examples of early feminism and defied Victorian convention through their vocations. Charlotte Brontë had a career as an author in a time when women did not make a living by writing and she used her voice as an author to create a character that stood up against society's pressures and eventually received everything she ever wanted in life without sacrificing her morals. Charlotte did use the pseudonym "Currer Bell" in the early part of her writing career, however she eventually revealed her identity, - and by extension her feministic views - to society and was recognized and respected as an accomplished author and lady. Jane Eyre demonstrated how she too was a feminist through her vocation because of her independence to provide for herself while helping others, and maintaining her morals throughout the novel. Jane took control of her life by finding a job when necessary, refusing to be a mistress to her master - a married man (Mr. Rochester), providing for her family when she received an inheritance, and refusing to marry a man who wished to make her his bride because of her ability to work and be a missionary (St. John Rivers). Both women demonstrated to society that women are people and that there should be more to their lives than following orders from the men that ran them. Although both women eventually married, and somewhat allowed their lives to be controlled by men, they were still able to express their feministic views in their marriages.
Charlotte Brontë and Jane Eyre were both successful and independent women even after their marriages to wealthy men. They lost some of their independence in the senses that they now had husbands to care for and were therefore tied down to specific places without being able to travel for their careers, however they both remained feminists and defied some of the conventions of Victorian society in their own distinct ways. Jane Eyre defied convention by marrying Mr. Rochester, her once master/ employer, who was of a much higher social class and who was much older than she. Jane was an orphaned girl of 18 when she came to Thornfield Park to work for Mr. Rochester (age 37) as a governess to his daughter Adèle, and when his wife died a year later their passion for each other - though thought to be strange because of the age and social class difference - flourished and resulted in a loving marriage. Charlotte Brontë defied Victorian society convention through her marriage to Arthur Bell Nicholls, her father's curate, in 1854. Charlotte's marriage was uncommon for Victorian times because women were expected to marry at a young age to wealthy men, keep a home and raise a family. Charlotte Brontë did not follow this convention; instead, she supported herself for most of her life as an author and then married Arthur at age 38 and did not have any children with him. Jane Eyre and Charlotte Brontë both made advantageous marriages to men that made their lives more comfortable because of their money, however they each maintained their feministic ways through marriage and in their other behaviors and actions.
Charlotte and Jane share almost the same life when it comes to meaningful experiences, opinions, and actions towards the people in their lives, including their feministic ways. Jane Eyre is a fictional version of Charlotte Brontë herself, and Brontë used Jane's character to depict the behaviors and actions she herself had had and done in life, especially her views on feminism. Brontë demonstrated to society her opinions on feminism in many ways; however, the most notable would be her independence throughout life. Charlotte lost her mother and two older sisters at a very young age and was forced to raise herself as well as her younger sisters and brother with little help from anyone. She became a figurehead to her siblings and demonstrated to them how to be contributors to society regardless of their gender. Brontë encouraged her siblings to be creative and passionate with writing and was the one to "discover" her younger sister Anne Brontë's true writing potential. Charlotte and Anne wrote together and published novels along with their other sister Emily. Together the three sisters defied society in providing for themselves without men by their sides and continued to influence the public with their works. Jane Eyre is Charlotte Brontë's most famous, successful and influential novel. Brontë was able to be bold in her writing with her Jane Eyre character and described events that truly defied Victorian society. One of the most bold and feministic circumstances in Jane Eyre would be Jane's refusal to be mistress to Mr. Rochester when she learns that he is married. This situation defied society's conventions because it was never acceptable to refuse a man's wishes, especially those of a man who is of a higher social class and was a women's employer. Although Jane wanted to be with Mr. Rochester, she stood by her moral principles, left Thornfield Hall and became independent once again by gaining a position as headmistress at a girls school in a far off town. This situation was a dramatic version of Charlotte Brontë's experience as a language student at a finishing school in Brussels where she and her professor (Constantin Héger) had a "passion" despite his marriage, and Charlotte quickly left the school to once again to be independent. Brontë used Jane Eyre's circumstance with Mr. Rochester as a confession and correction of her actions with Héger and demonstrated that women should always take the moral high road and stand up for their moral beliefs regardless of whether or not it defies a man's orders. Charlotte Brontë advocated feminism through her life's actions, opinions, behaviors, and literary works. Jane Eyre and Charlotte Brontë were both feminists and they demonstrated to the Victorian society the injustices women were silently suffering and how women could stand up against the oppressive conventions.
Brontë and Eyre were women that directly defied their Victorian society with modern feministic views that empowered women of the time, and influenced the public to see the discrimination women were suffering. Charlotte Brontë's novel was an eye-opening reality to society that began the formation of the feminist movement and inspired women to stand up for their rights as equal individuals. Both Charlotte Brontë and Jane Eyre were, and are still today, role models to society and women that were ahead of their time in their powerful actions and feminist views.
I would expand greatly on the introduction by discussing in detail what Victorian conventions are relevant to your essay. You also might want to include a detailed definition of "feminism" at some point. At the moment, you seem to be using the word to mean either "defying Victorian convention" (which is not in and of itself necessarily feminist) or "refusing to do what men want," which is, at best, with some important qualifiers that you lack, an element of feminism rather than its essence. If you were to rewrite the introduction to include these definitions, you would find it much easier to tighten up your body paragraphs.
Speaking of your body paragraphs, they should contain quotations. Specifically, you should quote extensively from Jane Eyre, as well as from at least one biography of Bronte. The quotations you include should help you prove the points you make in each paragraph. So, for instance, when Jane Eyre decides not to become Rochester's mistress, what reasoning does she give the reader? Rochester himself? What does what Jane says about the issue reveal about her view of how women should act? What does Rochester's view reveal about Victorian conventions? etc.
