(Spoilers
for the whole novel, heads up.)
I just love the Gothic style of this cover.
“A new
servitude! There is something in that… yes—yes—the end is not so difficult; if
I had only a brain active enough to ferret out the means of attaining it”
(152).
In the above paragraph, Jane Eyre
formulates her plan to quit Lowood, seeking her fortunes elsewhere. This
ultimately results in her becoming a governess at Thornfield. The idea of
servitude shapes Jane’s life, acting as a limit imposed on her by gender and
class, yet in acceptance of that role and underlying it with the impressive
power of her imagination, Jane ultimately becomes empowered by her servitude.
Servitude
is Jane’s general default attitude towards others. Even when she attains a
fortune of her own from her uncle, and thus is no longer forced into servitude
by class, Jane still acts modest and unassuming toward others. She willingly
splits her fortune with her cousins and acts as an aid to St. John. I don’t
think this attitude is a comment on gender roles, as there are many female
characters in Jane Eyre that are not
servile or submissive, such as Miss Ingram and also Diana and Mary. It is, if
anything, a more Christian attitude, and also something born of Jane’s
characteristic practicality.
The roots of this practicality are
clear to see in her early years. Because of her cousin’s bullying, and the
brutal favoritism of her Aunt, Jane holds no pretty illusions about the harsh
world she lives in. She knows love and happiness are not necessarily rights. In
the above passage, Jane asks for first Liberty, and then Change before
ultimately settling on Servitude. Jane rejects Liberty and Change, beautiful
and glorious concepts, instead opting for Servitude, a much more sublime and
certainly more practical concept. Jane does not set herself up as a story hero.
Yet Jane uses imagination to fill the structure her practicality provides.
Jane’s imagination allows her to
transform her servitude from a chain of repression into an instrument of
freedom. Her imagination, too, develops early on in her childhood as tool of
escapism, which ultimately finds relief in the reality of school. Jane often is
dismissive of her own imagination, which we see in her rejection of Liberty and
Change. Yet this simply points to the distinct between romanticism, which
colors nearly all of Jane’s actions, and idealism, which she very firmly stays
clear of. Together the attitudes of practicality and romanticism create Jane’s
attitude toward servitude.
Jane’s
relationship with Mr. Rochester is continuously one of servitude. At first she
is placed under him because of class and her role as his employee. Her mind empowers
her to overcome her position, and very nearly marry him. However, her sense
again overwhelms, and she leaves him for moral reasons. When Jane finally
returns, driven on by a moment of fancy, it is to a blinded Mr. Rochester in
need of her service. She willing submits to this servitude, ultimately
strengthening her relationship and bringing her happiness. Ultimately it is a chosen servitude that
produces love.
Servitude
in Jane Eyre is ultimately an unavoidable state of being, but the clever,
romantic mind such as Jane’s finds there Possibility. This is not to say that
servitude for Jane is always happy—it is often miserable, such in her relationship
with St. John. Yet having practically acknowledged servitude as defining her
life, Jane seeks the servitude that is right for her, ultimately finding it in
her reunion with Mr. Rochester. Jane’s goal of servitude is a modest, very Christian goal. Her imagination allows her to
see the potential of servitude to drive her life forward, and for her
practicality in choosing such a goal she is rewarded with its fulfillment.
~Savannah Worth
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