The Sexism Exposed in Jane Eyre by BrontëThe Victorian era in England marked a period of unprecedented technological, scientific, political and economic progress. By the 1840s, the English had witnessed remarkable industrial achievements, including the advent of railways and the photographic negative. They had witnessed the expansion of the Empire and therefore lived in a time of great economic stability. Yet they had also seen thousands starve - because of the Irish potato famine and poor conditions and benefits in British factories - and had seen the entire social order called into question as the working class began to demand representation in Parliament. The English also experienced biological and scientific breakthroughs that challenged once universally accepted beliefs in the authority of the Bible, the divine order of nature, and the gross exploitation of women and people of other races. It was certainly a time of great achievements, but it was also a time of great contradictions and uncertainties. The Victorian era was also the age of the novel, as many English citizens now possessed the time and money to afford such luxuries. The novels of the early Victorian era reflect the growing unease of the age; writers of the 1840s in particular responded indirectly to social upheaval by writing personal and subjective novels. The novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, published in 1847, is an archetypal novel of the 1840s. It tells the story of Jane Eyre, an orphan who eventually finds happiness as a governess and, later, a wife. Although it is a "personal" story that offers escape and entertainment to its readers, Jane Eyre most certainly, if some... middle of paper ...... continually down, to compel it to burn inwardly and never to utter a cry, although the imprisoned flame has consumed vital after vital” (429). Additionally, she marries Mr. Rochester only after he is dependent and needs her care, claiming that she likes him better that way (469). were expected to be passive, idle, uneducated and subordinate partners in marriage. Readers are forced to realize that Jane does not conform to any of these expectations. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë is representative of British novels of the 1840s, although it tells the personal story of Jane Eyre. a young governess, Brontë also uses the story to address an important social issue of the Victorian era, sexism, directly and indirectly exposing the flaws and hypocrisies of Victorian patriarchal society. Works CitedBrontë, Charlotte 1847. Oxford: Oxford UP., 1993.