In Kate Chopin's The Awakening and Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, one of the most prevalent and recurring themes and ideas concerns human freedom. The main characters of the two novels, Edna Pontellier and Jane Eyre, both aspire to social, religious, and sexual emancipation, among other things—to free themselves from the constraints of Victorian society, which made them dependent and inferior to men. While it is true that both protagonists of their respective novels desired emancipation, their conditions and qualities of life varied considerably. Although both women, Edna and Jane, wanted to “emancipate” themselves from their respective societies, the conditions to which each woman was subjected were quite different. Jane had a very undernourished upbringing and was an orphan, surrounded by treacherous and tormenting families. Edna, on the other hand, grew up in a wealthy, aristocratic family, with few financial problems. Edna belongs to a more “modern” generation than Jane, which however must be taken into account when comparing the two. Jane Eyre was written in 1847 while The Awakening was written in 1899. Even so, both of these women, as was the case with women almost everywhere, had to succumb to what society considered socially acceptable - very little . Women were generally just faces whose responsibilities fell into the categories of domestic affairs and entertainment. Edna has money, a husband who loves her, children, friends, a big house and everything that comes with being rich at the time - but that's not enough for her. She wants to be able to get what she wants when she wants it. In this sense, Edna is slightly more "radical" than Jane because of her sometimes open disregard for society's customs and traditions. Ult...... middle of paper...... all heavy and dark imagery is used to evoke a stifling passion between Jane and Mr. Rochester who later becomes her love interest and at the end of the novel, her husband . Reversely, St. John's eyes are described as "large and blue" (Brontë 345), foiling Mr. Rochester. Later in the novel, St. John's behavior is repeatedly described as "cold", indicating the lack of passion that exists between him and Jane. In conclusion, while Edna Pontellier and Jane Eyre lived in different eras, their struggle was the same: the struggle to be free and to be able to venture outside of the gender role assigned by society to women in the hearth. They defied what was “acceptable” at the time in order to become emancipated and independent sexually, socially and religiously. In this sense, they are both heroines of their respective eras..