Socio-economic Independence and Female Emancipation: A Marxist Feminist Analysis of Jane Eyre.

Abstract

Marxist Feminism, an intersecting branch of Marxism and Feminism, observes the ways in which females are oppressed or marginalized due to capitalism. This research mainly aims at finding out how Charlotte Bronte criticizes gender discrimination against females based on their socio-economic status in her novel, Jane Eyre (1847). Earlier studies on Jane Eyre have mainly focused on its feminist themes but this project analyzes the Marxist Feminist ideology depicted in Jane Eyre. By applying the lens of Marxist-Feminism, based on the insights of Elisabeth Armstrong’s Marxist and Socialist Feminism (2020) and Pat Armstrong and Hugh Armstrong’s Beyond Sexless Class and Classless Sex: Towards Feminist Marxism (1983), it is contended that Bronte strongly condemns socio-economic discrimination against females. This research highlights the typical abusive relationship of a capitalist with his worker with special emphasis on the unrestrained exploitation of female workers. This research discusses the major and minor female characters of the novel who undergo oppression due to their socio-economic statuses. Bronte also seems to use Jane’s character as a mouthpiece to promote the cause of socio- economic independence for females. Jane’s educational and economic resistance against patriarchal ideals calls for socio-economic equality for all genders. This study also highlights the significance of female comradeship against patriarchal and capitalist subjugation. Hence, Bronte promulgates the importance of socio-economic independence for female emancipation because no woman can be fully liberated until she is financially independent.