[english TASK 1]

1.       Revisit the definitions of the following key terms: class, gender & feminism, and ideology.
A brief summary of Warwick’s “Key Critical Concepts” for Victorian Studies.

Class: “a group relation to the means of production; that is whether a group is made up of workers or owners, and share of the wealth created through work.” People were divided into groups (classes), depending on their wealth and power . The three main classes of the nineteenth century were the upper class, middle class and the working class. The class into which an individual would fall had an enormous influence on his “experience of existence.”

Gender & Feminism : John Ruskin lays out the difference between men and women by emphasizing that  men work in the open world, where they face danger and risk getting wounded or hardened.
Their duties are to protect women whom may not face danger, temptation or cause any offence. Women remain sources of moral and spiritual support because of their distance from the public arena. In order to prevent moral “fall” they were isolated from too much activities and knowledge. Men had control over this aspect.

Ideology: Although an ideology is defined as “a set  of beliefs”, it does not exist merely out of ideas. An ideology takes a concrete form in the social establishments that direct people’s general behaviour.

2.       What do you think motivated Bronte to write this Preface? Comment on the argument she presents. Why does she write as Currer Bell?

To inform the reader about the precise content of the Norton Critical Edition
To inform the reader about the value of the content eg. When which articles was last edited or updated and by whom
To explain how this edition differs from others and in what ways has been improved
To highlight that the footnotes has been made more “reader-friendly” in an effort to improve students interest
To thank the people who assisted in the production of this edition and to give recognition to those who deserve it

She gives an detailed argument about why she feels this edition is a definite improvement of the previous one. Her argument is strong due to the usage of facts, supplying reasons for the changes and acknowledging the people who was involved. Her argument is logically laid-out and includes detail on all the important aspects as to why this edition is worth reading.

Currer Bell was the name she used to disguise herself as the writer. She distances herself to avoid personal judgement as well as to prevent emotion from clouding it, by working from an unconcerned, rational point of view.

3. In general, the reception of Jane Eyre by the Victorians would not have been the ideal a author would wish for. Although it complies with some of the Victorian society’s norms considering class and gender ideologies, it frequently goes against is, making it an unpopular piece among them. The gender ideology which grants the man power and respect, despite his shortcomings, is notable in the sentences, “Mr. Rochester, the hero of the story, is clearly the vision of a woman’s fancy...” and “Mr. Rochester is a man who deliberately and secretly seeks to violate the laws both of God and man, and yet we will be bound half our lady readers are enchanted with him for a model of generosity and labour.” Here it becomes evident that women is truly at higher risk of moral “fall” than gentlemen. However, in the sentence, “Yet we cannot wonder that the hypothesis of a male author should have been started, ...” it becomes clear that, irrelevant of the standard of women’s appearances and behaviour, their worth will never be regarded equal to that of a men. They are expected to be modest and virtues and accept the little recognition awarded to them, if any. Jane Eyre’s story does not comply to these social standards of the Victorians, as noticed in the sentences describing her story, “Throughout there is masculine power, breadth and shrewdness, combined with masculine hardness, coarseness, and freedom of expression” and “Slang is not rare”. She represents the exact opposite of what a woman should be. This quality labels the story of Jane Eyre as inappropriate to the Victorians. However, the middle-class Victorians, might have an more open-minded style than the upper class and might therefore portray less hostile attitudes.
Still, “every word she utters offends [them]” which has a significant influence on their impression of the story. This is proven in the sentence, “ There is an intimate acquaintance with the worst parts of human nature, a practiced sagacity in discovering the latent ulcer, and a ruthless rigour in exposing it, which must command our admiration, but are almost startling in one of the softer sex.”