The Absent Father in Jane Eyre

The novel Jane Eyre was originally published as an autobiography by Charlotte Brontë, under the pseudonym Currer Bell. The heroine of this novel is widely celebrated as a proponent of feminist ideals, and as such, this paper is designed to examine the role of the patriarchy in Victorian English through the novel. The focus of this inquiry is the importance of the “father figure,” for young women, as means of protection, developing social identities, and securing, financially, a future. This paper, then, is an examination of the ramifications, i.e. the physical and verbal abuse, gross negligence, and poverty, Jane faced as a result of the lack of patriarchal protection she received as an orphan and governess in contrast to the experiences of other women in the novel