Among
booklovers, Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte are beloved and revered. It is
common knowledge that Charlotte Bronte was not fond of Jane Austen and didn’t
understand why her books were so popular or praised. So I decided to read their
most famous books, Pride and Prejudice
(1813) and Jane Eyre (1847) again and
compare them. Both books have many similarities. There were both written by a
woman. The interest in both books is between a wealthy landowner and a woman
who is socially beneath him with a woman of class vying for his attention. Both
books take place in the English countryside. Both main characters refuse to
consider a marriage of convenience. Even though about different eras, Austen’s
Regency England and Bronte’s Victorian England, both display the restrictions
under which women lived. Elizabeth Bennett and Jane Eyre were both more
independent than the eras would suggest but that is true for their authors.
Jane Austen never married and Charlotte Bronte eventually married a man she, at
first, did not love. The contrast in these books which I will discuss are in
the main characters, societal class and the mindset of women.
In
Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth is
upper class, beautiful and outspoken. She is socially inappropriate, often
speaking with a sharp tongue to those above her. She ends up with her man, Mr.
Fitzwilliam Darcy and all is well. The tone of Pride and Prejudice, is light and a witty comedy between men and
women. In Jane Eyre, Jane is poor and
orphaned. She’s plain and speaks her mind with decorum that is unusual for
someone of her status. She’s socially awkward. She ends up with her man, Mr.
Edward Rochester, but only after tragedy. The tone of Jane Eyre is dark with Gothic elements. Even contrasts are seen in
the love interests of each woman. Mr. Darcy is dashing and portrayal of a
wealthy man pride and a sense of obligation and consequence. Whereas Mr.
Rochester behaves inappropriately with the governess, Jane, and holds nothing
back. He crosses a line when he decides to marry his governess which leads them
both heartbroken and lost. Rochester is tormented by a secret he must keep and
yet he pursues Jane who seems to be a relief from the monotony of high society.
Both
books features class, although in different manners. In Pride and Prejudice, the Bennett family is lower landed gentry who
are on the edge of poverty if one of their 5 daughters doesn’t marry well. Mrs.
Bennett’s whole goal in the book is to marry off her daughters to men who can
handle their affairs as well as lift them up on the social ladder. While in Jane Eyre, Jane is orphaned and sent to
a charity school at the age of ten. She is forced to find work as a governess.
She later comes into an inheritance from a long lost uncle. In Pride and Prejudice, Mr. Darcy is the
only son, raised and groomed as the heir of the family fortunes as well as the
family societal responsibilities. While in Jane
Eyre, Mr. Rochester is the second son, raised as the back-up and is only in
his position because of the death of his older brother. Therefore the attitudes
between the two men are extremely different. One of duty and the other blasé as
to his social requirements.
Both
books display the mind set of women. In Pride
and Prejudice, the overall attitude is that all women think about is
marriage. The famous opening line says it all: “It is a truth universally
acknowledge that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want
of a wife.” While two of the Bennett sisters, Jane and Elizabeth, display cool
and calm attitudes about marriage and men, the younger sisters, Kitty and
Lydia, are young and too forward. Lydia is so desperate to be married that she
runs off regardless of what it would do to her family. The middle daughter, Mary,
views marriage in disgust. In Jane Eyre,
Jane never gives marriage a thought. As an orphan with no family fortune, Jane
is forced to work and marriage would be an afterthought and may be a conscious
decision not to as it could interfere with her livelihood. When Rochester
proposes, she is shocked and questions his sincerity. When she realizes that he
sincere, only then does she give in to the idea of marriage and love.
In
conclusion, I’ve always enjoyed Jane Eyre
more than I have of Pride and Prejudice.
While I enjoyed seeing Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy finally put aside their social
restrictions and give in to their feelings for each other. However, Jane Eyre has a darker intensity to the atmosphere
and the characters that Pride and
Prejudice just doesn’t have. There are certain scenes in Jane Eyre, when I feel my heart race
with the events. I feel Jane’s fear, her sadness and her attraction to Mr.
Rochester. Also, I am also drawn to the wildness of Mr. Rochester. His “rules
be damned” attitude and go after the woman he loves. He is tortured and flawed
in ways that Mr. Darcy isn’t. To me, Mr. Darcy is the man your parents hope you
bring home but it’s Mr. Rochester who captures your attention. Both books are
classics and deserve the attention they received since their publications. In
my opinion, Jane Eyre is the better
and more exciting book.
