With Close Reference to Bronte's Novel Jane Eyre, and Wider Reference to Jean Rhys' Novel Wide Sargasso Sea, Discuss How the Experience of Womanhood Is Presented.

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Jane Eyre was published in 1847 under the pseudonym Currer Bell due to women not being able to write novels as it was seen to be ‘improper’. This was published during the reign of Queen Victoria when a woman's place was considered to be in the home. Bronte's pseudonym, Currer Bell, enabled Jane Eyre to be published therefore increasing the chance of it being read and admired by society because she was assumed to be male. In comparison, Jean Rhys' unofficial prequel to Jane Eyre: Wide Sargasso Sea, was published over one hundred years later in 1966 however it was set in the Victorian era and as with Bronte’s novel, it explores show women were oppressed in the patriarchal society.In Jane Eyre, one example of women being mentally and physically tormented by men is shown when John Reed talks down to Jane in chapter 1; "You have no business to take our books; you are a dependant, mama says; you have no money; your father left you none; you ought to beg." John separates Jane from the rest of the Reed children due to her relying on the Reeds to keep her well as well as her being an orphan. Not only is Jane being discriminated against by John but also his mother "Mama says; you have no money; your father left you none; you ought to beg". This demonstrates how, even though Mrs Reed is Jane's aunt, she is still tormented by her and her children as Mrs Reed allows them to bully Jane. The fact that Jane is an orphan and is separated from her 'family' reflects the society she lives in and how she has no power against the upper class and patriarchal male just like her having no power in the Reeds household. Women and children were treated the same in the Victorian era; they were to be seen and not heard. However Jane's character stands out from the very beginning as throughout the novel she isn't scared to voice her opinion from being a child up until the end. According to

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