• Sukriti Joshi

Jane Eyre is undoubtedly Charlotte Bronte’s masterpiece and one of the greatest contributions to Victorian literature. Charlotte Bronte often wrote about simple women who are strong, independent and free-willed. She created such fine characters like that of Jane Eyre, who symbolizes the modern woman – a woman determined to rise above and make a mark on the world. Several Binary oppositions can be found in the novel such as that of master/servant, rich/poor, independence/dependence and sane/insane. It can be observed that terms like “master”, “rich”, “independence”, and “sane” are often implicitly associated with men or masculinity, whereas terms like “servant”, “poor”, “dependence” and “insane” are negatively associated with women. In the novel, Jane upsets these binaries and challenges the deep-rooted patriarchy prevalent in the 19th century British society. She rebels against the problematic and unfair notions associated with these binaries through her defiance against the set norms of the Victorian society and portrays free-will while making her choices throughout the novel. Indeed, in a true non-conformist-fashion, Jane refuses to be subjugated by men around her, who are supposed to be her “superior” in the male-dominated society she belongs to, and instead, achieves true independence, both financial and personal, by the end of the novel, ultimately being free to make her own decisions. This paper attempts to study feminism and the dislocating binary oppositions found in Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. Moreover, the paper analyzes Jane as a true feminist figure as she upsets several binaries and questions the prevalent wrong implicit meanings attached to them, thus carving a path for herself without conforming to society’s patriarchal and sexist standards towards women during the Victorian era.

Binary Oppositions, Feminism, Male-dominated Society, 19th Century British Society, Patriarchy, Victorian Literature

"Identifying Feminism and Dislocating Binary Oppositions in Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.9, Issue 2, page no.d22-d25, February-2022, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2202303.pdf

"Identifying Feminism and Dislocating Binary Oppositions in Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.9, Issue 2, page no. ppd22-d25, February-2022, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2202303.pdf