An Ecofeminist Approach to Jane Eyre

More contemporary scholar readings of Jane Eyre. Using the fashionable tropes of the day:

Dismantling Dualisms: Jane Dismantling Dualisms: Jane’s Liminal Agency in Charlotte Br s Liminal Agency in Charlotte Brontë’s

Jane Eyre

Nicole Baniukaitis

Grand Valley State University, 2023

Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre is a complex and, at times, seemingly paradoxical novel. Through Jane’s journey, I argue that Charlotte Brontë offers possibilities that can be explained and understood through Val Plumwood’s ecofeminist lens of dismantling or escaping dualisms in order to make these crucial changes and rewrite the traditional story. Jane’s liminality throughout the novel empowers her, offers her access to alternative modalities, and allows her to notice the oppressive dualistic structures governing all aspects of life. Due to her unique liminal positioning, Jane is aligned with nature and fights against oppressive dualisms to shape her life in a way that suits her. Through the multi-dimensional exertions of nature, Jane can have it all by remaking existing norms and tempering them with what she wants in life: being a complete human in an equal relationship with Rochester, backed by a selective spirituality and unrestrained by dualisms.