From Rags to Riches

An example of recent African Brontë scholar work:

From Rags to Riches: A Symbolic Depiction of Jane’s Journeys to Self-Discovery in Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre

Sekongo Ouana Alassane, Université Alassane Ouattara, Bouaké, Côte d'Ivoire

International Journal of Arts and Humanities , 2(2), 01–09 (2024)

This paper addresses Jane’s quest for a new identity in Victorian patriarchal culture as portrayed in Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre. Going on a pilgrimage to self-discovery, Jane challenges the societal norms of the time and changes her social status through strong subversive acts. Though Victorian women could make few choices as far as their living conditions were concerned, it is seen that Jane’s symbolic journeys in this novel help her overthrow these social constraints and create a brighter future for herself, especially thanks to the education and job opportunities she benefits from along the process to her self-realisation at the time. Relying on Judith Butler’s gender performativity theory, this study demonstrates how Jane significantly acts in the novel and takes charge of her destiny against societal expectations of the time. In addition to the aforementioned theoretical perspective, textual analysis also served as a method used to select salient passages from the novel in order to illustrate the heroine Jane’s journeys to self-discovery in her patriarchal society. The study finally revealed that Jane has created a new personality thanks to her significant travels undertaken in quest for a better life. It has also been found that Jane has gained both financial and emotional security through her pilgrimage to self-fulfilment in the gender-biased society in which she lives.