"Jane Eyre" (Charlotte Bronte), The Feminist Tract

In 1837 critic Robert Southey wrote to Charlotte Bronte, 'Literature cannot be the business of a woman's life, and it ought not to be. The more she is engaged in her proper duties, the less leisure will she have for it, even as an accomplishment and a recreation,' (Gaskell 102). This opinion was not held by only one person, but by many. Indeed, it is this attitude, one that debases women and their abilities, to which …

…Ed. L. Harris and E. Tennyson. Michigan: Gale Research Co., 1985. 61-62 Gaskell, E. The Life of Charlotte Bronte. England: E.P. Dutton, Inc., 1975 London, Bette. 'The Pleasure of Submission: Jane Eyre and the Production of the Text.' 'ELH.' Spring 1991. 195-213 Schact, Paul. 'Jane Eyre and the History of Self-Respect.' 'Modern Language Quarterly.' Dec 1991. 423-53 Sienkewicz, Anne W. 'Jane Eyre An Autobiography.' Masterplots II. Ed. Frank Magill. California: Salem Press, 1991. 745-748