159559459 Bronte s Jane Eyre and the Grimm s Cinderella

8/12/2019 159559459 Bronte s Jane Eyre and the Grimm s Cinderella

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Rice University

Bront's "Jane Eyre" and the Grimms' CinderellaAuthor(s): Micael M. ClarkeReviewed work(s):Source: Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, Vol. 40, No. 4, The Nineteenth Century(Autumn, 2000), pp. 695-710Published by: Rice UniversityStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1556246.

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SEL 0,4 (Autumn2000) 695ISSN 039-3657

B r o n t e s J a n e y r e n d t h eGr imms Cinderella

MICAEL M. CLARKE

Readersattempting o place CharlotteBronte'sJaneEyrein the nine-teenth-centurynovel traditionhave been puzzled by Bronti's bold mix-ing of genres andby the immense andpowerfulideological dialectic thatseems to "closedown" at the novel's conclusion to an apparentlythinmonological stream.RichardChaseexemplifies thiscriticalmystification:"TheBrontis' tremendousdisplacementofthe domestic valuestoward hetragicandmythical, houghit fallsshortofultimateachievement,givestheirwork amarginof superiorityover thatof otherVictoriannovelists."'Chase's statementreflects the difficultiesmany critics have with theconclusion ofJane Eyre,an ending that often leaves readerswonderingwhat happened to the woman who once so stirringlydeclared women'sdesiresforindependence, replaced by aJanenow apparently iving onlyforRochester.Has Brontefailedtoextricateher vision fromtheapparentlydownward-tending"domestic"o achieve the "tragicand mythical"andthereforefailed to fulfillthe vision she seemed to offer women? Oris itperhapsthatBronti is raising he domestic to the level of the mythical?Anexaminationof Bronte'suse of the Cinderella ale inJane Eyre points tothe latterconclusion:JaneEyrefuses the domestic to the mythical.Arecurringquestion regardingJane Eyreis how to readthe novel intermsof women and men. Attimes,Bronte seems to offer a clearexpres-sion of woman's self-assertion,as when Jane declares that "women feeljustas men feel; they need exercise for their faculties and a field for theireffortsas much as their brothersdo."2Andyet, atthe novel's conclusion,Janehas narrowed he fieldforhereffortstojustone man-Rochester. MissTemplehas been swallowed up by marriage.Maryand Diana RiversvisitJane justonce a year,and even Adele, an orphanwith whom Jane Eyre

MicaelM.Clarke s anassociate professor of EnglishatLoyolaUniversityinChicago.She is the authorof Thackerayand Women.Her currentprojects nclude astudyof EmilyBronte'sspiritualand ethical motifs,and a study of the universityas cultural nstitution.


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mightbe expected to sympathize,hasbeen sent awayto school becauseJane's"time nd careswerenow requiredby another-my husbandneededthemall" chap.38,p. 396).HasJaneEyresold her soul?Variousanalyseshaveaccounted,oftenbrilliantly,or aconclusion thatleaves Rochester njuredand dependent onJane as his "propandguide"(chap.37,p. 395).Chase,famously,viewed Rochester's njuriesas a formof "symboliccastration."3n TheMadwoman in theAttic,SandraGilbertand Susan Gubar nterpret he novel in termsof femaleragethatis coun-terbalancedby a conclusion thattentativelyandincompletely suggests aworld of sexualequality."Other critics have praised Bronte's conclusion. Adrienne Rich de-scribes it as presentingalternatives"to convention and traditionalpiety,yes, but also to social and culturalreflexes internalizedwithin the femalepsyche."The most importantof these alternatives,accordingto Rich,isBronte'sradicallyredefinedunderstandingof marriage,not assomethingthat "stunts nd diminishes thewoman;but [that s]a continuation of thiswoman's creationof herself."5AndJohn Maynardnterprets he novel'sconclusion as "a lear assertionof loving sexualunion,"achievedonly af-ter "thedifficulties Bronte] ees insexualopenness"havebeen overcome,and after hefears,suppressions,andrepressionsthatdriveJaneEyre nto"panicked light"areincorporated nto the complex process of hersexualawakening.One of the keys to the power ofJane Eyreis Bronte'sdeployment ofmultiplegenres.The realisticnovel enables her to delineate the develop-ment of a characterover time and to represent n detail the social circum-stances thatshapeher.And,by incorporating lementsof allegoryandtheBible,Brontedeploys elements of theJudeo-Christian eligioustradition,such as itsthoroughandperceptive analysisof moraljudgmentand free-dom of will and its inclusion of the supernaturalas an active force in hu-man life.Bronti adheredto the Anglicanism hat her father,Patrick,preachedinSt.Michael'sChurch,nextdoor to theirhome in Haworth,butherworkdemonstratesconsiderableambivalenceregardingChristianity'sulturallegacyinreferencetowomen. Thefairy aleelement that sso importantapartofJane Eyreallows Bronteto includeelements of magicandfantasy,andthustoescapetheepistemologicallyrestrainingffectsofrealism.Moreimportantly, airy ale enables Bronteto reachbeyond the moraland ethi-cal constraintsthatChristianityometimes enjoins upon women and toconvey analternative eligiousvision.The Cinderella ale is only one of severalfairytales thatinformJaneEyre;allusions to "Beautyand the Beast" and to "Bluebeard's Castle"

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presentRochestersimultaneouslyas agood man hidden beneath anuglyexteriorand as an ogre husbandwith multipleformerwives, whom hekeeps hidden in a secret room in his castle. Allusionsto Arabian Nights,furnishedbyJaneherselfasshe resistsRochester'sattempts o shower herwith luxuriousgifts,suggest parallelsbetween the power of a sultanoverhisharem and the power of the Englishgentlemanover women. Byasso-ciatingJanewithScheherezade,Bronteasserts hepower of narrative:ikeScheherezade,JaneEyreemploys narrativeo save lives,herown as wellas those of other women, and, in Nancy Workman'swords, to assert "awoman's claim to sexual autonomy and creative freedom."7Neither thefairytales nor Arabian Nightsis anymore susceptible to easy interpreta-tion than sJaneEyre,andall servetoconvey Bronte'scomplex and some-timesambivalentattitudes oward hermaterials.ThegeneralresemblancesbetweenJane Eyreand the Cinderella aleareobvious,and severalcriticshaveelucidated hem.8Thisstudy proposesto demonstrate hatJaneEyre s more than a "generic"CinderellaandthatBronte's novel resembles the Germantale in specific ways. Thisresem-blance to the GermanCinderella aleprovidesanimportantkeytoBronte'sethic of female intelligence, activity,pleasure,andintegrity.Generic resemblancesbetweenJane Eyreand the Cinderella igureinclude lost mothers andcruelmothersubstitutes.Jane'sAuntReedparal-lels Cinderella's "icked stepmother" nd hercousinsElizaandGeorgianaReed the stepsisters.LikeCinderella,JaneEyrebecomes a kind of servant:"Bessienow frequentlyemployed me as a sort of undernursery-maid, otidythe room,dust the chairs,etc.,"andisrestricted o observingthe plea-sures of her more fortunatesiblings (chap. 4, p. 25). "From very enjoy-ment I was, of course, excluded: my share of the gaiety consisted inwitnessingthe daily apparellingof ElizaandGeorgiana,andseeing themdescend to thedrawing-room,dressed outinthin muslinfrocks... Iwouldretirefrom the stairhead o the solitaryand silent nursery: here, thoughsomewhat sad, I was not miserable" chap. 4, p. 23). Later,as Rochesterentertains he ladies from whom it seems he, like the princein Cinderella,is to choose a wife, Jane Eyreis still in exile in the domestic regions ofRochester'scastle:"Andssuingfrommy asylumwithprecaution,Isoughta backstairswhich conducted directlyto the kitchen ... I could not pro-ceed to the schoolroom without ... runningthe risk of being surprisedwith my cargoof victualage... a sound of musicissuedfrom the drawing-room" chap. 17,pp. 146-7).Inbothnarratives,he Cinderella igureundergoesaperiodof testing,markedby a series of demeaning "feminine"asks.The GrimmBrothers'Cinderella,"musste...von MorgenbisAbendschwere Arbeit un,fruhvor

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Jane Eyreand Cinderella

Tagaufstehn sic],Wasser ragen,Feueranmachen,kochenund waschen."9[Frommorninguntilevening,she hadtoperformdifficultwork,risingearly,carryingwater,making hefire,cookingandwashing.]Both Cinderella ndJaneEyrearerenderedunattractive ydull,shabbyclothing,and bothlongforescape to the excitement,beauty,music,andperhapsthe sexualplea-sure representedby the ball.Clearly, ane Eyreis the classic Cinderella:poor, despised, and mistreated.But Bronte would have known both theFrenchand the Germanversions of the tale, and it is significantthat shespecificallychose to deploy the GermanversioninJane Eyre.Jacoband WilhelmGrimm's irstvolume ofKinder undHausmdrchenappearedin Berlinin 1812and was an immediatesuccess, appearinginseventeen editions between 1812and 1858.The firstEnglishtranslation,by EdgarTaylor,appearedin 1823in a collection entitled GermanPopu-larStories,whichwas equallypopular nEngland.Thus,Brontecouldeas-ilyhave known two versions of the Cinderella ale:the Grimms'version,and CharlesPerrault's"Cendrillon,"irstpublished in Francein 1697inHistoires ou Contes du Temps Passe. Bronte read both French and Ger-manandcould have read both versions eitherin Englishor in theirorigi-nalpublication anguages.Thanksto WaltDisney,most Americans odayaremore familiarwithPerrault'sersion,inwhich Cinderella idesto the ball n apumpkinpulledby white mice thata fairy godmother has transformed nto a coach andhorses. This Cinderellamust leave the ball by midnightbecause, at thestrokeof midnight,hercoachwillturn ntoapumpkinandher clothes intorags.

The German version is rougherbut, to my mind, preferable.In theGrimms'version,Aschenputtelis told by her dying motherto be always"frommund gut... und ich will vom Himmel auf dich herabblicken" p.93) [piousandgood... andIwill watch over you fromheaven].Afterherfatherremarries,Cinderellasmadeto sleep next to the hearthandamongthe cindersorashes,hence herGermanname,Aschenputtel.One dayherfathergoes on ajourneyandaskshisdaughterswhatgifthe canbring hem.Thestepsistersrequestfine clothes andjewelry,while Cinderella sksonlyforwhatever branchfirst trikesher father'shatwhen he begins hisreturnhome. Cinderellaplantsthe branchon her mother'sgraveand waters itwith her tears so that a beautifulhazel treegrows up over the grave.Andevery timeAschenputtelgoes to her mother'sgraveto weep and pray,abird comes to fulfillanywish thatshe speaks.Whennews oftheprince'sball reachesthefamily, hestepsisterscom-mand Cinderella o dressthem.Theylaughat the idea thatshe mightwishtogo too. Butshe pleadsso persistently hatherstepmother, o putheroff,

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makes it a conditionthat Cinderellaperformseveral tasks before she cango:to remove first entils,and thenpeas,fromthe ashesofthe hearth.Afterthefamily eaves, however,the bird romher mother'sgravesummons twowhite doves to pick up the lentils and peas, and bringsa beautiful dressandgold and silver(not glass) slippers.In the Grimms'version,Aschenputtelleaves the ballvoluntarily:"Estanztebis es Abendwar,da wollte es nachHausgehen"(p.96).[Shedanceduntilevening,andthen wanted togo home.]Shegoes to the ballthreetimesinfact,each timerunningawayandhidingfrom the prince,and each timeher fatherhelps the princesearchforher,once chopping down atree withan axe, once destroyinga dovecote in which they thinkshe is hiding.At the conclusion of the Grimms' tale, the prince reachesAschenputtel'shome with the golden slipperand the stepmothertells hereldest daughterto cut off hertoe in order to fit into the shoe, for,saysthemother,when you arequeen you will not need to walk.But,as the princeridesawaywith his falsebride,the bird calls to himthat he should look atthe trailof blood she leaves behind, and he realizes the deception. Thesecond sisteris advised by her motherto cut off her heel, and againthebird calls out to the prince,who returnsonce more to the house.Now the princeasksAschenputtel's atherwhether he has anyotherdaughters,and he answers "No... thereisonlyalittlestuntedAschenputtelhere;she cannotpossiblybe yourbride" p.98).But theprinceinsists,andAschenputtel washes her face and puts on the golden slipper, and theprince,drawingnear,recognizesher.Astheyleave themarriage eremony,the birdspeck out the two stepsisters'eyes.

The Grimms' version of the tale includes importantreligious andmythicelements lackingin the French.The mother in heaven, hersuffer-ing daughteron earth,and the birdthatmediates between themsuggestafemaleholy trinity hatparallelsChristianity's ather,Son,andHolySpirit.These arejoinedto the pre-Christian ymbolismof a tree growing out ofthe mother'sgrave,of the hearth,and of the peas and lentils thatsignifyconnection with a powerful, benevolent mother-half-divine, half-human-and with the hearth, he domestic,andfertility.Anotherelement thatdistinguishesthe Germanfromthe Frenchver-sion is that, n the Grimms' ale,Cinderella eaves the ball on her own ini-tiative; indeed, "esentsprang ihm so geschwind, dass er nicht folgenkonnte" p. 97) [she sprangaway from him so quicklythat he could notfollow her].She seeks pleasure,not a husband,and there is no threatofpublichumiliation o force her to leave the ball,as in the Frenchversion.Jane Eyreechoes the GermanCinderellanmanyways.Abriefsurveywill demonstratehow skillfullyBronte evokes the tale's centralsymbol-

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the hearth. Welcoming hearths, for example, signify the preciouscaregiving qualities associated with the hearthkeepers.MissTemple'shearthprovides the firsthome forJane'sintellect and spirit,and this sa-cred space is illuminatedby the moon, also traditionally ssociatedwithfemale deities: "Someheavyclouds, swept from the sky by a risingwind,hadleftthe moon bare;andherlight,streaming nthroughawindow near,shone fullboth on us and on the approachingfigure,which we at oncerecognised asMissTemple... [Herapartment] ontained a good fire,andlooked cheerful" chap.8,p.61).Gradually,Bronteexpandson this"goodfire": Therefreshingmeal,the brilliant ire,the presence and kindnessofher beloved instructress... had roused[HelenBurns's]powerswithin her.Theywoke, theykindled: irst, hey glowed in thebright intof her cheek...then they shone in the liquid lustreof her eyes ... which had suddenlyacquired... radiance"chap.8, p. 63).Every homecoming in this novel is associatedwith a hearth and do-mesticcaretaking: tThornfield,Mrs.Fairfax n her"snowymuslinapron,"with herknittingandhercat,welcomesJane Eyre oher"snug, mallroom;a roundtablebyacheerful ire"with aninvitation,"youmustbe cold;cometo the fire" chap. 11,p. 83). WhenJane returnsto visit her dying aunt atGateshead,Bessie,theone personin the Reed householdwho had treatedJane kindlyand the source of her knowledge of fairytales,presides in alodgethat s"very leanandneat: he ornamentalwindows were hungwithlittlewhite curtains; he floor was spotless; the grateand fire-ironswereburnishedbright,and the fire burnt clear" chap. 21,p. 199).In Bronte'sprivatehistory,Bessie bears a close resemblance to "Tabby,"he kindlyservantwho, afterCharlotte'smother'sdeath,fed the childrengenerouslyand,inWinifredGerin'swords, "caredortheir frailbodies."1'DavidLodge pointsoutthatJaneEyre"contains bouteighty-fiveref-erences to domestic fires"as well as some dozen references to hearths,about forty-three igurativeand ten literalreferences to fire,and four tohell-fire.InJane Eyre, Lodgedemonstrates,Bronteconveys "avery sig-nificantclusterof emotions and values"by means of fireimagery,devel-oped andexpanded with remarkable luidity romliteraldescription ntolyricalevocationsof passionateandspiritual tates of being.AtMoorHouse, the hearthrepresents amily, ntellectualcompanion-ship,emotionalintimacy, nd even lifeitself,asashivering,exhausted,andstarvingJane ooks in fromthe outercold anddarknesson a "roomwith asandedfloor,cleanscoured;a dresserofwalnut,withpewter platesrangedin rows, reflectingthe redness and radianceof a glowing peat-fire."Nearthe hearth, "amidst he rosy peace and warmth," it two "younggracefulwomen-ladies in every point."Theirfaces look "thoughtful lmost to se-

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verity,"ndyet,Janefeels, "I eemed intimatewitheverylineament"chap.28, pp. 292-3). LikeMissTemple's,theirnames are significant:MaryandDianarepresentChristian ndmythical igureswho symbolizefemalechas-tityandintegrity.On the otherhand,Rochester's"bedof fire"makes clearthatthe domestic embersmaybe fanned into the demonic, uncontrolledfiresof a madwife's rage,and Helen Burns(her name indicates Bronte'sdeliberateness),who has"onlya father... andhe willnot missme,"diesbya feversignifying he destructivequalityof self-abnegation hat spreachedto women by Christianministerssuch as Brocklehurstand St.John Rivers(chap.9, p. 71).Thus,hearthfirenJane Eyrerepresentsallthat s needful,desired,andinspiring,but alsothatwhich hasaterrifyingpotential ordev-astationand destruction.Andwhat of the saintlymotherin heaven?Bronte takes this invisiblebut activelyintervening figurefrom the Grimms' ale and transformsherinto an imagethat resonateswith powerfulechoes of ancient female dei-ties,especially thatof the moon-goddess. Indoing so, she defies conven-tionalexpectationsthatthe novel be realisticandpresentsa supernaturalfigure straightout of the Grimms'Cinderella:a mother in heaven whowatches over,guides, andinspiresJanein crucialmoments.Moonimagery s essential toJane Eyre.Notonlydoes the moon shinefull on MissTemplein the passage quoted above, it is also clearlyassoci-ated withJane's mother in the scene in which Jane struggles to decidewhether to staywith Rochesterafter earningthathis madwife still lives.Janefallsasleep and dreamsof the moon breakingthroughclouds:

a handfirstpenetrated he sable foldsand waved themaway;then,not amoon, but a white humanform shone inthe azure, nclininga gloriousbrow earthward. tgazed andgazed andgazed on me.It spoke to my spirit: mmeasurablydistantwas the tone, yet sonear, twhispered in myheart-"My daughter, lee temptation ""Mother,will."(chap.27,p. 281)

The moon also illuminatesJane'sfirst doubts about Christian eachings:"themoon rose with such majesty n the graveeast... Andthen my mindmade its firstearnesteffort to comprehend what had been infused into itconcerningheavenand hell:andforthefirst ime itrecoiled,baffled"chap.9, p. 69).Moonlight"streamed hroughthe narrowwindow near my crib," tbrightensandgleamsonJane'sfirstmeetingwithRochester,"herglorious

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gaze" ousesJaneEyre ustbefore Bertha's irstattack, nd lluminatesJane'sdeclarationof love andindependence (chap.5, p. 34).Rochester, oo, re-marks he effectof the moonlight,as he remindsJanethatshe "glowedinthe cool moonlightlastnight,when you mutiniedagainst ate,andclaimedyourrankas myequal" chap.25,p. 230).Ineverycase, Bronteassociatesthe moon with a kindof sacredpresence.Before the abortivemarriage eremony,the moon foreshadowsJane'sisolationandsuffering.Onthe eve ofJane's ntendedwedding,themoon's"diskwas blood-red and halfovercast;she seemed to throw on me onebewildered,drearyglance, and buriedherselfagain instantly n the deepriftof cloud."Soon afterward, he "shutherselfwholly within her cham-ber,anddrew close her curtainof dense cloud;the night grew dark;raincame drivingfast on the gale"(chap. 25, pp. 243-4). But thatvery night,afterBerthaMason'svisit toJane Eyre'sroom, duringwhich she ripsthebridalveil, the moon once again"shonepeacefully,"as ifrelieved,havingwarnedherdaughter chap.25,p. 251).Again and again, Bronte uses these symbols-the hearth and themoon-to representa heavenlymother andvirgin moon-goddess, offer-ingJane Eyreaspiritual ntegrity ackinginthe version of Christianityep-resentedby Brocklehurstand St.JohnRivers.After St.John Rivers has insisted that Jane Eyre marry him, forpropriety'ssake, and so that he would be possessed of "awife: the solehelpmeet Icaninfluenceefficiently nlife andretainabsolutelytilldeath,"the moon again plays a decisive role inJane'speril of soul (chap. 34, p.357):"I ontended withmyinwarddimnessof vision,beforewhich cloudsyet rolled.I sincerely,deeply, fervently longed to do what was right;andonly that. Showme, show me the path 'Ientreated... Allthe house wasstill... the roomwasfull of moonlight.Myheartbeat fastandthick;Iheardits throb.Suddenly, t stood still to an inexpressible feeling thatthrilled tthrough,andpassed at once to myhead andextremities... Isaw nothing:butIhearda voice somewherecry-'Jane Jane Jane 'othingmore"chap.35,p. 369,emphasisadded).AgainJanehas had a vision, describedin terms that stretchthe limitsof the realisticnovel and that sareligious,rather han agothic,element. Itis related o the conversionexperience so typicalof Victorianautobiogra-phy-in thiscase a woman's conversionexperience:

Ibroke fromSt.John,who would havefollowed, andwould havedetained me. Itwas my time to assume ascendancy.My powerswere inplay,andinforce.Itold himto forbearquestionorremark;Idesiredhimto leave me:Imust,andwould be alone.He obeyed

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atonce. Where there is energy to commandwell enough, obedi-ence never fails.Imountedto my chamber; ocked myselfin;fellon myknees;andprayed nmyway-a differentway to St.John's,buteffective in its own fashion. I seemed to penetratevery nearaMightySpirit; ndmysoul rushedoutingratitudeatHisfeet.I rosefrom the thanksgiving-took a resolve-and laydown, unscared,enlightened-eager butforthe daylight. (chap.35,p. 370)In order to understandhow the GrimmBrothers'Cinderella nfuses

Jane Eyrewith its religioussignificance,we must consider the tale itself.JacobandWilhelmGrimmwere essentiallyfolkloristswho collectedtales,legends, myths,fables, anecdotes, jokes, and Sagen, from both oral andliterary ources. Theirgoalwas, inpart, o "reconstructhe ancientmytho-logical pantheon preceding Christianity."12he Cinderella ale has a lifefaroutsideof the GermanicorTeutonictraditions;he earliestknownver-sion to featurea lostslipperwas recordedinninth-centuryChina,where itwas alreadya well-known partof the oral tradition.13W.R.S. Ralstonsur-veyed "scoresofvariants"f the tale andfound thatone significant eaturethatmostvariants hareis "the deathatalovingmothermaybe able,evenafterherdeath,to bless andassist a dutifulchild."'4Aquestionwe mustaskiswhetherthe Cinderella ale reinforcesnega-tive stereotypesof women. Some criticschargethatthe taleposits passiv-ity as a feminine ideal, such as is exemplified in the Disney song, "SomeDay MyPrince Will Come."And the "CinderellaComplex"has come tomean a femalefearof success. Ifthis is all thereis to thetale,thenJaneEyrewould not benefitmuchfrom tsborrowing.KarenE.Rowe,infact,arguesthatBronte"testshe [Cinderella] aradigm...and finds itlacking"becauseit "subvertshe heroine's independence and humanequality."'5Butthere is a way to readCinderella hatis consistentwith Bronte'sfeministspiritualhemes.JackZipesnotes thatfolkloristsAugustNitschke,in Soziale Ordnungen im Spiegel der Mdrchen, and Heide Gottner-Abendroth, n Die Gottinund ihrHeros,tracethe Cinderella ale back tomatrilineal ocieties andassociatesome of the tale'svariationswith moonworship and matriarchal ites.'1 MarieLouisevon Franz, n TheProblemsof theFeminine in Fairy Tales, racesin the tales femalearchetypesfromGreekmythology, nparticularhe dualimageof motherhoodrepresentedby Demeter,goddess of fertilityandgrainandalso of sorrow andrevenge.AndSigridFr(ih,n Die Frau imMdrchen,arguesthatCinderellas nota demure, passive victimbut ratheran active, clever, scheming girlwhoultimatelymakes the princekneel to herinherash-staineddress,that s,in

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herown identity,andthatthe talerepresentsthe prince'sultimatesubor-dinationto Aschenputtel'swillInthe finalanalysis, he Cinderella aleoffers two apparentlyconflict-ingperspectivesonwomen'sroles.On the one hand,Cinderelladoes seemto teach thathumility,obedience, andlong-sufferingacceptanceof house-holddrudgerywillbe rewarded hroughmarriageandlivinghappilyeverafter, n triumphover all those competitive other women. On the otherhand,LouiseBernikowarguesinAmong Women hat the Cinderella alerepresentsremnantsof ancientpre-Christian eligionsin which thehearthwas dedicated to goddesses such asVestaandHeraandtended by priest-esses, andthat the tale'shearth, ree,andpeas andlentils(grain)allsym-bolize the sacred. Cinderella's association with the hearth and herthrice-daily itualvisit to hermother'sgravelinkher inparticularo Vesta,goddess of thehearth,and to theVestalVirginsof ancientRome,powerfulguardiansof the sacred firesof home and state.Accordingto Bernikow,the Cinderella ale representsa conflict be-tween two kindsof femaleprinciples: he mothersignifiestheimportance,even the sacredness,of women's roles and work, includinghousework,as symbolized by Cinderella'sassociation with the hearth.The other fe-maleprincipleis represented by the stepmotherand is malecentered,al-ways in competition with other women for male approval, hoping foridleness ("Whenyou areQueen you will nothave towalk")andwillingtomutilateone's self and one's daughters o gainthe prize,a husband.17JaneEyre's amily s essentiallylikeCinderella's,but,as this is a noveland nota fairy ale,Bronte s able to use the novel's realism o explore thesocial andpsychologicalforcesthatdestroywomen's integrity.Mrs.Reed'scontinualindulgence of her son's selfishcruelty, orexample, representssociety's overvaluationof the male, and, afteryears of profligacy,JohnReed's suicide killsthem both.ElizaandGeorgianaReedrepresentthe dilemmamanywomen con-frontregardingmarriageor spinsterhood(a recurringBronteantheme).Georgianais described by her sister Elizain terms reminiscent of MaryWollstonecraft:"youseek only to fastenyour feebleness on some otherperson's strength:fno one can be foundwillingto burden her orhimselfwith such a fat, weak, puffy,useless thing, you cry out thatyou are ill-treated,neglected, miserable"chap.21,p. 207).Georgianafinallymakes'anadvantageousmatchwith awealthy,worn-out man of fashion,"whileElizachooses theonlyalternative he knowsandhasherself, nJaneEyre'sview, "walledup alive in a Frenchconvent"(chap.22, p. 212).Putting hisfamilybehindher,JaneEyrecontinues herpilgrim'sprogressinsearch ofa betterway.

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LikeCinderella,Jane Eyrerunsaway fromthe too-powerful prince,though others sell themselves daily to such men, even, step-sister-like,deformingthemselves in a vain attemptto meet theirrequirements.Theissue betweenJane Eyreand EdwardRochesterafter he interruptedmar-riageceremonyand revelationof BerthaMason'sexistence isnotso muchRochester'sdeception, nor the moralquestion concerning his still-livingwife,asitis aquestionof malepowerversus femaleintegrity.Thishas beenthe issue between them from the first.

AlthoughJane Eyreis attractedby Rochester'sstrengthof character,she fearsit in a world where men areencouragedto misuse theirpower.From heverybeginning,Jane'swariness,her sometimesprickly ndepen-dence, herbanteringrepliesto Rochester,and her refusal oaccepthisgiftsestablishpower as a key issue between them. Andindeed, Rochesterhaslong abused his privileges:as a young man,he married ormoney, usingwomen for sex but wishing to possess them exclusively with no obliga-tions in return.He is a distantdomestic despot who mocks the femininequalitiesof hiswardAdele and formsno close attachmentsbutlies to andteaseswomen mercilessly.Yet,he ismuchadmiredandsoughtafter nso-ciety.ToparaphraseOscarWilde,that sallthatneed be said aboutsociety.Thescene-moonlit, of course-that leadstotheirengagementisfilledwiththe languageof equality: ane'semotion asserts ts"righto predomi-nate,"her spiritaddresses his, "equal-as we are "and he responds that"Mybrideis here ... because my equal is here" chap. 23,p. 223).Shortlythereafter,when RochesterhasinformedMrs.Fairfax ftheirplanstomarry,she begins a litanyof warningson the theme of inequality:"He s aproudman," "Equalityof position and fortune is often advisable ... He might al-most be your father," nd, "Tryand keep Mr.Rochester at a distance ...Gentlemenin his stationare not accustomedto marry heirgovernesses"(chap.24,pp. 232-3).Mosttellingof all is Rochester'sresortto threatsof violence when herealizes thathis deception will not work and that he maybe balkedof hisdesires:"'Janewill you hearreason?... because, ifyou won't, I'lltryvio-lence .. .Jane,Iam notagentle-temperedman... beware '... hisstillvoicewasthepantofalionrising."Brontemakes theunderlying ssueclearwhenJanerespondsto Rochester's"Itwould not be wicked to love me"with "Itwould to obey you"(chap.27,p. 278).JaneEyre'shumble socialpositionhas,likeCinderella's, double func-tion.As emblems of unjust imitationsplaced on women, Jane'spovertyandher lifeof serviceasunder-housekeeper,governess,and teacheroffera social critiqueof women's subjection.But Brontealso assertsthe worthof women's work. Its value is suggested by the many images of domestic

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peace and intellectualandspiritualnourishmentofferedbywomen attheirhearthsides.Suchservice,ifperformed reely, snoble,andpromotesgoodinothers.In thelargerpatternof thenovel,at the hearthsof MissTemple,Bessie,Mrs.Fairfax, ndMaryand DianaRivers,domesticity sassociatedwith re-sistance to the life-denyingprinciplesof ataintedsocialsystemand with aspiritualityhatis not anti-Christian, ut thatseeks to reintegrateancientmaternalistprinciplesinto the Christianityhat Bronte'sfatherand his cu-ratespreached.Had the hearthkeepersmorepower, Bronte seems to say,theJaneEyresof theworld could fulfill heirambitionsand theirdesireforfreedom.In a letterto ElizabethGaskelldated27August1850,Brontewrote:

Menbegin to regard he position of women in anotherlightthanthey used to do; and a few men, whose sympathiesare fine andwhose sense of justiceis strong,think andspeak of it with a can-dor that commandsmy admiration.They say,however-and, toan extent truly-that the ameliorationof our condition dependson ourselves.Certainlyhere are evils which our own effortswillbest reach;but as certainly here are otherevils-deep-rooted inthe foundationsof the socialsystem-which no effortsof ours cantouch;of which we cannotcomplain;of which it is advisablenottoo often to think.18

Distinctiveas he is in hisByronicattractiveness,Rochester spartof alargerpatternof masculine dominance:videJohn Reed,the Rev.Brocklehurst,and St.John Rivers.Atthe centerof thisdominance is a displacementofthe rightfulrelationsbetween men and women by a religioussystemthatplaces man between woman and heaven.Jane Eyrereflects:"My uturehusbandwas becoming to me mywhole world;and more than theworld;almostmy hope of heaven. He stood between me and every thoughtofreligion,as aneclipse intervenes between man and the broadsun. Icouldnot, in those days,see God forhis creature:of whom I had made an idol"(chap.25,p. 241).Women,bycontrast,eitherbecome ruthlesslycompetitiveandpettilycruel(GeorgianaReed,Mrs.Reed,andBlancheIngram),having,ineffect,cut off a partof themselves to please men, or they areswallowed up by aworld that does not value them (Helen Burns and Miss Temple), asCinderella earswill happen to her. The thirdalternative,and "thechoiceof life"orwomen, is thatrepresentedbythehearth,a "sacredpace"whereCinderella's pirit s nourishedthroughdivinehelp,and where lovingser-

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vice bringsjoy.The hearthrepresentsa place where women can, in Vir-giniaWoolfswords, "lookpast[John]Milton'sbogey, for no humanbeingshould shutout the view."19This book is neitherasimple expression of femalerage(thoughthereis angerin it),nor a capitulation o the devaluedfemale rolesof nurseandservant.Itis, rather,an expression of a maternalist ystem of values thatwas known and debated in Bronte's lifetime.20Nineteenth-centurymaternalists such as J. J. Bachofen, FriedrichEngels, Elizabeth CadyStanton, nd Charlotte erkinsGilmanbelieved thathumansocietyevolvedthroughanumberof stages,and that t was notalways patriarchal.21ome,like WalterBagehot,believed thatwoman,whose maternalnstincthe con-sideredthe source of allaltruism,providedthe foundationof civilization.

AlthoughBachofen considered patriarchy uperiorto matriarchy nthescaleof human socialdevelopment,nineteenth-century eministssawhope inthe maternalistdenialof the universalityof female subordination:it suggested thatequalitybetween the sexes mightbe the more "natural"formof social organization,positing alternatives orwomen. And,in thenineteenthcentury,archeologicalevidenceofmother-goddess igureswasdeployed for a varietyof purposes, sometimes to supporttheoriesof themoralsuperiorityofwomen, sometimes toargue,as didSydneyOwenson,LadyMorgan, n Woman and Her Master(1840), that woman's rightfulplace in humanhistoryhadbeen hidden andsuppressedby historians norder to keep women in subjection.Maternalismoffered an alternativevision of relations between thesexes to nineteenth-century hinkersandwriterssuchas Bronte andWill-iamMakepeaceThackeray.That such ideas were not foreignto Bronteisdemonstrated nShirley,when CarolineHelstone andShirleyKeeldar, it-tingin the churchyardwhile, within the church,"curates...hammerovertheirpreparedorations," iscuss"whatEvewas when she and Adamstoodalone on earth."Andwhat Evewas, was not Milton'sEve,for he "tried osee the firstwoman;but ... It was his cook he saw."Rather he firstEve,asShirleydescribesher,was "heaven-born,"vast," grand,"awoman-Titan,""Jehovah'sdaughter,"an "undying, mighty being" who yielded the"'unexhaustedife and uncorruptedexcellence ... which, after millenni-umsof crimes... could conceive andbringforthaMessiah."22hatBrontewould give the heroine who was based on her beloved sisterEmilysuchwords and ideas strongly suggests thatBronte herself found them com-pelling.Cinderella'svirtuesthen, the ethos she represents,are exactly thosethat heVictoriansheld to be peculiarlywomen's virtues,and Bronte'suseofthetaleinJaneEyrerepresentsafusingof the Germanvariant'smother-

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goddess implications with certain nineteenth-century ideas concerninghuman evolution and altruism as a female principle. Like the Cinderellatale, the novel is structured upon two competing religious systems, onefemale-centered and pre-Christian, the other patriarchal and Christian. Itis only when the two are viewed together that we can understand Bronte'sparticular dialectic of fierce independence and romantic, seemingly anti-feminist, ideas about women, duty, and altruistic caretaking.The structure ofJane Eyre is a complex fusion of classical mythology,Christian allegory, and fairy tale, resulting finally in a feminist allegory, awoman's Pilgrim's Progress, in which those elements of Christianity thatdemean women's intelligence, will, desire, and integrity are assessed andfound wanting. Bronte's is a Christianityreclaimed by the (re)insertion ofa maternalist respect for women's work. InJane Eyre, Bronte was able toreconcile grief for a lost mother and ambivalence toward the religion ofher father. And it is the insertion into the novel of the Grimm Brothers'Cinderella, with its resonances of the supernatural and the mythic, thatconveys this feminist ethic.23

NOTES1RichardChase, "TheBrontes, or, MythDomesticated,"in Forms of Modern Fic-tion. Essays Collected in Honor ofJoseph WarrenBeach, ed. William Van O'Connor(Minneapolis:Univ.of Minnesota Press, 1948), pp. 102-19, 119.This article was origi-nally published in KR9, 1(Autumn 1947):487-506, butthe originalarticledoes not con-tain this sentence. Except in this one instance, all references to Chase'sessay will be tothe KRversion.2CharlotteBronte,Jane Eyre,ed. RichardJ.Dunn, NortonCriticalEdn.(New York:W.W.Norton, 1971),chap. 12, p. 96. Henceforth all references toJane Eyre will be tothis edition andwill appear parentheticallyin the text, designated by chapterand pagenumbers.3Chase,p. 495.4SandraM.Gilbert and Susan Gubar, The Madwoman in the Attic:The WomanWriter nd theNineteenth-CenturyLiteraryImagination (New Haven:Yale Univ.Press,1979),pp. 368-71.sAdrienneRich,"JaneEyre:The Temptationsof a MotherlessWoman," n OnLies,Secrets,and Silence. SelectedProse, 1966-1978 (New York:W. W.Norton, 1979), pp.

89-106,106.6John Maynard,Charlotte Bronte and Sexuality (Cambridge:Cambridge Univ.Press, 1984),pp. 143-4.7NancyV.Workman,"ScheherezadeatThornfield:MythicElementsinJaneEyre,"ELWIU15,2 (Fall1988):177-92,190.8For discussions of Bronte's use of the Cinderella tale, see especially ElizabethImlay,Charlotte Bronte and the Mysteriesof Love.Mythand Allegory in 'Jane Eyre"(New York:St.Martin'sPress, 1989),with particular eference to chapter8, "FairyTales,"pp.69-80. Otherdiscussions include KarenE.Rowe, "'Fairy-bornndhuman-bred':Jane

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Eyre'sEducationin Romance," n The VoyageIn:Fictions of Female Development, ed.ElizabethAbel, MarianneHirsch,and Elizabeth Langland(Hanover NH and London:Univ.Press of New England, 1983), pp. 69-89; RobertKeefe, Charlotte Bronte's Worldof Death (Austin and London:Univ. of Texas Press, 1979), pp. 113-22; PaulaSullivan,"FairyTale Elements inJaneEyre," nJPC12,1 (Summer1978):61-74;CharlesBurkhart,CharlotteBronte.:APsychosexual StudyofHerNovels (London:VictorGollancz, 1973),pp. 69-73.9Jacoband Wilhelm Grimm,"Aschenputtel,"n Kinder und Hausmdrchen (Ber-lin: Wilhelm Hertz, 1888), pp. 93-9, 93. Subsequent references to this edition of"Aschenputtel"will appear parentheticallyin the text.'?WinifredGerin, CharlotteBronte: TheEvolution of Genius (Oxford:ClarendonPress, 1967),pp. 34-9.11David Lodge, "Fireand Eyre:CharlotteBronte's Warof EarthlyElements," n TheLanguage ofFiction: Essays in Criticismand VerbalAnalysisofthe EnglishNovel (Lon-don: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1966),pp. 114-43, 116-7.'2KurtRanke,Folktalesof Germany (Chicago:Univ.of Chicago Press,1966),p. viii.'3R.D.Jameson, "Cinderellan China,"n Cinderella:A FolkloreCasebook,ed. AlanDundes (New Yorkand London: GarlandPublishing, 1982), pp. 71-97.4W.R. S.Ralston, "Cinderella,"n Cinderella:A FolkloreCasebook,pp. 30-56, 36.5Rowe, pp. 71,70.16JackZipes, The Brothers Grimm:From Enchanted Forests to the Modern World(New Yorkand London:Routledge, 1988),pp. 137-8.17LouiseBernikow,Among Women(New York:HarperColophon Books, 1980),p.28.

18ElizabethGaskell, TheLife of CharlotteBronte, ed. and with an intro.by AngusEasson(Oxford:Oxford Univ.Press,1996),p.356.The referenceto "a ew men... whosesense of justiceis strong"surely refersto WilliamMakepeace Thackeray,whom Brontepraises so strongly in the preface to the second edition of ane Eyre.19VirginiaWoolf, A Room of One's Own (New York:Harcourt BraceJovanovich,1929),p. 118.20See especiallyJohannJakob Bachofen's Myth,Religion,andMother-Right 1861),also SydneyOwenson, LadyMorgan'sWomanandHerMaster(1840), CharlottePerkinsGilman's Women and Economics (1861), Herbert Spencer's Principles of Sociology(1876-1896), WalterBagehot's Physicsand Politics (1869), FriedrichEngels's Origin ofthe Family (1871), Eleanor Marx'sThe WomanQuestion (1887), MonaCaird'sThe Mo-ralityofMarriage(1897), and FrancesSwiney's TheAwakeningof Women:Or,WomensPart in Evolution (1897). Iam indebted to Florence Boos's discussion of the ideologi-cal axes of agreement and difference among these and other writersin her "AHistoryofTheir Own: LateNineteenth-Century Feminist Family History,"delivered before theMidwest Victorian Studies Association in April of 1992. Gerda Lernerdiscusses theproblematic yet influentialworkings of the ideas of matriarchyand maternalism n "Ori-gins," n The Creation ofPatriarchy (New York and Oxford: OxfordUniv.Press, 1986),pp. 15-35.21Lerner,p. 26.22Bronte,Shirley(Oxford:ClarendonPress, 1979),book 2, chap. 7, pp. 319-21.23Marianne Thormahlen's recent study, The Brontos and Religion (Cambridge:CambridgeUniv.Press, 1999),appeared after hisessay hadbeen written.Thormahlen'sanalysis is compatible with the views expressed here, in that she demonstrates that a"radicalnquiryinto religiousthought, feeling, andconduct"characterizesall the Bronteworks (p. 219).Moreover,she correctly represents Charlotte'scritiqueof Anglicanism

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as a sign, not of rejectionof the church,but of a loving desire to reform it.Thormahlen'sstudyis to be commended forits impressive demonstrationof the need forgreatercon-temporary appreciation of the role of religion in nineteenth-century literature.Thormahlen'sstudy,however, focuses on the extent to which Christian nstitutionsand ideas informthe Brontenovels, while my purpose is to show that nJane EyreChar-lotte Bronte includes religious elements that range beyond those provided by Chris-tianityalone.

159559459 Bronte s Jane Eyre and the Grimm s Cinderella

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Transcript of 159559459 Bronte s Jane Eyre and the Grimm s Cinderella