Throughout history, women have been repeatedly, systematically oppressed and disempowered. Even today, women are often represented as the inferior sex, and still even limited to traditionally feminine roles—both in professional and domestic contexts. However, the feminist and equality movement has, historically, been closely linked with the authorship of powerful women, and the inclusion of female characters in literature. This essay will explore how women in literature have both subverted and enforced social norms regarding power, with particular reference to Brontë’s Jane Eyre, Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, and Shakespeare’s MacBeth.
Jane Eyre is a character often referred to as one of the early feminist texts. At a time when women were generally confined to the home, and limited in terms of professional choice, Jane takes a stand against some of the gender stereotypes and restrictions placed on her. Perceived by other characters—even her main love interest, Mr. Rochester, as a weak and dependent person, Jane exerts power over her own life, claiming independence and as much right to freedom as any man. When she is told not to “struggle so like a wild, frantic bird, that is rending its own plumage in its desperation,” she famously responds, “I am no bird; and no net ensnares me; I am a free human being, with an independent will; which I now exert to leave you” (Brontë, ch. 23). In this passage she is denying the will of a man, showing that she has more agency over her own life than he does. She perceives herself as an intellectual equal to the men in the narrative, and repeatedly proves herself to be capable of managing her own affairs. This is somewhat undermined by the conclusion of the novel, when she marries and becomes a dependent housewife.
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The title itself of A Doll’s House indicates the inequality of power in the play. Nora, manipulated first by her father, and now her husband, is devoid of agency within her own life. As a woman, she is unable to own property or take out a loan without male consent, and so commits fraud to support her husband. When he punishes her for this act of independence, she realizes her grim reality of powerlessness in marriage, and leaves her husband. At the time Ibsen was writing, this resolution was shockingly controversial—to the extent at which he was forced to produce an alternative ending to the play in which Nora stays (Pericles, par. 2). Nora is dehumanized by the men in the play, perceiving herself as being doll-like to both her husband and father, and being constantly degraded as bestial by her husband. His first reference to Nora is the line, “Is it my little squirrel bustling about?” (Ibsen, 1.9). The possessive term “my” emphasizes Torvald’s belief that he owns his wife, while the various pet names he uses for her throughout the play serve to demonstrate the deep inequality in their marriage. Her decision to leave him shows her reclamation of power.
Although the main female character in MacBeth is, for the most part, a morally despicable character, Shakespeare uses this to subvert societal expectations of gender and gendered limitations of power. Lady MacBeth is underestimated by many of the other characters in the play, as it is a concept so unbelievable that a woman would be able to commit such an atrocity as murder. Shakespeare reverses this by capitalizing on gender to make Lady MacBeth’s actions seem even more horrible—she repeatedly compares her husband to weak feminine stereotypes, and negates the maternal quality often given women by speaking openly about infanticide. Lady MacBeth subverts gender roles in marriage, by demonstrating power over her husband. In her attempt to convince him to murder the king, she says, “I fear thy nature; / It is too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness,” (1.5.16-17). This implies that her husband is not strong enough to act in the way that she would. Furthermore, she shows her power over him by saying, “Hie thee hither, / That I may pour my spirits in thine ear / And chastise with the valoor of my tongue / All that impedes thee” (1.5.28-31). She is hereby making it clear to the audience that she has power over her husband, even if this power is only by persuasion.
The clearest similarity in the way that women and power are presented in these texts is that all three texts deal equally with the limitation and liberation of female characters. For example, Jane Eyre is overtly conscious of her limited rights as a woman and—for the most part—strains against the control of other characters, both male and female. Likewise, Nora is aware of the power that has been held over her by her father and husband, and first manipulates, then rejects their influence in her life. Lady MacBeth abuses her position in a similar way to Nora—while Nora uses her femininity to her advantage in appeasing her husband, Lady MacBeth uses her gender to escape blame and avoid suspicion. The self-consciousness of these characters regarding their gender helps to demonstrate the difficulty of women throughout history in acquiring power. They each strive to be held as equals to their male counterparts, yet are forced to use the inequality of their sex in order to gain positions of advantage.
An interesting contrast can be drawn between the narrative arcs of Jane and Nora’s lives, respectively. Though Jane stands for independence through most of the novel, and claims liberation from the patriarchy when she leaves Mr. Rochester, her eventual return to him undermines the message of equality that Brontë seems to promote elsewhere. Though she claims to be “a free human being” (Brontë, ch. 23), she seems to be ensnared by his influence. Despite leaving for serious, logical reasons—most notably, Rochester having kept his secret first wife imprisoned like an animal in his attic—her reasons for returning seem to be underdeveloped and unresolved. Nothing substantial has changed in the meantime, and her reasons for leaving remain intact. The book resolving with her marriage to him is therefore a serious blow to the feminist reader, as she gives up her independence and compromises her principles to be with him. In complete contrast to this, Nora compromises her independence in every aspect of her life, and the resolution to the play sees her rejecting her dependence on men. This eventual liberation allows Nora to be seen, even at the play’s conclusion, as a free individual, separate from male influence and free to decide her own fate. Ibsen’s text therefore demonstrates a far more powerful female character than Brontë’s, though Jane embodies the ideals of women’s freedom through most of the novel.
Each of these texts reflects and rejects certain aspects of how women and power were represented in wider society at the time they were written. Though much has changed in today’s society, they still incorporate many of the ideals still being fought for, such as gender equality, freedom, and liberation from stereotypes. Each woman here described shows different aspects of these ideals, but all are strong female protagonists. Jane, Nora and Lady MacBeth are all examples of powerful women in literature.
- Brontë, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. Peterborough, Ont: Broadview Press, 1999. Online. Accessed April 11 2017.
- Ibsen. A Doll’s House and Other Plays. Trans. Peter Watts. London: Penguin, 1965. Print.
- Lewis, Pericles. “A Doll’s House.” Modernism Lab. Yale Univeristy. www.modernism.research.yale.edu/wiki/index.php/A_Doll%27s_House. Accessed April 11 2017.
- Shakespeare, William. MacBeth. London: Bloomsbury, 2013. Print.
