Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre [4-weeks, $200 suggested]
Instructor: Hollis | Wednesdays February 1-22 | 7:00-8:30 PM ET | ONLINE
Since 1847, Charlotte Brontë’s second novel, Jane Eyre, has been asking audiences how it is possible for women to live in a sexist and classist society. At its initial publication, many readers were scandalized, worrying that this tale of an orphan growing up to reject an abusive family and enter into an unusual romantic relationship, would encourage women to reject organized religion and assert their own opinions. Jane’s trials and tribulations demonstrate the difficulty of living in the 19th century world in which women were devalued and often criticized for being outside of convention. The novel is also famous for creating the trope of the “madwoman in the attic”–a trope that has more recently come under scrutiny for its colonial implications. In this reading group, we’ll read the novel as a proto-feminist text that raises central concerns that have been at the core of feminist struggle. Focusing on themes from love and marriage to gender and colonial oppression, we’ll also pay special attention to what we can learn and how we can challenge ourselves by reading the novel today.
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