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being a woman in the literary world has never been easy. literature has

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long been a field dominated by men. for a while it was easier for women just to [woman frowns in a library]

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pretend to be men if they wanted to get published. luckily this meant taking on a

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pseudonym, other than donning a fake mustache . but this was the course of

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action taken by charlotte brontë author of Jane Eyre and universally

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acknowledged woman. Charlotte and her sisters Emily and Anne were authors in

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their own right but living as they did in the 19th century they were in a

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tricky place as female writers. that's true at least women could get published

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hadn't always been the case however books by women tended to be seen as [novels by 19th century women pictured]

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Chiclets, you know dealing with gossip romance and domestic life. in other words

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the frivolous concerns of frivolous women. well their works weren't taken

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seriously by the literary establishment whose members were more concerned with

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stuff like philosophy or adventure or you know man stuff. well aware of the

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literary climate each of the sisters adopted pseudonyms Charlotte published [men write with serious faces]

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as Gurrer, Emily as Ellis, and Anne as Acton. well fortunately book signings

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weren't common at the time so they didn't have to worry about being found

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out by their legions of adoring fans. well the Bronte's weren't just

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interested in getting their work published. they were also interested in

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writing about heroines who escaped the dominant 19th century expectations for

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women. in Jane Eyre Charlotte focuses on the life of Jane who starts the book is

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an abused child living with rich relatives to be a lot less depressing if [child wears fancy ball gown with bandage on head]

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she were happy and free and had two keys to a chocolate factory, but Charlotte

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wasn't interested in writing to that kind of story.

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we can get a taste of how Jane bucked tradition in a scene right before she's

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about to be shipped off to boarding school . rather than accepting her lot

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with traditional feminine and docility a good 19th century girl Jane lets her

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aunt have it telling her exactly how she feels about her. Spoiler alert, Jane's not

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exactly a huge fan of her cruel aunt. while this act gives Jane a feeling of

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freedom and triumph, a feeling that Bronte thinks women ought to pursue, and

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luckily for women everywhere there are plenty of ways to feel freedom

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and triumph without yelling at family members. [woman kick boxes]

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although few others make you feel so good.

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