Role of female characters in Jane Eyre and Great Expectations

Jane Eyre is one of the best novels of Charlotte Bronte. On the other hand, Great Expectations is one of the best novels of Charles Dickens. These two novels were written in the Victorian era and got huge popularity among readers and are included as classic novels in English literature. Jane Eyre is the central female character of Jane Eyre, and Estella is the heroine of Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations. These two characters are very important and are bound to catch the attention of readers as women of the Victorian era. These two female characters have very important roles in these two novels. 

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If we look at Jane Eyre first, we can see that she is a poor and orphan girl. Her life has gone through a lot of sufferings, and truly good fortune was never her companion. She has to fight with her fortune all the time and she became happy at the end of the novel. But before that, she has to go through many sufferings and deprivation.

Estella was an orphan but in a true sense, she was not an orphan. She did not know the identity of her parents and she was nursed in the shelter of Miss Havisham. But Estella was never a poor girl and she did not feel poverty. She was a very beautiful girl and she did not suffer in her life. She even did not have to struggle a lot. 

If we look at these two female characters, we can see that Jane Eyre is undoubtedly a good female character. On the other hand, Estella is not a good girl, but she is not a bad girl either. Jane Eyre’s good qualities were developed in childhood and she was very laborious and tried for her life. She tried to save her good side amid a lot of difficulties. Her conscience and struggle to become good sometimes put her into trouble, but she did not move from there. On the other hand, Estella is not a good girl, but she is also not an evil character. It is her bad luck that she did not know her real parents. Miss Havisham was a cruel woman. Miss Havisham raised her as cold and though she was beautiful, she did not have any feelings. Though Pip loves her so much, she did not respond to him.

These two female characters can be said to the victim of injustice in society. Though Jane Eyre was a good girl, at that time, there was no freedom for women. For this reason, she has to face problems at every step. On the other hand, Estella not only being the victim of social injustice but also being the victim of Miss Havisham. So, it is natural to grow sympathy towards them, especially to Jane Eyre, but we should sympathize with Estella because whatever happened to her life was beyond her control.

Jane Eyre and Estella suffered a lot both in love and marriage. Though Estella is an adopted daughter of Miss Havisham and did not realize what poverty is, she gets married to a person who does not love her and torture her. On the other hand, though Jane Eyre loved Rochester, he was married before and was kept hide. The reason behind this was that his first wife was mad.

If we look at these two novels, we can see that these two female characters play a very important role. Estella was a timid girl and was dependent on Miss Havisham. Estella did not have that much strength to differentiate the negative impact of Miss Havisham’s personality from her own character. So, she remained almost alone at the end, and facing the turmoil of life she finally united with Pip. So, her character can be said a flat character because her character remained the same from beginning to end.

She was not changed that much due to a lot of suffering. If she did not see Pip in the last part, she might not see him ever. On the other hand, Jane Eyre is the central character of the novel Jane Eyre. She has a lot of mental strength, and she is an independent woman. Jane Eyes always wants to go ahead, and even in tougher times, she did not affect her personality, especially her softer side. She realizes that Rochester is a good person and sacrifices herself to his service. When Rochester had a good time, she was with him and when a bad time came to him then she tried her best for Rochester.

For this reason, Rochester becomes successful in his life, and Jane also becomes happy. Jane Eyre is an example of an ideal wife. On the other hand, Estella is what that means an attractive lover. So, Charles Dickens’ female character Estella is much attracted as a lover because she is beautiful and there is a charming attitude in her. On the other hand, Jane Eyre is an innocent girl. She is not that beautiful or charming. But she is extraordinary as a wife.

In Jane Eyre novel, everything revolves around Jane Eyre. On the other hand, Pip is the central character of Great Expectations. Besides Joe and Miss Havisham are two important characters and in that case, Estella’s role is marred a lot. We do find Estella’s presence in a large portion of this novel. But we can find Jane Eyre’s presence throughout the whole novel Jane Eyre.