Why should we read victorian literature to appreciate modern society eg. Jane Eyre?

What's wrong with just reading Victorian literature to appreciate Victorian literature? Jane Eyre is a great story. But if you must, there are many ways to relate it to society today. Pax-C
Why should we read victorian literature to appreciate modern society eg. Jane Eyre?
I like Persi's answer. That's my view on all classic literature.





However, to be maybe a little more helpful I'll say that one of the great benefits of reading vic's and other classic Brit drama is it not only helps show how far we've advanced towards a "classless" society, it also helps us see just how the classes we do still have are defined.





When ever you study "classic" literature the largest source of insight you will get is of a compare/contrast nature. This is how it was, this is how it is. Therein lies it's value past it's literary merit. You aren't going to find many classics that still have "relevant" sociopolitical commentary, but when looked at in regards of what they contribute to literature that doesn't really matter.





And there lies the case for reading vic lit just for the sake of reading vic lit.





(Though I'm a fan of contemporary lit myself.)
Why should we read victorian literature to appreciate modern society eg. Jane Eyre?
Its cos a lot of the things in the victorian novels relate to modern society. And they are way more better to read than modern literature!
Reply:although all bronte boks may get on sum people's nerves coz they are overly descriptive, i like them. see, in the victorian times, the situation for women was bad! u had to marry or be a governess or if ur poor, a maid! the authorsCharlotte, Emily and Anne(Brontes) themselves had a bad time and this is reflected in their stories. i think charles dickens was also a victorian author. in his books like "nicholas nickleby" u can see yet more injustices.


seeing wat a bad time the victorians had wil almost definitely make one thankful for modern, more neutral,liberal and unprejudiced times.
Reply:You can't see your own society clearly unless you have other societies to compare and contrast it with. You tend to think that what is all around you is "normal," or "the only way." If you read about the past, or about how people in other places think, you get a better idea of where your own time and place is on the social map.





Think of a three-year-old who's never been out of the family circle. Then he gets a little older, and finds out some people cut their sandwiches the other way! Big surprise! A lot of us Americans are like that now; we're so surrounded by our own culture and our own point of view, that we don't understand why everyone isn't like us. We don't see our faults; we don't even see our good points; we just think the way we are is what IS.
Reply:I've read Jane Eyre and a lot of it has to do with sexism and social class inequality.





I believe Victorian Literature is aimed more towards women because women were the ones most suppressed. They were bound in corsets that cinched their waists to 16-18 inches, about the thickness of your dad's neck or your cat's waist. Those corsets caused labor problems, sometimes infertility, broken ribs, light headedness, and they had faint couches because fainting was considered "pretty." That's why when you watch movies the women faint all pretty.





Young girl were often married off to men too old for them. They couldn't think for themselves. They had to consent whenever their husbands wanted to copulate, and pretty much they had to "lie back and think of England."





It was always frowned upon when a woman went her own way to try to make something of herself. Her reputation depended solely on her worth in society. If she wore diamonds in the evening, she was generally gossiped about and it was considered a scandal.





But most what was really difficult was that they were brainwashed with the ways of society from the time they were little girls. Some went to finishing schools where motherhood was stressed, and obeying their husbands was final.





In knowing these things, that should make you appreciate society today.
Reply:I think that reading a novel like jane Eyre helps us to see both how things have changed, and how some things are still the same.





Children can still be cruelly treated, for instance, and although there are no present-day schools exactly like Lowood, we all know that there are places where children can lead horrible lives. Lowood House represents something horrible that never changes, the suffering inflicted on children by malignant adults.





and although it is unlikely that a present-day man would keep his mad wife chained up in the attic, it is not unknown for things just as strange (or more) to happen even today. A big difference, of course,is that nowadays a man could divorce his wife if she was insane, rather than locking her up in the attic.





Nowadays, of course, there are more ways for an educated woman to earn a living than by teaching, which was virtually the only respectable option for middle-class English women in charlotte Bronte's day. Jane's options are more limited than a modern woman's, but she is certainly not weak and helpless. Just as there were many strong women in real life, Jane is a strong woman in the novel, and she eventually gets her man, but on her own terms.





I think this novel is important because it reminds us that women were not all weak and helpless in the past, and that people in those days had strong passions, love and desire, just like they do now. And that some things never change.





Plus, it is a very exciting and dramatic story, and worth reading for that reason alone, if for no other.