How Does Jane Eyre And Maya Angelou Present Male Characters

Compare the ways in which Charlotte Brontë and Maya Angelou present male characters, through detailed discussion of Jane Eyre and wider reference to I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Jane Eyre is an early insight into how proto-feminists were regarded in the 19th century, where a women’s role was stereotypically to be seen and not heard. Charlotte Bronte uses the character Jane Eyre as a platform to express the imbalance of equality between the two genders and uses a series of male characters to depict how an independent, disadvantaged female is regarded in such a male dominated society. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou uses a similar platform of a disadvantaged female in the early 20th century to reflect how discrimination and extreme poverty affect the attitudes of males not only in relation to Maya Angelou, but to other black people in
It is established that Rochester disliked Blanche Ingram’s preference for fancy dresses and her inclination towards material goods; he considers this quite superficial and was one of the reasons he fell for “plain Jane” 4instead. The hypocrisy here is that Rochester begins to push gifts such as a “diamond chain” and a “circlet”, onto Jane; a possible way to show ownership and dominance over her. These are both field specific terms in relation to jewellery; something which Jane has shown no passion or interest for. Rochester is presented as controlling when he says “I will attire my Jane in satin and lace.” This suggests that he is trying to change Jane into the wife he wants to have, rather than the wife Jane would actually be to him. In Caged Bird, Maya is subject to the dominating behaviour of Mr Freeman. Mr Freeman uses the direct imperative; “pull your draws down” as a way to assert his control. As Maya is scared, Angelou presents men as stronger than women due to their powerful status and ability to issue manipulative