Sylvia Plath"s poetry and Charlotte Brontë"s Jane Eyre both incorporate an element of feminism and reveal the attitudes women from their respective time periods encountered. Both Plath and Brontë express extremely feminine points of view in their work. .

             Jane Eyre spans the course of the Jane"s life. Therefore the novel is a bildungsroman, literally meaning a novel (roman) of development (bildungs). The novel describes the growth of Jane"s character from childhood to adulthood concentrating on her experiences, education and identity. The narrator"s tone of voice changes throughout the book as she matures. Plath"s poetry however, was written mostly between 1956 and 1963 and although the tone of voice ranges from detached to hysterical, the general mood of her poems is one of despair.

             One issue in "Jane Eyre" is certainly an example of the arduous life led by women alone in the Victorian era. Jane had to face life lacking financial and emotional support. She frequently defied social conventions by her independence. Presumably this was because she was disillusioned by society from an early age, being morally oppressed first by her relatives and then by Mr Brocklehurst whilst at school. At Lowood she experienced the acrimonious aspects of life: the death of her friend, unyielding discipline and the hypocrisy of religion. Jane felt animosity and indignation at the treatment she and the pupils at Lowood suffered. .

             The feminist element of "Jane Eyre" is the character"s life. Jane worked as a governess and led an independent life. This was an unusual situation for a girl in the Victorian era. A governess was a social anomaly, higher in status than the usual servants were, but not on par with her employers. Essentially governesses were considered to be in a class of their own. .

             Jane shows independence from an early age. In the very first chapter she attacks John Reed, her cousin in order to defend herself.