Analyzing Jane Eyre: Intersectionality and the 21St Century Adaptations

Abstract

The paper analyzes the gender dimension in Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, using the theories of intersectionality and feminist film theory by Kimberlé Crenshaw and Laura Mulvey. The theory of intersectionality will be used to study Bertha Mason’s race, who is a character in Jane Eyre-described as the madwoman and the insane first wife of Edward Rochester (the male protagonist of the classic), and finally conclude to find out, whether Bertha’s madness made her locked in the attic, or it had something to do with her Jamaican race. Intersectionality theory was first coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw in 1989, where she stated how multiple forms of inequality combines to create disproportions in society. She wanted to make the thinkers understand that issues like gender discrimination, race, colonial roots are not individual subjects to talk about. They are all combined and none of the issues should be dropped to study a certain issue, specially gender discrimination. The paper further uses two other genres-- movie and series, namely Jane Eyre (2011 film) by Cary Joji Fukunaga, and Jane Eyre (2006 TV series) by Susanna White. The movie and series will be used to connect the 19th century text with the 21st century adaptations. The mise-en-scene of the adaptations will be studied to analyze to what extent where they loyal to the classic. The compare and contrast will also study how the adaptations highlighted Bertha’s race, her colonial roots, and her madness. Finally, the paper will conclude how the Hollywood industry with all its modern lightings and sound, cut down Jane’s bildungsroman journey and highlighted Rochester as modern, and post-feminist father/husband.