| Feminist criticism has an uneasy relationship with Jane Eyre , both embracing Jane as a protofeminist and condemning her as a submissive paradigm. Some of the novel's contradiction has been explained by the "doubleness" which occurs when a woman author attempts self-definition but finds patriarchal definitions intruding "between herself and herself." Projection also plays a vital role in female authorship, extending investigations of doubleness and the split self while awarding greater scope and power to Jane herself. The novel's multeity paradoxically relies on Jane's unity; that is, the many qualities that come in opposition to one another all lie within Jane herself. Jane appears meek, submissive, and humble; however, her rage, dominance, and ambition are projected onto John Reed, Mrs. Reed, Brocklehurst, Rochester, and St. John to exaggerated degrees. Through, projection, Jane escapes societal condemnation while she also insures that rage, dominance, and ambition covertly work to her advantage. |
