An analysis of feminist themes in Jane Eyre and its cinematographic versionsConcern for women's rights dates from the Age of Enlightenment, when liberal, egalitarian and reformist ideals of this century This period began to spread from the bourgeoisie, peasants and urban workers to women as well. Like most interest groups of the time, feminists gained strength and stability through their writing. The era's thriving ideas regarding women's rights were on full display in Judith Murray's On the Equality of the Sexes in 1790. Dr. Allyson Dowta, author of Women and the Written Word, states that without A Vindication of the Rights of Women by Margaret Wollstoncraft, published in 1792, “the feminist movement would have remained a nascent and unconnected effort. Wollstoncraft’s contribution…united feminists throughout the world” (95). In 1810, What Is She? by Charlotte Smith. joined this list of tour de force feminist works, followed by Lucy Aikin's Epistles on Women in 1820, Hannah Cowley's The Belle's Stratagem in 1831, and Margaret Fuller's landmark book, Women in the Nineteenth Century, an encouragement to women to free themselves from societal slavery, in 1845. Although this type of analysis of the condition of women became increasingly abundant during the 1800s, feminist literature did not remain entirely explanatory. Beginning in the early 19th century, feminist writing appeared in the form of popular short stories, poems, and works written ostensibly for entertainment. Margaret Holford's Margaret of Anjou, a short story published in 1816, Elizabeth Ogilvy's "The Geniad", a collection of five autobiographical poems published in 1825, and Catherine Williams' Fall River, a short story published in 1833, were all examples notable. ..... middle of paper ......Ellis, Kate and Kaplan, Ann. 19th-century women in cinema: adapting classic women's fiction to cinema. Bowling Green, OH: Popular, 1999Jane Eyre. Real. Christy Cabanne. Perf. Virginia Bruce, Colin Clive and Beryl Mercer. 1934.Jane Eyre. Real. Franco Zeffirelli. Perf. William Hurt, Charlotte Gainsborough and Anna Paquin. 1996Jane Eyre. Real. Julien Aymes. Perf. Timothy Dalton, Zelah Clarke. 1983Jane Eyre. Real. Robert Stevenson. Perf. Joan Fontaine, Orson Welles and Margaret O'Brien. 1944Peters, Joan D. “Finding a Voice: Towards a Woman's Discourse in Dialogue in the Narrative of Jane Eyre.” » Studies in the novel. 23 No. 2. (1991): 217-36. Zonana, Joyce. “The Sultan and the Slave: Feminist Orientalism and the Structure of Jane Eyre.” Signs. 18 no 3. (1993): 592-617