A female victim in Gothic literature is usually innocent, supernatural and helpless, a useful stereotype creating tension and drama as well as encapsulating ideals of desire male. Jane Eyre lived a sheltered life, safe from the dangers of the world such as evil, madness and true love. However, her demands for equality and her responses to mistreatment show her to be independent and passionate. Likewise, Rebecca's unnamed narrator embodies many characteristics of the conventional Gothic victim. Being self-deprecating, she regularly experiences feelings of inferiority, both within her relationship and within society. However, at the end of the novel, she appears as a headstrong and determined character who colludes with her murderous husband to achieve happiness. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay. Both characters develop over the course of the novel, overcoming their status as potential victims. In the opening chapters of Jane Eyre, Brontë presents Jane as an innocent victim. She is mistreated by her aunt and John Reed who constantly remind her of her inferiority: "You are a dependent... you should beg and not live here." In gothic style, she is punished by being locked in "the red room" which Jane believes is haunted. Thus Brontë shows Jane as an innocent victim. She is weak, helpless and unable to escape from her "prison". His reaction to imprisonment is illustrated by short sentences and monosyllabic diction: “My heart beat hard, my head grew hot; a sound filled my ears.” Brontë's tactile language demonstrates Jane's terror and panic; the characteristic response of an innocent victim unable to control their fear. Additionally, Bronte uses Jane's defeatist attitude during her childhood to demonstrate her victimization as she accepts her helplessness. She becomes self-pitying and self-deprecating when she speculates, "Why have I always suffered...always accused, forever condemned?" and grows up without feeling love or approval. The red room becomes a recurring symbol. Jane is described as haunted by "the spasm of agony which gripped my heart when Mrs. Reed...locked me a second time in the dark and haunted room." Again, his response is described in physical, almost melodramatically intense terms. Some structuralist critics have convincingly viewed the red room as a symbol of menstruation and suffering femininity, a place where Jane must learn to be submissive and obedient. Additionally, Bessie's threat to have Jane "tied up" in the red room bears significant resemblance to Bertha Mason's experience, two female victims who must be controlled. These structural similarities imply that Bertha is Jane's passionate, sexual, and fierce alter ego, suggesting that Jane is learning to repress her culturally unacceptable stubbornness and rage. Jane represents the ego while Bertha represents the id. Bertha acts according to her natural impulses and desires without thinking about the consequences. On the other hand, Jane restrains her passions and always makes a moral choice. Jane's stay in Lowood contributes to her status as an innocent victim. She is persecuted by Brocklehurst who calls her a "liar" and humiliates her by forcing her to "stand on that stool for another half hour". This episode presents Jane as a victim because, accused of sin, she is incapable of defending herself. Jane is trapped by oppressive 19th century beliefs regarding religion, women, and social hierarchy. Bronte makes it clear that his closed existenceLowood means that she has lived a sheltered life and is therefore naive. Rochester realizes this and says, “You have lived the life of a nun.” Jane's education does not prepare her for future life due to Brocklehurst's view that his daughters should not "conform to nature". This supports the assertion that Jane is presented as an innocent victim because her inexperience renders her helpless in the face of the dangerous reality of the outside world. Jane's journey to find freedom, self-respect and acceptance finally allows us to overcome the patriarchal oppression characterized first by John Reed, then Brocklehurst and finally Rochester; an embodiment of gothic masculinity who assumes power and control over an innocent woman. Jane is also presented as a victim in her relationship with Rochester. He manipulates her into revealing her feelings for him, cleverly trying to trick Jane into admitting his love by disguising himself as a gypsy. Later, Bronte shows Rochester urging Jane to accept his marriage proposal with his urgency and repeated commands: “Jane, accept me quickly. Say, Edward, give me my name.” Jane's unhappy life means she is wary of romantic affection and thinks Rochester was joking: "I thought he was making fun of me." When Jane attempts to escape from Thornfield after discovering that Rochester is married, Rochester says he will "attempt violence" to stop her. On the other hand, Jane does not fully embody the stereotype of the innocent victim. Bronte presents a passionate, independent, and ambitious character, even as she struggles against the expectations of 19th-century women. A woman was supposed to be passive and submissive to male authority; she was not supposed to reveal her anger or sexual desire. With the character of Jane Eyre, Brontë defies these expectations by creating a heroine who is at least, if not more, intellectually ambitious and passionate than her male counterparts. She refuses to live a loveless life with Rivers, rejecting his attempts to make her feel guilty: “It was my moment to secure the ascendancy. My powers were in play and in force.” This language of power reveals recognition of Jane's autonomy. The balanced cadences and divine, masterful imagery demonstrate how Jane assumes authority. Furthermore, the burning of Thornfield and the blinding of Rochester symbolize the rise of female power and male emasculation. It seems that Bertha, this transgressive woman, succeeds in taking revenge on her oppressor: “She was on the roof... waving her arms above the battlements”. Throughout the novel, Bronte presents Jane as strong and determined with her regular demands for equality: “Women feel what men feel; they need exercise for their faculties...as much as their brothers.” Although Jane is shown as passive and obedient in her role as governess, having learned to confine her selfish desires within the scope of her duty, she stands up for her beliefs and demands justice for all. Child Jane retaliates against John Reed's mistreatment: "How furious to steal from Master John! Here she is not passive and docile like the stereotypical Gothic victim, although the character is arguably then the victim of punishment for refusing to acquiesce to her own humiliation. Once again, Rochester meets his equal in Jane and his paradoxical statement, with its overtones of sexuality, "Jane, you please me and you control me", shows that Jane satisfies his desires and yet he feels her power over him. Brontë shows Jane refusing to submit to his authority. When she leaves Thornfield, Rochester attempts to emotionally blackmail her by saying that she is the "instrument of evil" for the one she "lovestotally” and Jane responds by demonstrating her independence: “I am a free human being with an independent will, which I am now striving to leave you”. Bronte shows the reversal of power relations and, by exercising her own will, Jane achieves an authority unheard of in her cultural context. Rebecca's unnamed narrator also seems to embody many of the characteristics of an innocent victim in a gothic romance, with Radway summing up the character perfectly: "she is obsessed with her ordinary appearance...sexually innocent and very romantic...marked by a tendency toward self-deprecation ". The girl suffers many of Jane Eyre's social disadvantages, being poor and orphaned but being a companion rather than a governess. Plain and unattractive, with her "straight, cropped hair and young, unpowdered face", the narrator is an ugly duckling, presented as the antithesis of the glamorous Rebecca. Unlike Jane, the narrator is unadventurous when Beatrice asks: “You don't sail by chance, do you? and the Girl answers “No”. Similar to Jane Eyre, the text uses the physical environment to dramatize the protagonist's situation; Maxim situating the girl's bedroom above the flower garden while Rebecca's bedroom overlooks the stormy sea implies that such passivity is desirable for Manderley's mistress. Du Maurier's protagonist is regularly overcome by feelings of inferiority arising from frequent comparisons with Rebecca and the stress of Maxim's unfamiliar, bourgeois lifestyle. Clearly, like Jane, the marriage is not one between social equals, with Maxim matter-of-factly stating that "instead of being Mrs. Van Hopper's companion, you become mine and your duties will be almost exactly the same" . The formal language and use of the word "duties" suggest a business transaction rather than a declaration of love. Rochester's marriage to the socially inferior Jane Eyre echoes this familiar theme of romantic novels in which women are presented as progressing through marriage. Like Jane, the Girl could be seen as an innocent victim in her relationship with the older and more powerful Maxim, who continually refers to her as a "child." The narrator reveals that she has no concept of love and her response to Maxim's proposal: “Yes, of course. Romantic…….It was all very sudden and romantic,” underlines his naivety. The narrator appears to be easy prey because, like Jane, she does not have the experience necessary to realize that she is being mistreated by Maxim. Faced with his exclamation “To hell with that”, the Young Girl simply cries, thus reinforcing her status as a helpless victim. Maxim is sometimes cruel and heartless in his mockery of the narrator which, Du Maurier suggests, aggravates his feelings of inferiority. : “be Alice in Wonderland...you look like her now with your finger in your mouth.” Maxim infantilizes the Girl, comparing her to “Alice in Wonderland,” thus reinforcing her status as an innocent victim because similarly, Alice’s character is childish and curious. Du Maurier supports the Gothic inscrutability of Maxim's mysterious nature because the reader, who, as in Brontë's text, essentially shares the protagonist's narrative perspective, is never sure if he is joking. the girl's vulnerabilities. Maxim's menacing presence makes the Girl's vulnerability tangible; to the narrator's request to treat her "like other men treat their women", Maxim responds "It brings you down, you mean? The reader wonders if Maxim is capable of physical cruelty that portends his potential for murder. Both texts use female characters to incite the protagonists.