akes reference to activities which would be "exercise (for) their faculties". Bront is trying to change society's perception of how women should act in regards to their emotions. The actions of women were restricted to "making puddings and knitting stockings, to playing on the piano and embroidering bags," and Bront condemns society for having such a narrow-minded belief. She endorses women challenging their society's customs and acting as equals to their male counterparts, because they "feel just as men feel". They are equal.Victorian society endorsed the belief that men were more moral than women, which Bront disputed. However, Bront argues that women and men are both morally equal. Jane loved Rochester and "refused to marry (St. John)" when he proposed to her because of her love for another man. The Victorian readers would have condemned Bront and Jane, because, St. John who had "Athenian" good looks, was rejected for the "stern features" of Rochester. This would be seen as an immoral act on behalf of Jane. Marriages in that era were usually about movement up the social ladder or because of the fact that the woman was "worthy of the work, and competent to accomplish it." Love was a factor, which many people negated. Bront condemned this negation. The patriarchal religious system, Calvinism, instilled a view in its members that men were far superior to women in many respects, including morality. In Victorian society the most 'moral' people seemed to be figures like Brocklehurst, who were in reality hypocrites. They were seen as pious and likely to be the chosen few to enter the gates of Heaven. Bront conveys Brocklehurst's character as being shallow and he eventually loses his business because of lack of humanity. Victorian society's had gaps between classes, men and women, which discriminated. Thus creating lines of inequality between both sexes. Bront believed that women were equal to men in regards to their intellec...
