A female victim in Gothic literature is typically innocent, otherworldly, and helpless, a useful stereotype that creates tension and drama as well as encapsulating the ideals of male desire. Jane Eyre lived a sheltered life, not exposed to worldly dangers such as evil, madness, and true love. However, her calls for equality and responses to mistreatment show her to be independent and passionate. Similarly, Rebecca's unnamed narrator embodies many characteristics of the conventional gothic victim. Being self-deprecating, she regularly experiences feelings of inferiority, both within her marriage and within society. Yet, at the end of the novel, she emerges as a stubborn and determined character who collaborates with her murderous husband to achieve happiness. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay. Both characters develop over the course of the novel, overcoming their potential victim status. In the opening chapters of Jane Eyre, Bronte 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." Gothic style, she is punished by being locked in the "red room" which Jane believes is haunted. Bronte thus shows Jane as an innocent victim. He is weak, helpless and unable to escape his “prison”. His reaction to captivity is shown in short sentences and monosyllabic diction: “My heart was pounding, my head was overheating; a sound filled my ears.” Bronte's tactile language demonstrates Jane's terror and panic; the characteristic response of an innocent victim unable to control his fear. Additionally, Bronte uses Jane's defeatist attitude during her childhood to demonstrate her victimization as she accepts her helplessness. She is self-pitying and self-deprecating when she speculates, “Why have I always suffered…always accused, always condemned?” and grows up without feeling love or approval. The red room becomes a recurring symbol. Jane is described as tormented by "the spasm of agony that gripped my heart when Mrs. Reed... locked me up a second time in the dark, haunted room." Once again his response is described in physical, almost melodramatically intense terms. Some structuralist critics have convincingly seen the red room as a symbol of menstruation and suffering femininity, a place where Jane must learn to be submissive and obedient. Furthermore, Bessie's threat to "tie" Jane in the red room significantly parallels the experience of Bertha Mason, both female victims who must be controlled. These structural similarities imply that Bertha is Jane's passionate, sexual, and ferocious alter ego, suggesting that Jane learns to repress her culturally unacceptable stubbornness and anger. Jane represents the ego while Bertha represents the id. Bertha acts on 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 time at 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 “spend an extra half hour on that stool”. This episode presents Jane as a victim because, accused of being a sinner, she is unable to defend herself. Jane is trapped in oppressive 19th century beliefs about religion, women, and social hierarchy. Bronte makes it clear that her secret existence in Lowood means that she has lived a sheltered life and is therefore naive. Rochester ifshe 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 her girls must not "conform to nature". This supports the claim that Jane is presented as an innocent victim as her inexperience makes her helpless against the dangerous reality of the situation.outside world. Jane's journey to find freedom, self-respect, and acceptance ultimately allows her to overcome the patriarchal oppression characterized first by John Reed, then by Brocklehurst, and finally by Rochester; an embodiment of gothic masculinity taking 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 towards him, cunningly trying to trick Jane into admitting her love by disguising herself as a gypsy. Later, Bronte shows Rochester pushing 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 leads her to be suspicious of romantic affection and she believes Rochester is joking: "I thought he was making fun of me." When Jane attempts to escape 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 character who is passionate, independent, and ambitious, although she struggles against the expectations of 19th-century women. A woman was supposed to be passive and subservient to male authority; it was not intended to reveal anger or sexual desire. With the character of Jane Eyre, Bronte challenges 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 time to secure supremacy. My powers were in play and in force.” This language of power reveals Jane's recognition of autonomy. The balanced cadences and divine, masterful imagery show how Jane is assuming authority. Furthermore, the burning of Thornfield and the blinding of Rochester symbolize the rise of female power and male emasculation. It seems that Bertha, that transgressive woman, managed to take revenge on her oppressor: “She was on the roof….waving her arms over the battlements”. Throughout the novel Bronte presents Jane as strong and determined with her regular demands for equality: “Women feel just as men feel; they need to exercise their faculties… as much as their brothers.” Although Jane is shown passive and obedient in her role as ruler, having learned to confine her selfish desires to the realm of duty, she stands up for her beliefs and demands justice for all. The little girl Jane takes revenge for John Reed's mistreatment of her: "What fury to turn to Master John!" Here, she is not passive and docile like the stereotypical Gothic victim, although the character is probably then the victim of punishment for refusing to consent to her own humiliation. Once again, Rochester meets his match in Jane and his paradoxical statement, with its undercurrents of sexuality, "Jane, you please me and dominate me", shows that Jane fulfills his desires and yet feels his power over him. Bronte shows Jane refusing to submit to his authority. When she leaves Thornfield, Rochester attempts to blackmail her emotionally by saying she is "the instrument of evil" to the one she "loves totally" and Jane responds by demonstrating her independence: "I am a free human being with a free willindependent, that Now I am trying to leave you”. Bronte shows the inversion of power relations and, by exercising her will, Jane achieves an unheard of authority in her cultural context. Rebecca's unnamed narrator also seems to embody many characteristics of an innocent victim in a gothic novel, Radway sums up the character perfectly: "she is obsessed with her unexceptional appearance...sexually innocent and highly romantic...characterized by a self-deprecating tendency" . The girl suffers many of Jane Eyre's social disadvantages, being poor and orphaned but a woman's companion rather than a governess. Plain and unattractive, with her "straight, bobbed hair and youthful, powder-free face", the narrator is an ugly duckling, presented as the antithesis of the charming Rebecca. Unlike Jane, the narrator appears unadventurous when Beatrice asks "You don't happen to sail, do you?" and the Girl replies “No”. Similar to Jane Eyre, the text uses the physical environment to dramatize the protagonist's situation; The fact that Maxim places the Girl's bedroom above the cultivated flower garden while Rebecca's room overlooks the rough sea implies that such passivity is desirable for Manderley's lover. Du Maurier's protagonist is regularly overwhelmed by feelings of inferiority resulting from frequent comparisons with Rebecca and the stress of Maxim's unusual, upper-class lifestyle. Clearly, like Jane, the marriage is not one of social equality with Maxim prosaically 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 parallels 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,” he underlines his naivety. The narrator is considered easy prey because, like Jane, she does not have the experience to realize that she is being mistreated by Maxim. Faced with his exclamation, “To hell with this,” the Girl simply cries, reinforcing her status as a helpless victim. Maxim is at times cruel and heartless in his mockery of the narrator which, Du Maurier suggests, worsens his feelings of inferiority. : “be Alice in Wonderland.......you look like one now with your finger in your mouth”. Maxim infantilizes the Girl, comparing her to "Alice in Wonderland", reinforcing her status as an innocent victim; similarly, Alice's character is childish and curious. Du Maurier supports the Gothic impenetrability of Maxim's mysterious nature since the reader, who as in Bronte's text, essentially shares the protagonist's narrative perspective, is never sure whether he is joking. There is a subtle threat of violence surrounding Rochester and Maxim that emphasizes Jane's attitude and 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 wives,” Maxim responds “Kick yourself, you mean?” The reader wonders whether Maxim is capable of physical cruelty which foreshadows his murderous potential. Both texts use female characters to cause the main protagonists to despair of romance, too.