Pearl Howell

Dr. King

English 4930

3 May 2013

The Science of Appearance in Jane Eyre

Written in 1847, Jane Eyre exists as a time capsule for women’s worldviews in the

Victorian and pre-Victorian culture. The novel portrays the education, socialization, and

treatment of women in British society, and critics have examined the feminist implications of the

novel at great length. However, Jane Eyre also reveals in great detail Victorian attitudes toward

science and appearance and how those attitudes contributed to the culture of repression and

sexual distance famously associated with the Victorian era. Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester use

scientific analyses based on physical appearance, and through these analyses gain insight into

one another’s character that could not be gained through traditional means, given their roles

within their society and the household.

In order to understand Victorian science, historical context is necessary. The late

nineteenth and early twentieth century was the “golden age of appreciation” for science (Thurs

2), and Jane Eyre takes place at the beginning of this growing preoccupation among the populace

of Britain. Present scientific standards were not developed, and the idea of science as a

structured method with steps would not come to be widely accepted until the twentieth century

with Karl Popper’s categorization of the scientific method (Sharif). Before that, the term

“science” and “scientist” held little concrete meaning. Science could mean any variety of things,

including arts and what are today called pseudo-sciences, and it was not bound to a small group

of elite practitioners, but was instead the practice of any educated, thoughtful person (Thurs 24).

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Anyone could learn about science, and the use of science to prove superiority of white, European

men was embraced by the Western world.

Part of this appreciation can be attributed to colonial sentiment. With the terms

“barbaric” and “civil” thrown about English society, the idea of the British as somehow superior,

more evolved, and therefore worthy of their role as world leaders grew within the nation’s

rhetoric. With the impressive growth of British holdings throughout the world, a This sentiment

appears in Jane Eyre during her stay with St. John Rivers and his sisters, and his ideas of

spreading the religion of their superior society to the pagans of India. For St. John and the

European, Protestant men like him, Britain was the pinnacle of civilization on Earth, and while

St. John never voiced it, for many British gentlemen in the Victorian era, science served as a

means to prove this superiority with impartiality once and for all. Scientific thought was the

most credible form of discourse in the Victorian era (Lightman 5), and for many Victorian

Britons, those questions directed toward the characteristics and morality of others. This was the

era of human study, especially the human body, through palmistry, graphology, and, in Jane

Eyre, physiognomy and phrenology.

Phrenology followed this vein of prejudgment based solely on the body. Based on the

idea that the personal characteristics of an individual are determined by the shape of the brain,

phrenologists asserted that the brain’s shape could be read through the skull, and that every bump

or groove determined a major moral or personal attribute (See Fig. 1). While present-day

science indicates that brain function occurs on an incredibly minute cellular level, phrenology

became very popular in the early nineteenth century after Franz Josef Gall popularized the idea

in Scotland in the 1790s. While Gall was Austrian, his idea caught the attention of Scotland

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because it aided in the separation of church from state, a crucial step in allowing the Scottish to

gain full recognition as governing members of Great Britain (Thurs 25). From there, the idea

Fig.1: A diagram representing the human skull, with regions related to personality and character labeled from O. S. Fowler; Love and Parentage Applied to the Improvement of Offspring, Including Important Directions and Suggestions to Lovers and the Married Concerning the Strongest Ties and the Most Momentous Relations of Life; New York: Fowlers and Wells, 1850; Everyday Life and Women in America, C. 1800-1920; Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History and Culture, Duke University Library, and New York Library; Web; 3 May 2013.

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spread widely throughout the British Empire and the United States, and while it fell under fire by

skeptics as “quackery”, it was accepted as fact by just as many. It became a popular topic for

traveling lecturers, and phrenologists would travel from door to door, offering to measure skulls

for a fee (Thurs 23).

Phrenology was a subset of a larger genre of pseudo-science called physiognomy, which

claimed to comprehend a person’s character and morals through the study of their body,

especially the face (Lyons 51). Physiognomy implied that goodness could be sighted without

having to know a person, and in Victorian culture, it provided a useful means to sight good and

evil spirited individuals without even speaking to them. This was valuable to writers as well,

allowing for their characters to reasonably speculate on the characters of others without

introduction, which was a highly structured and formal process and prevented working class

individuals like Jane from speaking with the leisure class, like Rochester, the Misses Ingram, and

the other guests at Thornfield. Therefore, in their faces and forms, Jane and those like her could

glean information without having to break social protocol. Beauty or ugliness did not come into

Jane Eyre’s physiognomy calculations, however, although such ideas were not new to the world

of literature.

The idea of beauty as goodness developed long before the Victorian era, but its height

came with Romantic art, where beauty in all forms was idealized and represented repeatedly, but

this calculation did not extend into the scientific observations of physiognomy. Because the

romantic hero was an ideal rather than a reality (King), his appearance came to match as a

symbol of his perfection. It is against this atmosphere that Charlotte Brontë reacted in creating

her primary characters, and she built her plain Jane and the almost grotesque, swarthy Rochester.

That is not to say that rejected Romanticism, but rather that she constructed her own version of

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it, accepting some conventions, changing others, and rejecting the rest. Some of her beautiful

characters were sympathetic, while others were not, and likewise, the plainness or repugnance of

certain people did not indicate their moral leanings. paints a more complex picture of

appearance as it relates to behavior.

While Jane Eyre does not equate beauty with goodness, seems to accept the idea that

character can be determined by appearance, but that simply judging according to overall beauty

or ugliness does not work. In the beginning of the book, Jane is contrasted against her cousins,

all of whom match beauty standards of the day with their curly hair and blooming, rosy faces.

Later, the audience has an opportunity to compare the two again, and the Reeds meet with much

less favorable terms, despite their beauty. While breaking the Reeds down into “bad” characters

because of their beauty and placing Jane with the “good” might work, the issue of appearance is

much more complex. The descriptions of Jane and the Reeds reveal that while overall beauty

seems to put the characters on an inverse plane with the standard, “beauty as goodness”

convention, their appearance still determines the content of their characters, albeit in a less direct

way (Talairach-Vielmas 131).

It is in the Reed home that Jane receives the harshest treatment because of her

appearance. The servants and Mrs. Reed treat her poorly because she contrasts so sharply

against the playful Reed children, and her morose behavior and appearance seemingly grate on

the nerves of those around her in contrast to the lovely and lively Reed children. Because

Georgiana is beautiful, she grew into a spoiled and thoughtless woman. As the only son and a

handsome child, John Reed also grew up overindulged and without the restraint that would have

prevented his demise. The less beautiful Eliza, always less appreciated than her sister, developed

a love of material wealth and visible, tangible exhibits of what should be internal sentiments. All

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three Reed children exhibit the effects of appearance on character; by escaping the Reed family,

Jane escapes the fate of her own character as defined by her appearance, and her last statement to

her aunt reveals the extent of the trauma she suffered due to her appearance.

This sets a pattern for characters’ appearance and personalities correlating throughout the

novel. Since Jane is the narrator for the novel, it is her voice that details the descriptions of other

characters throughout the book. She uses her insight into others’ characters to color her

perceptions of their appearances, and vice versa. Jane’s identity as an artist is crucial in the

development of her gaze and her identity. By making Jane an artist, ensured that Jane’s

observations could be described, but her identity as an artist also exposed other parts of Jane’s

personality, mind, and feelings toward other characters. It is through one of her own drawings of

Rochester that Jane discovers her affection for him, and St. John discovers Jane’s true identity

through her art. Since her drawings reflect her gaze, it appears almost a Freudian slip that she

wrote her real, full name in her sketchbook, and that St. John gains the key to her identity by

looking closely at her art (Miller 249).

Jane fully controls the gaze in Jane Eyre, even over her male counterparts, making her

the most powerful observer in the novel. As an observer and outsider, Jane has the power to

observe more truly, and this power gives her insight into the people surrounding her. This can be

partially attributed to her plain appearance, a cloak of invisibility, which encourages her self-

effacing behavior while also ensuring others pass over her, as evidenced in her experience with

Rochester’s guests, who almost universally ignore the quiet governess in the corner. Her status

as an outsider also comes from her background and her role within Thornfield as governess, a

tentative position in any household, but especially in the home of an alleged bachelor with an

assumed illegitimate daughter.

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Jane’s role as a governess is a unique position in nineteenth century Britain education

system, and the place of women throughout that system. Women of the working and leisure

classes often received two different forms of education. Working class girls went to schools

aimed at practical skills easily transferred to a specific form of employment, while leisure class

girls whose value lay in their marriageability, received education in various accomplishments,

such as music, languages, dancing, and art from a governess (“Governess”). As a student at

Lowood, Jane received the education of a woman of leisure, along with some practical lessons in

arithmetic, sewing, and writing. This education made her suitable for the vocation of a

governess, responsible for teaching young women of considerable status.

In chapter 17 of Jane Eyre, Blanch Ingram and her mother describe governesses in harsh

terms in front of Jane, throwing a variety of insults in the direction of the profession generally,

and Jane specifically. Among the most telling is the word “incubi”, a term with overt sexual

denotations. This provides some context for Jane’s position as governess and how that role was

perceived within Victorian England. Jane Eyre, in addition to its categorization as a Gothic

romance, also fell within the genre of a governess novel, which grew in popularity around the

nineteenth century and developed as a result of the importance of governesses in the lives of

many British children at this time (“The Governess”).

The role of governess created some tension within society at the time because it

contradicted social and gender norms. A governess was a woman too educated to be a servant,

but not of proper rank and status to be a member of the leisure class. For a family of leisure, a

governess was a symbol of rank, but also a danger to have in their house. Stories of governesses’

incompetence and immorality passed through the leisure classes, as evidenced by Blanche

Ingram’s diatribe on their ills. More than that, however, a governess marked the corruption of

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the Victorian feminine ideal: the mother. Having a governess freed the mother from educating

her children, but it also separated her from them and removed her from the role of primary

caretaker. For many women, this was a source of distress, and caused struggle between the two

women, often making the governess’s work more difficult and feeding the mythos of her

incompetence.

Charlotte Brontë understood the dually damned position of the governess intimately from

her own experience as an educator. Charlotte spent a great deal of time at school, both learning

and teaching, and in her experiences at various schools and homes, she learned about forbidden

love and longing as well as the awkward status of the governess (Brennan 3-4). Her experiences

as a poor clergyman’s daughter cemented her place as an outsider looking in, and it was through

this position that she gained insight and made criticism of the leisure class whose children she

taught and whose status as independent she envied. Jane reflected many aspects of Charlotte ’s

life and experiences as a poor, working class woman, and as a governess she mirrors those

observations and struggles that Charlotte likely felt herself.

Because of Jane’s problematic, isolated status as a governess at Thornfield, and because

of Jane’s upright character that would later reveal itself further in her repeated refusals of

Rochester’s illicit offers, needed Rochester and Jane to maintain a semblance of distance and

propriety. Their relationship grew closer throughout the book, but it was not familiar until

Rochester proposed, and even then, Jane was uncomfortable with the outpouring of affection that

he exhibited thereafter. The use of physiognomy was useful in maintaining the appropriate

distance between the two characters while ensuring that their characteristics were fully known,

especially Rochester’s.

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One of the most compelling instances of the use of physiognomy in Jane Eyre comes

when Rochester dresses as a gypsy woman and attempts to glean something of Jane’s feelings

while in his disguise. Interestingly, several of his inquiries focus on Jane’s observations of him

and his guests, of his face while he listens to the other women speaking, of whether she watches

him in particular, and of what she sees when she watches them all interact. Jane is not

forthcoming, however, and so Rochester moves on to looking at her, taking note of her eyes,

mouth, brow, forehead, taking note of her character and observing them all in minute detail

(139). This is the first opportunity when Jane is the observed rather than the observer, and it is a

strange and otherworldly experience. In his observations, Rochester notes Jane has an open and

readable face, and that her thoughts are written clearly on it. He also says, tellingly, “[Jane] can

live alone, if self-respect, and circumstances require [her] so to do” (139), unknowingly

predicting her refusal to his offer of mistress.

This scene lends credibility to the science of physiognomy, allows to describe her titular

character, and foreshadows coming events, as well as revealing the growing interest Rochester

has in Jane, a fact that would have otherwise been hidden in the first-person narrative’s limited

perspective. Jane’s character is also analyzed through another source, allowing the audience a

glimpse of what Rochester sees when he looks at her, in addition to her own commentaries on

him. His costume allows him to voice his opinions of her more freely, once again providing an

appropriate distance between the lord of the house and his problematic, plain governess.

The word physiognomy appears throughout Jane Eyre, and is a key indicator for the

particular form of “science” that Jane uses to characterize those around her. Jane describes and

is described in terms of specific features that indicate characteristics or intelligence,

temperament, and even charitableness. She uses her knowledge of physiognomy, likely gained

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throughout her education and reading at Lowood, to gain insight into her fellow humans without

encroaching on her own sensibilities or societal norms. Without physiognomy, Jane would have

been confined to her gleanings from overheard dialogue, and her scientific approach lends her

first-person tale some credibility and removes some of the perceived bias that comes from the

singular perspective.

Interestingly, while science often excluded, marginalized, and contributed to the

subjugation of women throughout the Victorian era (Murphy 2), Jane embraces its use, defying

gender limitations and revealing the somewhat unusual direction of her own education. The

study of physiognomy seemed common in the authors of the nineteenth century. George Eliot

wrote of her readings in the area, and countless other authors, such as Nathaniel Hawthorne,

Herman Melville, and Walt Whitman, included physiognomy’s principles in their writing (Lyons

51-52). This particular branch of study was valuable because it was culturally relevant and

allowed writers to take shortcuts. Charlotte used it for those reasons, but also because it gave

Jane insight into her fellows without having to cross boundaries imposed by her position in the

house.

This is especially the case in the relationship between Jane and Rochester, where careful

limitations must be upheld throughout, but whose love must develop around some form of

insight. Their relationship builds from brief conversations with one another, but in order to truly

know Rochester, uses physiognomy as a way to abridge their introductory period and set

Rochester up as a hero. Rather than show that Rochester is good, tells the audience through

descriptions of his physiognomy. This allows the pair to maintain some distance while

immediately introducing the audience to the strengths and deficiencies of his character, “his

broad and jetty eyebrows; his square forehead…his decisive nose…his full nostrils, denoting, I

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thought, choler” ( 82). The language used indicates Rochester’s brusqueness, irascible temper,

and his straightforward, confident manners.

Because Jane narrates her own tale, most of her physiognomy observations about herself

come through comparison against the paragons of beauty found throughout her story. She makes

some of these comparisons herself, with Blanche Ingram, St. John Rivers, and Bertha Mason,

always comparing their beauties and perfections in relation to her own faults. The Rivers

describe her physiognomy at some length while Jane was in feverish state, and St. John sees

“lines of force in her face” (239) that suggest willfulness, while his sisters think she appears

agreeable. All of this takes place when Jane cannot speak or move, and the family develops an

opinion of her before even hearing her name. Physiognomy allows them to make judgment

without the need for personal interaction, and therefore makes for a valuable tool in the structure

of Victorian society, allowing the leisure and working classes to spot one of their own from

facial features and body structure alone.

Any casual reader of Jane Eyre notes the proliferation of physical observations

throughout the book. Descriptions of places, objects, and, most importantly, people proliferate in

the text, and it is impossible to read the book without noticing that Jane is considered plain, that

Rochester appears animalistic and fierce, and Blanche Ingram represent ideal female beauty.

Those observations take on new meaning when contrasted with attempted scientific

categorization using physiognomy, and its repeated appearance in Jane Eyre provides cultural

insight and a device through which can draw her characters together without compromising their

propriety and place within society. Physiognomy allowed to characterize her primary subjects

and explore the relation of appearance and character.

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Works Cited

Brennan, Zoe. Brontë's Jane Eyre. London: Continuum, 2010. Print.

"The Governess in Nineteenth-Century Literature." Enotes.com. Enotes.com, n.d. Web. 04 May

2013. <http://www.enotes.com/governess-nineteenth-century-literature-essays/governess-

nineteenth-century-literature>.

King, Rebecca. "Aspects of Romanticism." English 4930: Nineteenth Century Novel. Middle

Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN. 3 May 2013. MTSU. Web. 3 May 2013.

<http://mtweb.mtsu.edu/rking/Courses/4390_19thCenturyNovel/Handouts/

Romanticism.html>.

Lightman, Bernard V. Victorian Popularizers of Science: Designing Nature for New Audiences.

Chicago: University of Chicago, 2007. Print.

Lyons, Sherrie Lynne. Species, Serpents, Spirits, and Skulls: Science at the Margins in the

Victorian Age. Albany: SUNY, 2009. Print.

Miller, Kathleen A. "‘Well That Is Beautiful, Miss Jane!’: Jane Eyre and the Creation of the

Female Artist." Brontë Studies 35.3 (2010): 248-66. Academic Search Premier. Web. 4

May 2013.

Murphy, Patricia. "The Gendered Context of Victorian Science." Introduction. In Science's

Shadow: Literary Constructions of Late Victorian Women. Columbia: University of

Missouri, 2006. 1-41. Print.

Sharif, Naubahar. "Let's Talk About Science: Science as the Scientific Method." Coursera's

Science and Technology in China I. Hong Kong. 3 May 2013. Lecture.

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Talairach-Vielmas, Laurence. "‘Portrait of a Governess, Disconnected, Poor, and Plain’: Staging

the Spectral Self in Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre." Brontë Studies 34.2 (2009): 127-

37. Academic Search Premier. Web. 4 May 2013.

Thurs, Daniel Patrick. "Phrenology." Science Talk : Changing Notions of Science in American

Culture. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers UP, 2007. 22-52. EBrary: a Proquest Site. Web. 3

May 2013.

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