Female Friendship in Shirley by Charlotte

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Female Friendship in Shirley by Charlotte

Introduction

Ward and Mink, explain that the human self-being is psyched always to want to connect to the world in several aspects, mostly through human association and friendship (78). That is so because, through human relations, individuals get presented with the opportunity of sharing their complications and depressing stories and also get to entertain each other. Our social nature has driven us to get inclined more towards individuals with whom we share the same values, virtues, and beliefs. It is through such relations that one gets understood just as they understand the world.

Same gender relations/friendships have gotten perceived as based on factors that explore same interests, same conceptions, and similar challenges. For instance, male friends would understand and console a male counterpart whose wife has left with all the children. On the other hand, female friends would also understand the woes of a lady whose husband gets stuck in alcoholism and can barely take care of the family. Female friendship is believed to be more intense of the two, as they get to share almost every aspect of their lives. Women believe in fortified friendships and always spend most of their free times with their friends and even assist each other with chores. It is always unlikely to witness female friends in conflict though such also do occur. Moreover, they have the ability to conceal their jealousy and envy towards each other, a factor that always enables their friendships to last.

Charlotte used her Literary brilliance to explore and build upon female friendship as she based her story on a fortified relationship to create turns and twists in her novel, Shirley. Though much focus has gotten centered around Caroline and Shirley (Ward and Mink 78), there are other instances of female friendship. Through such, the author manages to not only depict the loyalty between true friends, but also entice the readers’ mind to certain subconscious beliefs. The first instance of female friendship is that between Hortense, Robert’s sister and Caroline. Beyond obvious reasons, there are factors that explain the relationship between these two ladies as Hortense commits to teaching her friend French. How else would an individual teach another the complexities of another language for such long durations if there are no genuine relations behind the relationship?

Thesis:

Female friendship in the Victorian Era was a tool used by unmarried women to counter the challenges that they experienced and as the preferred alternative to romance with the masculine gender.

Female Friendship in the Victorian Society as analyzed in Shirley

Though there are several other themes in the novel Shirley, Charlotte has intensively explored the theme of female friendship, redefining the concept and equipping it with qualities that most had not conceived (Alhaj 18). The novel is set up in the Victorian Era, a period in which the developments of females got marked with extremities and limitations that derailed several other aspects of human socialization. The way ladies were expected to be subject to manipulation, and societal pressure has gotten defied in the novel, but very much through the use of female friendship. Knitting the relationship between the main characters, Shirley, and Caroline, lays credence to the projection that friends are vital for social development. It also elevates the literary piece as magnificent (Marcus 96).

Female friendship is philosophical and ideally dictates most other activities that often get projected in human interactions. Even the masculine behaviors are sometimes subject to developments within female relations. For instance, Robert flees to the town after being rejected by Shirley, yet the rejection got indirectly influenced by the relationship between Shirley and Caroline. The novel projection of female friendship as a theme in the novel is wholesome and vital in outlining the significance of having a close associate, especially among ladies. Having a female confidant as has gotten portrayed in the novel, is important in maintaining connections with nature and neutralizing the source of other vices like rivalries.

Hunt (55) and Taylor (84), analyze that the Victorian Era as one such period that reduced the task of women in the community to peripheral duties. Men mattered and made most of the significant decisions that factored into etiquette, duties, and societal dogmas all of which the women had to adhere to. Case for which Shirley’s uncle rages up when she declines to marry the rich baronet. He even goes to the extent of shortening his visit and leaves together with his family. That is because, in a sense, he felt overruled, despised and belittled by Shirley’s actions. Caroline, on the other hand, has her issues that have gotten influenced by her vulnerable state that subject her to manipulation by her uncle. Her uncle insists that she needs not to find a job, something she aspires to do.

From this perspective, an insight into the significance of female friendship is created. Ladies feel threatened and seek solace in their friendships as they consider masculine factors to be somewhat intimidating. The two friends in Caroline and Shirley have both been portrayed by Charlotte as objects/targets of manipulation (Ward and Mink 78). The factor pulls them together as they both understand what it is like to get pushed into issues that contradict their desires. Female friendship hence gets depicted as feminist tool that often got used in countering the male dominance and subjugation. The thematic projection of the role of women’s friendship in discrediting the peripheral roles that they had gotten subjected to by their masculine counterparts is significant.

Nonetheless, female friendship has gotten used to portray just how much unmarried women genuinely care for each other and the society. The kind of care that has gotten exhibited in the novel is the show that bridges for the gap between the natural and unnatural and fills the blanks that have gotten left by circumstances. Through care, women can support each other and even the society through the extreme challenges that would otherwise be challenging to handle, or could be inadequately handled by a single individual. Though the author indented to portray this aspect of the characters as the ability to understand each other, it goes well beyond that.

At some point in the novel, Caroline falls sick affected by several issues, some of which are not medical. Shirley visits Caroline at her uncle’s home to show how much she cares and is willing to support her friend emotionally through her health turmoil. On the hand, Caroline is more than willing to participate in Shirley’s wedding as a bridesmaid upon request. The two instances are not just cases of loyalty, but also depict a high level of understanding and a strong desire to support each other through challenges. Some of the challenges as have gotten projected in the novel are hard like Caroline’s sickness and others can be easily tackled, for instance, the bridesmaid capacity in Shirley’s wedding. Such level of caring exhibited by the unmarried towards each other is a factor possibly facilitated by the nature of events during the Victorian Era. That is because women got sidelined in most activities and had to project care and support towards each other (Alhaj 21).

Moreover, the two women through their friendship are driven to warn Robert of an imminent attack on the mill. They risk their lives in the dark as they attempt to reach the mill ahead of the attackers just so to ensure the safety of one of the society members gets guaranteed. Their bold action states how much female friendship has gotten factored into proving the care that women have for the entire society. Caring for themselves and the society is a virtue that has gotten facilitated by two aspects, the period during which the story was set up and the friendship in its entirety.

Female friendship has also gotten used to solve the problems that are experienced by the females. Marcus makes the revelation that the Victorian Era limited the capacity of women to exploit their full potential (96). The dominating nature of the masculine gender got factored into most affairs as they got to suppress the interests of women. The female interests were also suppressed, or could get ignored as considerations got given to the masculine agendas that got marked as more important (Marcus 96). That is a fact restated by Taylor (84). Caroline suffered varied troubles, some financial and others are relational. Having fallen in love with Robert, she was inflicted pain upon realizing that he had chosen not to love her. Shirley, who has grown up orphaned, has other troubles of her own. She is a lady who is subject to societal pressure as the society expects her to commit to marriage. That factor gets muddled with so many insufficiencies as most of the men she meets do not meet her standards, especially Robert whose proposal brings her down to tears. In fact, Robert’s proposal makes her feel betrayed as she is aware that he only intends to get her money when yet he has a liking for Caroline.

Contrary to popular beliefs about the elegance that marked the Victorian Era, there are dark factors that otherwise framed the period as very challenging, especially to ladies. That called for the close female relationships as has gotten depicted in the novel. Fortified relationships not only assisted the characters in question to complete their social lives, but also presented them with several other advantages that enabled them to jump the hurdles that marked their daily lives. How else would the ladies counter the adverse effects of the aggressive nature of the Victorian Era if not through reliance on confidants who shared the same perceptions and conceptions of several aspects?

Female friendship was used by the author to offer protection to her most important characters. Through their friendship, the two ladies got able to protect each other’s interests and as such assisted each other to avoid emotional harm and pain. The friendship aspect also got used to create connections with parties involved. Caroline and Shirley, who both had problems of different kinds and needed new points of connecting with humans, offered each other that valuable aspect when they became friends. Through their friendship, the ladies also got a tool that facilitated their self-expression and understanding. As they constantly examined the factors that affected them, they got not only to express the issues that had weighed their hearts down, but they also got to understand each other better.

The problems that are experienced by the ladies make them withdraw to friendship of the same gender as a preference to romantic attachments with the opposite gender (Marcus 96). They derive solace from the friendship to help them get over their disappointments with the botched attempts to create social links with men. Moreover, surviving the challenges that the two had experienced when relating with men, or overcoming the distress that came with the disappointments was tough. It required that the ladies had to find relationships that could favor their self-expression and enable them to share the joy. Being of the same gender, the ladies had experienced almost similar problems. As such, it became a lot easier to understand themselves and their desires. That fact redefines female friendship in the Victorian Era as a tool that women used to overcome the challenges that muddled their lives or deprived them of the opportunities to explore their environs and opportunities.

But in as much, the challenges experienced by women that they had gotten subjected to by society were not the only obstacles that the feminine gender had to overcome (Taylor 84). Something common even in the present society, and could have affected the development of the plot of the novel Shirley, is jealousy. Women are always jealous f the achievements of their mates, or become angry when their mates take or win what they perceive as dully theirs. Such jealousy can always sire rivalry of varied levels, but often fierce if the disputed issue is a man who either of them believes should be wooing them (Ward and Mink 78).

Robert’s case, for instance, is one such event that could have resulted in a fierce rivalry between Caroline and Shirley. That is because Caroline had liked him yet he had ditched their relationship for a commitment with Shirley. Robert had considered a relationship with Shirley to be the lucrative option that would help him escape the woes that threatened his family’s business. Charlotte employed female friendship to neutralize the issue of rivalry between the two friends. The ladies’ bid to maintain loyalty to each other as a situation that could have sent them at loggerheads with each over the Robert’s love would have betrayed the true purpose of their friendship. Moreover, through friendship, they had learned to respect each other’s virtues, interests, and desires.

Caroline’s admiration for Robert drove her to sickness when she realized that the possibility loomed for Shirley to wed the love of her life. That aspect alone was enough to inspire rivalry between her and her best friend. On the other hand, Shirley chose not to marry Robert though he was likable. She valued the virtues that she and Caroline shared in their friendship and was acutely aware of her friend’s liking for Robert. The sense of loyalty and respect that marked the friendship at that point is a projection of how female friendship was used by the author to neutralize the common female rivalry that often crumbles relationships. In fact, being that Shirley chose loyalty and true friendship over a romantic relationship, their friendship was fortified. It was taken a step further especially as they ended up as sisters in law (Ward and Mink 78).

In the Victorian Era, women were objects of manipulation that men used and dumped as they desired, yet it is a factor that got justified by the society and got barely questioned (Taylor, 84). As such, women had to be loyal to each other to defy the forces that the society had subjected them. Rivalry could only serve to weaken their course and satisfy men’s interests. That explains the reasons for which the friends were loyal to each other. Had Shirley committed to the Robert’s interests, she could have been used to uplift the status of that family while, on the hand, Caroline could have remained as the victim of heartbreak.

The other aspect of the rivalry that has gotten neutralized by the relationship between the two friends is that of riches versus poverty. Shirley having inherited her parents’ estate, is rich and can afford to live lavishly. Even during her childhood, her parents could afford a private tutor for her to help her with her education. At some point, it appears like the estate is too large for her to monitor on her own and requires her uncle’s assistance. Such riches even make her a target for marriage as Robert masquerades as a suitor just so to benefit from the wealth that would be at her disposal if he managed to make her his wife. Caroline, on the other hand, hails from a background that is poverty stricken. Though she desires to have money of her own as such would also come with independence, her dreams and aspirations remain limited as she requires money so to make more money. Her longing to make money drives her to desire to adopt a job as a nanny, a factor that meets her uncle’s resistance (Taylor 84).

Such diverse differences often lead to rivalry as the rich always treat the poor without respect as they belittle them and mock their poor status. On the other hand, the poor always view the rich with contempt and hate and always wish for the occurrence of events that would deprive them of the riches. Such an extreme factor has not gotten explored in the novel as instead, the readers have gotten presented with a balanced yet novel concept. Female friendship has been used in this instance to neutralize the rivalry that could have occurred between Shirley and Caroline. Though the two friends are well aware of each other’s financial status, they support each other emotionally and are knit in a manner that portrays as understanding of each other’s conditions and desires. Had the two ladies not have been friends, maybe their relationship could have gotten defined by a more obvious factor of rivalries, hate, and contempt (Taylor 84).

Having neutralized rivalry in this sense, the writer has managed to create a more balanced plot in which individuals help each other explore the situations that get experienced in either world. In a sense, an imbalance societal configuration has been used to create a more balanced and comprehensive relationship. The issue even plays factor into the kind of loyalty and respect that the two friends have for each other as they fully understand themselves, and their relationship. Hence, there is a direct relationship between the two kinds of rivalries that have gotten neutralized through application of feminine relations.

Hunt illuminates that further brilliance has gotten employed in the novel as the relationships get irregularly balanced (55). That is; Charlotte profiled her characters as individuals from different backgrounds. In so doing, she made the relationships comprehensive and wholesome as friends involved would often help the other comprehend perceptions of the world as had not gotten considered by the other. Consider, for instance, the obvious lack of parity of riches between Caroline and Shirley as Caroline’s background is poverty-stricken yet Shirley rides in opulence. The imbalance creates a balance as, through sharing, the friends understand the inadequacies that mark the different worlds and aspire to develop manners that are well defined.

There is also the instance in which Shirley falls in love with Louis and are set to wed. At the very time, Caroline is single as the only man she had dully loved left for the city for unclear reasons, and his return is even infinite. What makes matters worse, Shirley has had the luck to be courted by several other men. That is a contradiction to Caroline’s status, as she had barely had a relationship with anybody. According to Alhaj, it would be normal if Caroline exhibited jealous mannerisms toward her friend based on the issue, but the contrary happens (20). Up until Robert returned to propose to her, Caroline had accepted to be a bridesmaid in her friends’ wedding. In the situation also, female friendship has been used to depict that close relationships between ladies can be used to neutralize rivalry. All the three factors are significant in clarifying just how important female friendships were in the Victorian Era. In a sense, they helped ladies maintain their senses and serve to satisfy each other’s wishes and stand out (Marcus 96).

A human social life deficit of close relationships within the same gender would be inadequate in several other aspects. The explicit examination of the theme of the novel details the magnificence of having a confidant of the same gender as they tend to have the same patterns of thought. Moreover, they adequately understand and comprehend the situations, problems and challenges that muddle lives as such are often similar within the same gender. Female friendship has gotten brilliantly examined in the novel by Charlotte in a vivid way that maintains its literary life to the very present. In fact, it explores friendship in dimensions that outline the aspect as a value that is very much handy in completing the circles of nature and social life. The theme of female friendship is an answer to some of the misconceptions that people have developed about the nature of relationships among the females.

Through their friendship, Caroline and Shirley managed to develop wholesome conceptions on matters that affected their lives, both directly and indirectly. The friendship equipped them with the capacity to stand up to the challenges that muddled their daily lives. Moreover, they developed the capacity to make independent decisions that could get divorced from the beliefs and the pressures that the society subjected the feminine gender to (Alhaj 22). The fact that the two ladies have problems of their own becomes unlikely as they venture into the friendship and adapt virtues that beat the delusions that have gotten conceived in the society. Through the friendship, they get depicted as strong and visionary, though sometimes they suffer from matters that affect them both, and the friendship aggravates the entire issue. For instance, Caroline ails when she gets scared that her best friend could get married to the one man she had looked upon with awe (Ward and Mink 78). Though she could have still gotten affected even if the lady in question were not her confidant, it is apparent that the issue affected her more as it happened.

The novel is unique as it details virtues of female friendship in ways that could have otherwise gotten considered as ordinary. Female friendship becomes the drive and sustenance of the novel. It is used to depict that during that during the Victorian Era, only friends as few could understand the importance of trust, loyalty and respect (Alhaj 19). That is because friends are supposed to be true, and genuine friendships are free of vices like rivalry and manipulation. From friendships, people get to protect each other’s interests and get the opportunity to share and comprehend ideologies that explain the depictions of other worlds. As such, individuals involved in friendships with the same gender, especially females, get to comprehend the enigmas that challenge them as well as the bliss that get involved in life (Ward and Mink 78).

Conclusion

Female friendship is a balance of nature and gets to fill in for the factors that cannot get satisfied by relating to the male gender. It is the bridge that offers an insight into the categorical and feminine issues and also equips the world with the visionary justification for female behaviors. To Charlotte, it became an important tool that she used for discrediting the oppression of female thought and building the grounds for illumination of the importance of having close same gender relationships. The theme is also a challenge to the modern societies as they seek to improve their relationships and perceptions towards developing of formidable friendships.

In the novel, female friendship has gotten used to fortify reason and build upon the women’s ability to comprehend the difference between the appropriate and the inappropriate. As such, it is the critical tool that aid women in making outstanding visionary, comprehensive and valuable decisions. It is hence the scale upon which women weigh their thoughts and options and judge the rationality of their decisions. For instance, Shirley makes the choice of friendship loyalty over Robert’s hand in marriage. She considers that friendship has many virtues and has provided her with the love she needed when she could not get a suitable way of relating with the society. Moreover, Robert only desired to marry her because she had money. The considerations that she did make were influenced by the friendship that she had had with Caroline. Insofar, Charlotte vividly described and explored female friendship in a way that projects the fulfillment that friendship can provide when the society has gotten filled with numerous inadequacies.

The magnificence and the use of female friendship by unmarried women to counter the challenges that they experienced during the Victorian Era hence becomes eminent. Female friendship assumed the position of a vital social tool though it still is even to date. Feminist use it today as it was used then to counter the oppression and subjugation that the female characters, especially the unmarried ones, often get subjected to. Charlotte, however, equipped the virtue with several other aspects to flavor the novel, a factor that discretely worked to express how women always benefit from such fortified relationships. The relationship between the ladies, and even with several other women, offers comfort, reason and a platform for self-expression as not projected beyond the borders of female relationships.Loading…

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Works Cited

Alhaj, Ali. The Portrayal of Women in Charlotte Bronte’s Shirley. Hamburg: Anchor Academic Publishing, 2015. Print.

Hunt, Linda C. ‘Sustenance and Balm: The Question of Female Friendship in Shirley and Villette’. Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature 1.1 (1982): 55-66. Web.

Marcus, Sharon. Between Women. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2007. Print.

Taylor, Helen. ‘Class and Gender in Charlotte Bronte’s Shirley’. Feminist Review 1.1 (1979): 83-93. Web. 7 Mar. 2015.

Ward, Janet, and Mink, Stephens. Communication and Women’s Friendships. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1993. Print.