In every piece of literature there are themes that occur whether the author intends them or
not. It is possible that certain themes can cross works of literature and be present in a number of
different works. For example, the illustration of the ideal woman is a theme that occurs in
popular novels throughout history. This paper will discuss the recurring theme of what it means
to be the ideal woman or “angel” in such literary works as Jane Eyre, Rebecca and Wide
Sargasso Sea. It will analyze if these women remain angels and if women not portrayed as
angels are portrayed as “demons” and how they come to be this way.
It is first important to define what the ideal woman is. “By definition, woman is an angel”
(Auerbach 108). In Jane Eyre the picture of the ideal woman is continuous. The very first
illustration we see as readers occurs almost immediately in the novel. Mrs. Reed, who is Jane’s
aunt states, “Jane, I don’t like cavilers or questioners:…and until you can speak pleasantly,
remain silent” (Brontё 5). The very next instance where the ideal angel is observed occurs during
Jane’s punishment in the red-room which leads to Bessie and Ms. Abbot telling Jane how she
needs to behave in order to be seen as proper and not to be sent away. Ms. Abbot tells Jane
“Your place is to be humble and to try to make yourself agreeable to them” (Brontё 10), them
being her aunt and cousins. Bessie chimes in saying “…if you become passionate and rude
Missis will send you away, I am sure” (Brontё 10).
Providing such information so early in the writing emphasizes the importance of the
expected behavior of women and tells the reader what society expects. According to The Good
Wife’s Guide, society expects women to never complain or question but expects them to “always
know her place” (The good wife’s guide). Throughout Jane Eyre it is made obvious that society
expects women to be quiet, compliant, and fashionable. Women should be almost like children in
the sense that they are meant to be seen but not heard. The ideal woman should listen and “speak
in a low, soothing and pleasant voice” (The good wife’s guide). Georgiana and Blanche both fit
the description of an angel. Painting such a picture continuously throughout the novel,
accentuates the importance of the expectations of women and engraves the ideal image into the
readers mind. This makes Jane’s noncompliance to expectations much more dramatic and
astounding. But this does not label her as a demon however.
This being said it can be argued that society itself, along with expectations of men,
constructs the image of the angel by painting domestic pictures. According to Woman & the
Demon “…Victorian England…cast angels as irrefutably female and by definition domestic…”
(Auerbach 64). Women are defined by the “Angel in the House,” according to Patmore
(Auerbach 66). Women are expected to “have dinner ready,” to “be refreshed” for their
husbands, to “prepare the children”, and to “be a little gay and a little interesting” (The good
wife’s guide). Women are to be “Enveloped in family life and seeking no identity beyond the
roles of daughter, wife, and mother” (Auerbach 69). A woman’s goal in life is to “try to make the
home a place of peace, order and tranquility where [their] husband can renew himself in body
and spirit” (The good wife’s guide).
In Rebecca, by Daphne Du Maurier, it is obvious that Rebecca herself is the angel. The
ideal woman is constructed by descriptions and tales from the different characters in the novel.
The angel Rebecca is described as being extraordinarily beautiful, in fact Frank states that
Rebecca is the most beautiful creature he has ever seen (Maurier 137). Rebecca knows how to
run an estate and knows how to do it well. In fact, at one point Mr. De Winters states this as a
reason for his union with Rebecca. Rebecca is also described has having the ideal traits in a wife;
“she’s [Rebecca] got the three things that matter in a wife…breeding, brains, and beauty”
(Maurier 276).
The ideal woman is constructed in Wide Sargasso Sea, by Jean Rhys, through devices
such as marriage and family inheritance. The angel in this situation is a woman who has a family
inheritance that is to be gained, for the husband, through marriage for “even the heiress…is
incomplete without a man…economically the heiress is, simply, a good match and marriage her
only real profession” (Rich 470). Antoinette and her mother Annette are both depicted as angels,
at times, by this definition. Annette’s first marriage leaves her with an estate which serves as a
reason for her marriage to Mr. Mason. Annette’s marriage to Mr. Mason serves as little benefit to
herself as it is made apparent that Mr. Mason only agreed to the marriage to make money.
Antoinette is an angel in the aspect that she marries Rochester who gains from the marriage.
Rochester’s gain is verified in a letter he sends to his father stating, “The thirty thousand pounds
have been paid to me without question or condition” (Rhys 41).
At this point we must recognize the woman as a demon and what it is. Auerbach states
that “[a woman’s] nature is broadly demonic rather than fallibly human… “(Auerbach 108). Just
because a woman is portrayed as a demon does not mean that they were always seen that way.
“[An] angel becomes a demon by realizing the implications of her being” (Auerbach 108). The
first character we see that could be said to be portrayed as a demon is Bertha in Jane Eyre.
Bertha is declared as being insane. This prevents her husband from divorcing her which in turn
puts a stop to his wedding with Jane. Also Bertha burns down her own house, all of which
portray her as a demon. It could be argued that Mrs. Danvers in Rebecca becomes a demon, as
she is suspect of setting Manderley on fire. In Wide Sargasso Sea Christophine is portrayed as a
demon. She is an independent woman who is believed to be learned in voodoo magic and who
has the ability to have power over women.
Can an angel remain that way? Although Georgiana and Blanch do maintain their angelic
portrayal the ultimate answer is no. The angel always falls. The first example is Bertha from
Jane Eyre. In Rochester’s recollections Bertha is an angel. Rochester even compares her to
Blanche Ingram. However, she becomes demonized beginning with her being declared insane.
Bertha’s “acts of violence against men-the attempted burning of Mr. Rochester in his
bedchamber, and the stabbing of her brother when he visits Thornfield” (Rich 476) contribute to
her demonization. Rochester himself even calls Bertha a demon when Jane is taken to the room
where Bertha is kept. He says that Jane is “looking collectedly at the gambols of a demon”
(Brontё 251).
We must now turn our attention to the angel Rebecca. Her angelic form slips away as
well, leaving behind a demonic portrayal. Rebecca has been revealed to have been involved in
multiple affairs. Adultery and sex are a damning quality in women. It turns out that Rebecca was
not loved by Maxim at all. He states, “I hated her, I tell you, our marriage was a farce from the
very first. She was vicious, damnable, rotten through and through…Rebecca was incapable of
love, of tenderness, of decency. She was not even normal” (Maurier 275). Maxim is condemning
Rebecca to animalistic depths. Rebecca does however remain loved by Mrs. Danvers but because
Mrs. Danvers herself is demonized this does nothing to save Rebecca’s long gone angelic
portrayal. The heroine of Rebecca never achieves Rebecca’s angelic level, nor does she achieve
Rebecca’s demonic level. Since the heroine is neither she becomes the ideal woman.
The last angelic profiles we must review are those of Annette and Antoinette. Annette is
sent to a home, away from her husband, which is looked after by black servants. Annette is no
longer in her right mind after the burning of Coulibri Estate and after the death of her son Pierre.
Her deteriorating state of mind allows her to become a demon. She is no longer who she was.
Contributing to her demonic portrayal is the fact that she is continuously being raped by the
servants who are supposed to be looking after her in her home. While the rape is not necessarily
her fault Annette is still demonized because of its taboo status. No one talks about rape, no one
does anything about it, and those who have been raped are usually cast out of society and seen as
impure and unfit for duty as an ideal angelic woman.
Antoinette suffers the same fate as her mother; ultimate depiction as a demon woman. It
is clear to the reader that Antoinette is slowly slipping away from herself. Her mental stability
comes into question after her husband sleeps with a servant. Eventually she does go insane. Her
husband recognizes this as she is describes as having “Blank lovely eyes. Mad eyes. [She is] a
mad girl” (Rhys 102). Antoinette is taken to England with her husband and is locked away in an
upstairs room under the care of her servant Grace Poole. Antoinette becomes violent Mrs. Poole
tells her “you rushed at him with a knife and when he got the knife away you bit his arm” (Rhys
108). Violence is a demonic trait. Antoinette’s insanity is apparent more than ever. She talks
about the world as if it were made of cardboard stating, “It is, as I always knew, made of
cardboard’ (Rhys 106). We as readers know, of course, that the world is not cardboard, thus
verifying Antoinette’s insanity. Antoinette meets her ultimate demise as anything remotely
angelic when she set the house on fire. She had a dream about setting a fire and upon waking felt
that she must really do it as she states “now at last I know why I was brought here and what I
have to do” (Rhys 112). In this fashion it is apparent that Antoinette definitely does not remain
angelic but falls and finishes the novel indeed a demon.
Why are these women the way that they are? It could be argued that the role of the
mother or mother figure in each novel is central to their ultimate delineation as either angelic or
demonic. In order to make this argument we must look at the character Jane Eyre. She was an
orphan and had virtually no mother figure growing up. Jane “addresses us [the reader]…as a
literally motherless and also fatherless child, under the guardianship of her aunt Mrs. Reed, who
despises and oppresses her” (Rich 470). Being so without guidance Jane “undergoes certain
traditional female temptations, and finds that each temptation presents itself along with an
alternative” (Rich 470). Jane has to example of what path to follow and chooses to live her life
“with dignity, integrity and pride” (Rich 471). In doing such she comes to her husband in the end
“in economic independence and by her free choice,…[allowing her] to become a wife without
sacrificing a grain of [herself]…” (Rich 482). She is equal to her husband. Because Jane is equal
to her husband that means she can be neither angel nor devil thus making Jane the ideal woman.
Because Jane Eyre had no mother figure it could be said that the lack of a mother in fact
leads to the ideal woman. As discussed earlier it is apparent that the unnamed heroine in Rebecca
becomes the ideal woman. This heroine had little to no direction from a mother figure, just like
Jane. She spent her life with Mrs. Van Hopper who is described as rude, gossipy, and snobbish.
In fact the heroine at one point says, “I wonder what my life would be to-day, if Mrs. Van
Hopper had not been a snob” (Maurier 12). Once our heroine marries Mr. De Winters and is
separated from Mrs. Van Hopper she has absolutely no one to act as a mother figure to her. Thus,
much like Jane Eyre our heroine had to find her own path and this path, although twisted leads
the heroine to become the ideal woman who is neither angelic nor demonic.
If having no mother figure leads to becoming the ideal then it must be that having a
mother figure to follow leads to a demonic fate. This is exactly the case for Antoinette in Wide
Sargasso Sea and for Bertha in Jane Eyre. Although Antoinette spent little time with her mother
she still was provided with an example. Once Annette went insane and lost her angelic image
Antoinette had little choice but to follow in her footsteps. In Jane Eyre although Bertha’s mother
is never specifically mentioned it is apparent that Bertha is Antoinette from Wide Sargasso Sea
thus making her existence of a mother figure the reason for her demonic fall.
Society’s ideal woman and the realistic ideal are two very distinct things. Society pushes
woman to be the angel in the house; to be compliant, obedient, and submissive to their husbands.
Society shuns woman who are outspoken, sexual, or sick as someone who is insane or demonic;
the exact opposite of their constructed angel. The realistic ideal however, is a woman who is
equal to man. Equal sexually, monetarily, and emotionally. “Women feel just as men feel” (Rich
476). The realistic ideal woman is not an angel but someone who is “as equal to and with the
same needs as a man” (Rich 476). A woman who is the ideal, much like Jane Eyre, wants to be a
man’s life as fully as the man is a woman’s life.
It is important to connect themes from one piece of literature to the next. Jane Eyre,
Rebecca, and Wide Sargasso Sea all share the common theme of society’s angelic view of the
perfect woman. They share the common perspective that woman who are not angels must indeed
be demons. It is important to see that not all angelic women remain that way, whether for better
or worse. It is also important to observe that some women, like Jane Eyre and Rebecca, become
the new realistic definition of the ideal woman by being neither angelic nor demonic.
Works Cited
Auerbach, N. (1982). Woman and the demon: the life of a victorian myth. (p. 64,66,69,108). Cambridge:
Harvard University Press.
Brontë, C., & Dunn, R. J. (2001). Jane eyre, an authoritative text, contexts, criticism. (3rd ed., p. 5,10,251).
New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Du Maurier, D. (2006). Rebecca. (p. 12,137,275,276). New York: Harper.
Rhys, J. (1999). Wide sargasso sea. (p. 41,102,106,108,112). New York: W.W Norton & Company, Inc.
Rich, A. (2001). Jane eyre: The temptations of a motherless woman. (3 ed., p. 470,471,476,482). New
York: W.W Norton & Company, Inc.
The good wife's guide. (1955, May 13). Housekeeping Monthly,