Abraham Maslow, a psychologist, creator of the hierarchy of needs, and Charlotte Bronte, author of the infamous Jane Eyre, were born 92 years apart yet we observe a psychological connection in the story Jane Eyre.
Jane Eyre is, prominently, about a woman named Jane Eyre who leads us through her vivid memories of life, ultimately until she gets married and settled down. We are introduced to Jane when she is only 10 years young and living with her aunt and cousins. She is put through a life of misery and is continuously mistreated by her “family.” We follow alongside Jane for nearly a decade and see her progress as she gets older and wiser and closer to her self-actualization.
In 1943, Abraham Maslow came up with a psychology term known as “the hierarchy of needs.” The hierarchy of needs could be best described as:
“a motivational theory in psychology comprising a five-tier model of human needs…. ” (McLeod)
In other words, in order for a person to be completely happy and fulfilled with life, they have to go through certain life steps in order to achieve the highest goal of the hierarchy which is self-actualization. The five tiers of the hierarchy of needs, in order, are: physical, security, social, esteem, and self-actualization. The bottom four are seen as “deficiency needs” because a person does not feel anything if they are met, but becomes anxious if they are not…. ” (Burton)
The first tier, physical, is revolved around necessities like food, water, air, health, etc. Jane has these necessities being at Gateshead, Lowood, Thornfield, and the Moor House.
“The tall girls went out and returned presently, each bearing a tray, with portions of something, I knew not what, arranged thereon, and a pitcher of water and mug in the middle of each tray. The portions were handed round; those who liked took a draught of the water, the mug being common to all. When it came to my turn, I drank, for I was thirsty, but did not touch the food, excitement, and fatigue rendering me incapable of eating.” (Bronte)
This tier is the easiest to achieve and most crucial. It is impossible to go on without achieving this need. Love and acceptability are never going to be more important than the feeling of being alive and have water and food.
The second tier is safety. In order to depict what scenes met this hierarchy of needs we need to understand what it is. Safety revolves around the need for shelter, safety, and stability. Literally, Jane is given this wherever she goes. Although staying at her aunt’s house was excruciating, it was still the shelter that she needed. As time goes on in the story she explores places and is given a shelter. Staying at school to being given a room for being the governess, she found a stabilized shelter. Metaphorically, Jane does not feel the sense of security at Lowood and her aunt’s house. At the house of her aunt, the abuse was continuous and Jane would be terrified of people like John.
“John had not much affection for his mother and sisters, and an antipathy to me. He bullied and punished me; not two or three times in the week, nor once or twice in the day, but continually: every nerve I had feared him, and every morsel of flesh in my bones shrink when he came near …. the servants did not like to offend their young master by taking my part against him ….Mrs. Reed was blind and deaf on the subject” (Bronte)
Lowood was filled with diseases and sick, pale people and, due to the events at Gateshead, the thought of associating with people was hard and difficult. If she doesn’t fulfill this tier at Gateshead, then she fulfills it at Lowood, being away from her family and in a new area that seems safer.
This third tier, social, transitions from basic needs to psychological needs. Social is the need for being loved, wanted, feeling belonged. Throughout the story, we see Jane struggle to with this tier. Early on in the story, we see Jane experience being unloved with her aunt’s family. She doesn’t experience this social need due to always being abused and never interacting much with the Reed family, and always being blamed for everything, she never experienced this idea of love and belonging. As she gets away from Gateshead and transitions into Lowood, she begins to experience this social tier.
“This learning helped her refined her attitude to accept challenges and difficulties, instead of complaining. More than that, she strived to break a new way of life” (Santos)
At Lowood, she is introduced to characters, such as Helen and Mrs. Temple, who help comfort her and give her a sense of belonging in the world. But as time goes by we see both Helen and Mrs. Temple leave, giving Jane the sense of not belonging. This experience is the road that leads to our plot. Unhappy with Lowood, she wants to get out, explore, be around people. Her journey as a governess begins and it leads her to Thornfield. Here she meets various characters such as Adele, Rochester, Ms. Fairfax, all who care and give her comfort. As she gets to the know the characters, she gains an interest in Rochester, her boss. Rochester is very manipulative and confusing but Jane is head over heels with Rochester. Though he’s not perfect, Jane even admits this, he makes her feel a way she hadn’t felt before. A feeling of being loved and intimacy.
“My future husband was becoming to me my whole world; and more than the world: almost my hope of heaven. He stood between me and every thought of religion, as an eclipse intervenes between man and the broad sun. I could not, in those days, see God for His creature: of whom I had made an idol.” (Bronte)
After completing this tier, she moves onto tier four.
The fourth tier is esteem. Esteem here is respect, status, strength, freedom, etc. It does take a while for Jane to accept all of this. Here is a lower-class orphan who has no family loving an upper-classman. It ruins her confidence a little and Jane herself halts her self-growth. This tier is very unfamiliar and unimaginable to Jane.
“You’re cold, because you’re alone. You’re ill, because you lack love. And you’re a fool, because love is near you, and you won’t take one step to reach it” (Bronte)
After giving in to Rochester’s dominance, she decides to marry him. They get their wedding interrupted and Jane finds out that Rochester is already married. This gives Jane a purpose to leave, a purpose to work and focus more on herself
“I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself. I will keep the law given by God; sanctioned by man. I will hold to the principles received by me when I was sane, and not mad — as I am now” (Bronte)
During this time, Jane learns that her uncle passed and has left her with an inheritance of his money. This puts Jane up their with Rochester, social class-wise, and differentiates her view of Rochester, turning into one of actual love and not one filled with fake love and lust. She told herself she would not feel any comfort in marry Rochester unless she gained wisdom and maturity. She grows as a person and feels accomplished enough to return to Rochester.
The fifth and final tier of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is “self-actualization.” She struggles with this for a bit because of the conflict between Rochester and St. John. As Jane returns to Rochester, the reader sees that they have both changed and Jane is now happier than ever. She was smart enough to distinguish Rochester’s love from St. John and accept Rochester’s proposal stating:
“I entered not now obliged to part with my whole fortune as the price of its accommodation”
With her fortune, she had the self-composure and equality to stay with Rochester, as Santos states:
“… she [Jane Eyre] presents a series of oppressive situations in which Jane continues a dynamic process that embodies the struggle for identity” (Santos)
With Jane achieving her full potential and staying with Rochester, even having a kid of their own, she accomplished the final step.
In conclusion, although Bronte had no idea of Maslow and his hierarchy of needs, the story and Maslow’s theory connected in perfectly and showcased Jane maturing as a person and completing the needs.