Is the idea of Courtship and Marriage similar and different to now?

I think that the idea of courtship and marriage in the victorian and gothic era is very different and very similar to now. In the Gothic era people of the upper class would often have a certain order in which they would go about courtship and marriage. First, they would be introduced to a good suitor. Many times the families would introduce the two to each other. The second thing that happens is the courtship, this step doesn’t always take very much time. They next would be engaged, also this is a very short period of time. Finally, they would be wedded. Commonly this is what happened. However, we know that in Jane Eyre that is not the case.

At this time we know Jane and Mr.Rochester are engaged. This is a very different set up than what Rochester's friends would like, even Mrs.Fairfax is skeptical of the match. Jane works -or worked- for Mr.Rochester. They come from two different classes this is a big thing for people back then, they would not socialize with other classes. Once again, the book Jane Eyre erases that social norm.

In this day and age we don’t normally think that our traditions relate back to the victorian era, however they do. A movie example would be The Notebook. In The Notebook we see that two people fall in love. They want to be together, however, their social status is not the same. This causes the two to separate despite their love for one another. Eventually they end up together but not without hardship. I think that this storyline relates to Jane Eyre in a big way. Noah and Jane are the same. They both are working to get somewhere in life. The people they love were born into the upper class society. Rochesters past is the hardship that will expose itself in the next few chapters we will be reading.