" (Bronte, 1922, p. 28)
The young girl was to be defined by her future prospects, being meager, as she was an orphan with little income, she was to be taught an even more extreme form of humility because she would have to use her charm alone to get a good match or secure a position as a governess or ladies maid. There was little love in her early years, whether with her hostile relatives or in her school. As any reader would find it was this poor disposition she gained from her early life that she had to overcome to gain her match.
Just as women were ideally brought up by either love or harshness to meet their place, the young colts are taught the same lessons. Finally the most evident, and disturbing in a modern sense, evidence for the symbolism between the horse and women in this era is the way in which the marriage or ownership match was made. Women were seen at a distance, as women and men had little opportunity for interaction before marriage, they were judged by their appearance their sturdiness and their gentility, much the same way horses on the auction block are judged for future ownership.
There was one man, I thought, if he would buy me, I should be happy. He was not a gentleman, nor yet one of the loud, flashy sort that call themselves so. He was rather a small man, but well made, and quick in all his motions... his gray eye had a kindly, cheery look in it. It may seem strange to say -- but it is true all the same -- that the clean, fresh smell there was about him made rile take to him, no smell of old beer and tobacco, which I hated, but a fresh smell as if he had come out of a hay-loft. He offered twenty-three pounds for me, but that was...
I looked after him, but he was gone, and a very hard-looking, loud-voiced man came. I was dreadfully afraid he would have me; but he walked off. One or two more came who did not mean business... A very close bargain was being driven, for my salesman began to think he should not get all he asked, and must come down; but just then the gray-eyed man came back again. I could not help reaching out my head toward him. He stroked my face kindly.
Well, old chap," he said, "I think we should suit each other. I'll give twenty-four for him." (Sewell, 1907, p. 161-162)
Marriage negotiation, often mirror this transaction as the woman feels compelled to be treated with kindness, but is pressured by her family and society to choose money over all else. The uncanny nature of the marriage negotiations to a livestock market or a horse fair is indicative of the station that women of this class held within the masculine Victorian society.
References
http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=49023764"(1998). Aristocratic Women and Political Society in Victorian Britain. Oxford: Oxford University. http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=99268553
Bronte, C. (1922). Jane Eyre. London: J.M. Dent & Sons. http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=80978341
Oliver, E.J. (1956). Coventry Patmore. New York: Sheed and Ward. http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=88994351
Patmore, D. (1949). The Life and Times of Coventry Patmore. London: Constable. http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=27215314
Sewell, a. (1907). Black Beauty: The Autobiography of a Horse. New York: Dodge Publishing.
