Jane and Maria – Jane Eyre and The Sound of Music

I may be going out on a limb here, but what if The Sound of Music is actually the 1964, re-interpreted filmic version of Jane Eyre’s story? Ever since I was introduced to the idea of Jane Eyre as a governess, I have had difficulty wiping my mind clear of Fräulein Maria from the musical. After all, when thinking about it, Jane and Maria’s stories aren’t all that different. Let’s take a look.

This photo features Mia Wasikowska playing Jane in the 2011 film adaptation of Jane Eyre.
This photo features Julie Andrews portraying Maria in the 1965 film, The Sound of Music.

Here, I am going to quickly compare the two women’s stories. Then, I will show how, despite their similar backgrounds, there is actually a difference (within the similarity) that is quite revealing.

To be honest with you, I was waiting for Jane to break out in song multiple times throughout the novel, especially when traveling to Thornfield (remember… “I have confidence in sunshine!”). Now consider the similarities between the two stories: before becoming a governess, Maria is a nun in an abbey. Before becoming a governess, Jane is a student at a devout Christian school, Lowood. Later, Maria, as a governess, falls in love with Captain Von Trapp, a wealthy man who is her employer. Similarly, governess Jane falls in love with her employer, the wealthy Mr. Rochester. Meanwhile, Captain Von Trapp is engaged to the beautiful and wealthy Baroness Schraeder of Vienna. At the same time, Mr. Rochester is engaged to the beautiful and powerful Blanche Ingram. Nevertheless, these relationships crumble. However, different entities get in the way of their possible marriages: Bertha Mason (in Jane Eyre) and the nazis (in The Sound of Music). In the end, both Jane and Maria marry who they want and live their lives happily ever after (kind of).

On the forefront, Jane and Maria’s stories are quite similar. However, let’s think about a difference: the fact that the stories take place in different centuries. While The Sound of Music occurs slightly before World War II (probably the early 1940s), Jane Eyre takes place within the early decades of the 19th century. The differences in class and gender are made apparent too. While Jane battles frequently for equal footing throughout the novel (she wants women to be treated equally as men), Maria doesn’t fight for this equality (at least, this battle isn’t presented throughout the musical). She takes the children throughout the city, rides bikes with them by the river, and yet she really isn’t treated subserviently. Although I don’t have an exact answer, I am presuming that, by the 1940s, gender and class were understood differently than in the early 1800s (of course, with more progress needed to go). The fact that she was a governess may have played apart too – perhaps they were more appreciated in the mid-1900s?

Nevertheless, to throw in another similarity (I guess that makes this similarity-within-difference-within-similarity), “expected” gender roles – and female subservience – are still interfused throughout The Sound of Music (in bits and pieces). For instance, Liesl, the youngest daughter of Captain Von Trapp, sings to her beloved Rolf (who later becomes a member of the Nazi Party):

“I am sixteen going on seventeen
Innocent as a rose
Bachelor dandies, drinkers of brandies
What do I know of those?
Totally unprepared am I
To face a world of men
Timid and shy and scared am I….
…I’ll depend on you.”
Here, Liesl is painted as an “innocent” girl of 16, “unprepared to face [the] world of men” that lie beyond her. Not only is she described as a virgin, she is “timid and shy and scared,” hinting that the pure, innocent, female was expected by society – and she knows it. In addition, she acknowledges her dependence on man.
The point is this: while Jane and Maria’s stories take place over a century of each other, expectation was still placed on women, as Liesl makes that clear. However, we see progress at the same time because Maria is never really treated subserviently from those she encounters (especially in the town). Rather, she is living in the Von Trapp household as a governess to care for the children. Perhaps, because we see two different treatments of females, we are at a time when gender roles, in particular, were beginning to be redefined.

 

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4 thoughts on “Jane and Maria – Jane Eyre and The Sound of Music”

  1. This is really interesting. I never would have thought to compare the two but you’re right to see similarities. I think this could be a great post to expand into a research paper. The difference in gender expectations is, as you point out, likely due to the different time periods. However, I’d love to know more about the idea you posit at the beginning of your post, that The Sound of Music is a re-interpretation of Jane Eyre. You could expand your comparison of their similarities and discuss in what ways the new era leads to a new interpretation of a Jane Eyre (in the form of Maria).

  2. While I find this to be a very original comparison, could we not make similar comparisons with “The Sound of Music” and “Pride and Prejudice,” for instance, or other Victorian novels? I think that there is very well a connection here, but it should go beyond the standard social gender roles of submissive woman and dominant man. One thing I would do is look into how religion (viz. Christianity) is treated in both works. Maria wants to become a nun but instead runs away with her love Von Trapp; Eliza actually becomes a nun but this isn’t colored as a particularly desirable thing. Jane Eyre seems to not consider herself fit or beautiful enough for love but redeems herself with Mr. Rochester in the end (like Maria did). I think the connections between the two are tenuous, but if you can make enough of them then they should form a cohesively cogent whole.

  3. I completely agree with this. I think it’s definitely possible that The Sound of Music could be based off of/have taken some influence from Jane Eyre. The similarities between Jane and Maria are eerily similar, especially with their relationships with Rochester and Von Trapp. I agree with Victoria, this could be a really interesting research paper that I’m sure you could find a lot of information about. The one area I think you should add to/make clearer is the part about Liesl. I know you were trying to articulate that in both works, there were two types of female roles being portrayed, but maybe relating Liesl to a character in Jane Eyre more specifically would help? I also think you could talk more about the characterizations of Maria and Jane, and how Jane’s character evolved into Maria as a result of taking place in a different era.

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