Even though time passes, the difficulties women experience, social pressure and the patriarchal order greatly affect our lives. The novels of our female writers, which also bear traces of their own lives, shed light on the social structure of the period. As we see strong female characters in books, we realize that they contain traces of our own lives. In this article, I will compare the character of “Feride” from the novel “Çalıkuşu” written by Reşat Nuri Güntekin, one of the important female characters in Turkish literature, with “Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Brontë and the film adapted from it. To better understand the messages that the two authors, who come from different societies, wanted to convey, I examined the characters in detail and did research on the periods in which the novels were written.
First serialized in the “Vakit” newspaper in 1922 and published as a book in the same year, “Çalıkuşu” was reprinted in 1935 after some edits were made by the author. Reşat Nuri Güntekin reflected the psychological state of an Anatolian woman struggling with the difficulties experienced in education, gender and difficulties in the background of the love between “Feride” and “Kâmran” in his novel. Feride, an orphan girl who graduated from French High School, gets engaged to her cousin Kamran after telling a lie to her friends. With a truth she learns on the wedding day, Feride becomes a teacher at a young age with a red ribbon diploma in her hand. Feride, who meets new people in the places she is assigned, has experienced various problems in the places she goes. After the death of Munise, whom she considered as her own child, she meets Doctor Hayrullah Bey. In order to prevent rumors, Hayrullah Bey and Feride are married on paper for show. Doctor Hayrullah Bey understands that Feride’s feelings for Kamran are not over. He writes a letter to Kamran and puts a section from Feride’s diary in it. Thus, Kamran and Feride get married again. This novel takes place in the cities of Istanbul, Bursa, Çanakkale, Izmir and Kuşadası.
In the novel “Jane Eyre” written by Charlotte Brontë, one of the important names in English literature, in the Victorian Period, Jane, who was orphaned in childhood, starts living with her aunt, but she becomes unhappy in that house and is sent to a boarding school with strict rules. She makes a friend named Helen in boarding school, this friendship is short-lived. Jane, who is also successful in her lessons, teaches at the boarding school for two years. Jane, who starts teaching at Mr. Rochester’s house, experiences various events. Mrs. Fairfax supports Jane. Jane, who encounters a bad truth on the day of her wedding, runs away from Mr. Rochester’s house.
Feride is a naughty, cheerful, orphaned child. Feride’s father, Nizamettin Bey, is an enlightened man for his time. He wants Feride to be a strong woman, so he sent her to “Notre Dame De Sion”, a boarding school. Feride’s mother hid her illness and passed away. Feride often visits her aunt Besime. Her cousin Kamran is a blond, green-eyed, girlish boy. In the time period in which the novel takes place, it was not very common for women to be educated and to go out uncovered. Feride often had trouble with her teachers at school, but the Sirs were always merciful. This situation is described in the book as follows: “Either these Sirs were truly patient people like angels, or I had a nice side.” Jane, like Feride, is an orphan. In the Victorian Era, when Jane Eyre was written, the idea that “marriage should be based on romantic love and friendship rather than convenience or money” came to the fore. Her aunt and her aunt’s children were treating Jane badly, locking her in a room, Jane thought that this room was haunted. This situation is similar to the novel “Çalıkuşu”. “In our family, touching orphans was considered a sin. When I became unbearable, the punishment they gave me was to lock me in a room by holding my arm.” Another similarity is the attitude of both female characters against being cheated on. Feride and Jane ran away from where they lived the moment they learned that there was someone else. Also, both characters love to draw. “I have loved drawing since I was little. It was almost the only subject I got full marks in at school.” When we compare the schools where the two characters study, we see some differences.
In the school Feride attends, the Sirs are a little more tolerant of Feride’s mischief. “I think if I did this in another school, I would either be imprisoned or receive another punishment.” In the school Jane attended, there was education with old methods, violence, and religious oppression. The school was poorly maintained. “The unhealthy nature of the place where the school was built, the scarcity and badness of the food given to the children, the contaminated, dirty water used in the preparation of the meals, the miserable conditions of the students’ clothing and bedding…” Jane was not as lucky as Feride in terms of family either. “All the hard-hearted despotism of John Reed, all the indifference of his sisters, all the coldness of his mothers, all the injustice of the servants, rose to the surface and rippled through my excited thoughts like the black mud at the bottom of a muddy well.”
Although there are similarities and differences, the two books are very similar. Especially during the time the novels were written, it was not common for women to work as teachers. Moreover, both characters took strong stances against loneliness and hardship. Another thing that caught my attention in the novel “Çalıkuşu” is that Reşat Nuri Güntekin is able to convey the feelings of a female character to the reader very well. In the film Jane Eyre, the event is handled as a whole thanks to the techniques used. Although some details are missing in the movie, we can generally understand the novel. I don’t think it’s good that the endings of these two novels are similar. After telling the struggles and state of mind of the female characters in most parts of the books, putting a happy love story at the end of the book is, in my opinion, the result of the writers being influenced by the social structure. The character of Feride is important in terms of being an example for future girls and women in the Ottoman-Turkish modernization process.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Güntekin, Reşat Nuri, Çalıkuşu, İnkılâp Yayınları, İstanbul, 2017
Brontë, Charlotte, Jane Eyre, Can Yayınları, İstanbul, 2022
Demir, Erdi, Cumhuriyet Dönemi Öğretmen Kadın Kimliği İnşasının Toplumsal Cinsiyet Normları Bağlamında Yorumlanması, Sinop Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi,2021,Cilt.5,Sayı.2
Fukunaga, C.(Yönetmen).(2011).Jane Eyre[Film].BBC Films
Wikipedia.”Viktorya Dönemi”Erişim:29/05/2023.