History and Way of Life of Gypsies
By Sara Constantakis
As their name suggests, Gypsies were initially believed to have come from Egypt. The Gypsies' true ancestors, however, were a group of people who left India between AD 800 and 950 (Gmelch 52). The best estimates have dated their earliest official appearance in Europe, in modern-day Turkey, to around AD 855. However, it is always possible that there were Gypsies in Europe before they received this official recognition (Clebert 54-55). By tracing the development of their dialect, a linguistic mix referred to as Anglo-Romany, scholars have been able to trace the movement of the Gypsies throughout the entire European continent. By the 1300's, their migration had entered southeastern Europe; by the 1400's, western Europe. Finally, in 1505, the Gypsies reached the British Isles (Gmelch 52). Here is where we pick up their story. Because of their itinerant lifestyle, the Gypsies of England played a unique role in both the economic sphere and the entertainment business of nineteenth-century society.
The Gypsies are a race of nomads. The Gypsies of nineteenth-century England travelled the countryside, carrying all their belongings in covered wagons and pitching tents wherever they stopped. For Gypsies, travelling is not a pastime or leisure activity, but a way of life. In fact, a common belief of the latter part of the nineteenth century suggested that the inclination to travel, called "wanderlust," was a product of genetic determinants. This view was the basis for the claim that "it was as natural for [the Gypsies] to move as it was for the majority of the population to stay in one place" (Mayall, "Gypsy-Travellers" 15). Another argument of this time period was that itinerancy resulted from socialization to a travelling way of life. Therefore, "being raised as a nomad and being accustomed to the rigors of travelling from an early age would undoubtedly have increased the likelihood of inter-generational itinerancy" (Mayall, "Gypsy-Travellers" 15-16). Whatever its source, the Gypsies' itinerant lifestyle naturally made it necessary that their occupations involve mobility (Mayall, "Gypsy-Travellers 16"). It was in the economic sphere, then, that Gypsies interacted with settled society.
Both in the nineteenth century and today, Gypsies have played an important economic role in society. In nineteenth-century England, they made their living primarily by hawking (selling small homemade goods) and tinkering (repairing pots and pans) (Mayall, "Gypsy-Travellers" 42). In this way, Gypsies filled the small-scale and irregular demands for goods and services in the non-Gypsy population (Gmelch 52). Gypsies also met the high demand for seasonal employment on farms. During the late summer and early fall, Gypsies harvested fruits and vegetables. This kind of employment was "plentiful, regular, and temporary" (Mayall, "Gypsy-Travellers" 32) and thus perfectly suited to the Gypsy lifestyle. They also followed a diverse number of other trades, such as chair-bottoming, basket-making, rat-catching, wire-working, grinding, fiddling, selling fruit, fish, and earthenware, and mending bellows (Mayall, "Gypsy-Travellers" 42). However, the Gypsy lifestyle was not all work and no play.
Aside from these labor-oriented functions, another activity in which the Gypsies have participated is entertaining. They danced, sang, and played musical instruments. However, the form of entertainment for which the Gypsies are perhaps the best known is fortune-telling. Taking advantage of the superstitious belief that they possessed magical powers which enabled them to see into the future (Mayall, "Gypsy-Travellers" 49), Gypsy women sold fortunes at fairs and made considerable profits. They read palms and tarot cards, and cast charms and spells. In nineteenth-century England, fortune-telling was the equivalent of the modern-day horoscope (Mayall, "Gypsy-Travellers" 50) and taken as seriously by many. Others who considered fortune-telling foolish and unrealistic dismissed it as an easy way for the Gypsies to make money. However, fortune-telling was an important part of Gypsy tradition. While there were undoubtedly many imposters, some Gypsy women firmly believed in their abilities to see into the future (Mayall, "Gypsy-Travellers" 50). And, as Brian Vesey-Fitzgerald notes, "it must be remembered that deceit and imposture alone would never have built up and supported a practice that has withstood the passage of centuries and the constant attacks of progress. There must also be some truth" (126).
Despite the important role Gypsies played in the nineteenth century, they were not automatically accepted as equals in society. In fact, from the moment they set foot on European soil, the Gyspies were misunderstood and even feared. These feelings became manifest in prejudices, which led to discriminatory actions. At the same time, however, Victorian society found itself fascinated with these strange Gypsies. The gypsy motif in Jane Eyre reflects the ambiguous attitude of Victorian society toward Gypsies. The depiction of "the Gypsy" at Thornfield Hall and the characters' reactions to her are reflections of prejudices based on the Gypsies' skin color, way of life, and traditions, and are also reflections of discriminatory treatment the Gypsies suffered. Simultaneously, many of the descriptions of the Gypsy are also the product of a romanticized view of Gypsies, which manifests itself works of fiction by many other authors throughout the Victorian Era.
The Victorians' initial impression of the Gypsies was not a favorable one. At first, the prejudices against Gypsies had obvious sources. Settled society has always had a fear of foreigners, so naturally, "the earliest response to the 'Egyptian' immigrants was rooted, generally, in a xenophobic fear and mistrust of aliens" (Mayall, "British Gypsies" 8). Besides being mistrusted as foreigners, the Gypsies fell victim to racial prejudice because of the color of their skin. Even long before the nineteenth century, "the conviction that blackness denotes inferiority was already well-rooted in the Western mind. The nearly black skins of many Gypsies marked them out to be victims of this prejudice" (Kenrick and Puxon 19). Even if Charlotte Bronte never saw a Gypsy, she reflects these perceptions of them in her description of "the Gypsy" that visits Thornfield Hall. The Gypsy's most noticeable feature in Sam's mind as he describes her to the assembled guests is that she is "'almost as black as a crock'" (217; ch. 18). Later, when Jane goes for her interview with the Gypsy, she notes that her face "looked all brown and black" (221; ch. 19). Since the Gypsy turns out to be Mr. Rochester, and there is no indication that he actually blackened his face for his disguise, it may be that the Gypsy's black skin is an imagined product of the characters' preconceived notions about what Gypsies look like. Whatever the case, the fact that Bronte makes the Gypsy's skin color prominent in the characters' description of her reflects the racial prejudice that existed toward Gypsies in Victorian England.
The Gypsies also faced prejudices about their way of life. The Gypsies' travelling lifestyle aroused suspicion because of the common belief that "itinerancy served merely as a cloak for a deviant range of predatory, parasitic, and criminal activities" (Mayall, "British Gypsies" 8). People were distrustful of Gypsies simply because they moved around a lot. Accompanying this mistrust was "a belief in the superiority of the settled over the nomadic culture and the incompatibility between the two" (Mayall, "British Gypsies" 8). Nineteenth-century England was the perfect breeding-ground for this notion. As society became more industrialized, the population moved out of the untamed countryside and into the cities. While the rest of society settled down in permanent residences in the cities, the Gypsies continued their nomadic existence in what was now viewed as the wilderness. Thus, "In contrast to the new ways of civilised, industrial society [the Gypsies'] culture was seen as backward and primitive" (Mayall, "Gypsy-Travellers" 7). As people became more settled, they began to feel that their way of life was normal. The presence of the wandering Gypsies challenged this, and caused many people to view them negatively because they were different. These prejudices are reflected in the guests' reactions to the Gypsy. Lady Ingram calls her "'a low imposter'" (217; ch. 18). Sam observes that she is "'quite troublesome'" and that "'she looks such a rough one'" and "'such a tinkler'" (216-8; ch. 18). Through the unfavorable reaction of her characters towards the Gypsies, Bronte articulates the prejudices of her society against the Gypsies.
The fortune-telling issue was also a source for suspicions about the Gypsies. Fortune-telling has always been associated with pagan ideas, so the presence of Gypsy fortune-tellers in a Victorian society dominated by the Church obviously caused a commotion. Added to the problem was the fact that the Gypsies "failed to practise with any conviction one or the other of the prevalent religions" (Kenrick and Puxon 21). Due to this apparent lack of religion, much of society in general thought Gypsies "to be inflicting their magical and devilish practices on an innocent, Christian society" (Mayall, "British Gypsies" 8). Lady Ingram obviously feels this Gypsy will corrupt her innocent daughters as she "wrings her hands" and begs Blanche to "'pause--reflect!'" (218; ch. 18). Some of the guests at Thornfield are certainly skeptical of the Gypsy's powers. The Misses Eshton are not sure, demanding, "'is she a real fortune-teller?'" (219; ch. 18). Blanche Ingram, after hearing an unfavorable fortune, is ready to dismiss the Gypsy as an imposter all together. She condescends to her fellow guests with her observation that their "'organs of wonder and credulity are easily excited'" at the prospect of "'a genuine witch'" (219; ch. 18). She concludes that the Gypsy told her fortune "'in hackneyed fashion'" and told her "'what such people usually tell'" (219; ch. 18). Here, Bronte actually pokes more fun at Blanche than she does at the Gypsy because, unbeknownst to Blanche, what the Gypsy has told her is an exaggerated version of the truth about Mr. Rochester's fortune. But at the time, Blanche views the Gypsy as a complete fraud, thus supporting the prejudiced view of Gypsies.
The prejudices against Gypsies become manifest in scores of discriminatory legislation against Gypsies. The first anti-Gypsy Act in England was passed in 1530, just twenty-five years after the Gypsies' arrival there. The Act's intention was to rid the country of all Gypsies by banning further immigration and requiring the Gypsies already living in England to leave or suffer confiscation of their goods, imprisonment, and execution as felons (Mayall, "British Gypsies" 7). There are reports of deportations throughout the sixteenth century and of executions as late as the seventeenth century (Mayall, "British Gypsies" 7). In 1783, all existing laws directed specifically at Gypsies were repealed, but the discriminatory treatment continued in the form of new laws. Throughout the nineteenth century the various Poor Law, Vagrancy, Hawkers, Highways, Health, Housing and Education Acts resulted in Gypsies, and other nomads, being prosecuted (or threatened with prosecution) for such offenses as setting fires, damaging grass by camping, possessing a dog without a license or collar, fortune-telling, taking sticks and ferns without permission, damaging crops, and begging (Mayall, "British Gypsies" 8). Mr. Eshton, a member of the party assembled at Thornfield, feels it within his duty as a magistrate to threaten the Gypsy with prosecution. He declares, "'Tell her she shall be put in the stocks if she does not take herself off'" (216; ch. 18). Stocks were common instruments of punishment in Victorian England. Mr. Eshton's reaction reflects the discriminatory treatments that the Gypsies were receiving in real life at this time.
Victorian society was very hypocritical towards the Gypsies. As George K. Behlmer says, "precisely because the Gypsies stood apart from the mainstream of urban-industrial life, they held a special fascination for the critics of that life. What appeared to be a characteristic restlessness among Gypsies therefore evoked both romantic praise and systematic harassment during the last third of the nineteenth century" (232). At the same time that the Gypsies were being discriminated against, they were also being romanticized. Behlmer cites as one reason for this the fact that Gypsies "could serve as representatives of the hardy competence associated with 'true' country folk" because they were "monuments to the Victorian ideal of mens sana in corpre sano (a sound mind in a sound body)" (239). Some people in the crowded cities of the newly-industrialized society missed the simplicity of life in the country and were attracted to the free lifestyle of the Gypsies. Society's fascination with Gypsies manifested itself in the literature of the time. Beside the romanticized descriptions of the Gypsy by the characters of Jane Eyre, romantic images of the Gypsy also appeared in works of fiction by many other authors throughout the Victorian Era.
Romanticized notions of Gypsy life are first evident in the reactions of the ladies at Thornfield to the Gypsy. Prior to the Gypsy's appearance at Thornfield, they had "'talked of going to Hay Common to visit the gipsy camp'" (217; ch. 18). They treat the Gypsies' homes as if they are museum exhibits, revealing their attitude of blind fascination towards a group of people that they obviously do not understand. One thing the young ladies may have been shocked to realize, however, is that they are acting like Gypsies themselves. The activities of the group of aristocrats, who travel around, spending a week or two at each friend's home, are really quite similar to the nomadic existence of the Gypsies. Charlotte Bronte uses this motif as a way to satirize the aristocrats.
Enticed by the magical and mysterious aspects of fortune telling, the young men proceed to romanticize the Gypsy even further. Frederick Lynn declares that the Gypsy is "'a real sorceress'," and his brother feels that "'it would be a thousand pities to throw away such a chance of fun'" (217; ch. 18). The whole group considers the idea of having their fortunes told "'excellent sport'" (217; ch. 18). When Sam leaves to summon the Gypsy, the "mystery, animation, expectation rose to full flow" (218; ch. 18). These young people obviously share the romanticized notion their society has about Gypsies.
Jane's description of the Gypsy is also romanticized. The Gypsy wears "a red cloak" and " a broad-brimmed gipsy hat, tied down with a striped handkerchief under the chin" (221; ch. 19). Real Gypsy women used this very image to promote the superstitious beliefs about their powers and to lure customers. The "impression [that Gypsy women had magical powers] was further enhanced if the Gypsy, dressed for the part by wearing colorful headscarves and droopy earrings, was old, ugly, and with the appearance of a 'wild-eyed hag'" (Mayall, "Gypsy-Travellers" 49-50). Mr. Rochester obviously picks the perfect disguise for making Jane think he is really a Gypsy. Jane, despite her practical, no-nonsense nature, finds herself caught up in romantic ideas about the Gypsy as well. She describes how the Gypsy's "strange talk, voice, manner, had by this time wrapped me in a kind of dream. One unexpected sentence came from her lips after another, till I got involved in a web of mystification" (225; ch. 19).
Jane Eyre is not the only novel that mirrors this romanticized view of Gypsies. Inspired by the works of leading Gypsy scholar George Borrow, author of several fictional and semi-fictional works about Gypsy life, many prominent authors of the time began to include Gypsy characters in their works (Harrison 375). Borrow and other Gypsy scholars enjoyed warm relations with Thomas Carlyle, George Eliot, Bulwer Lytton, Algernon Charles Swinburne, and Theodore Watts-Dunton. As a result of this friendly relationship, "the [Gypsy scholars] and their literary friends generated 'a very craze for the Gypsy' that had no European equivalent" (Behlmer 243). This Gypsy craze was manifested in the formation of the Gyspy Lore Society in 1888. Society's fascination with Gypsies had its parallels in the literary community. As David Mayall notes, "the use of romantic notions of a separate, mysterious race of Gypsies was a device frequently adopted in poetry and fictions of all descriptions, from the 'highbrow' works of Sir Walter Scott. . .Charles Dickens and D.H. Lawrence to the anonymous 'penny dreadfuls' and railway literature" ("Gypsy-Travellers" 71). Works by contemporaries of Bronte that involve Gypsy characters include George Eliot's poem "The Spanish Gypsy;" Matthew Arnold's poems "To a Gipsy Child by the Sea-Shore," "Resignation," "The Scholar-Gipsy," and "Thyrsis;" J.M. Barrie's "The Little Minister;" and, a later work, D.H. Lawrence's "The Virgin and the Gypsy." Bronte's inclusion of this Gypsy character, even though a somewhat minor one, reflects on a small scale a society's reaction to a race that was both misunderstood and loved.
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