Living as a young woman in the nineteenth century is difficult and full of its own plights, and growing up as a mistreated orphan further enhances the struggles one would experience. Jane Eyre is about a girl growing up with those unsuitable conditions and how they affect her later in life as well. Because of the experiences she has in life, she could be seen as either a victim or survivor. Jane shows traits of both these dispositions in the book, but overall she is a survivor of all these initial events. She has been able to overcome the negative impressions left on her by the events and people she interacted with. Two characters that had a large impact on her life, Ms. Reed and Edward Rochester, give her chances to show weakness and strength …show more content…
Reed is Jane’s aunt who permits her to live at Gateshead, but only under the condition that she promised her husband that she would look after Jane once he passed away. She treats Jane much worse than her other children and shows no affection towards her Jane . When Jane tries to stand up at her, she is treated worse and further isolated. For example, when Jane tries to stand up for herself and tell the truth about her fight with John, Ms. Reed punishes her without a second thought. She sends Jane to the room where her uncle passed away, knowing Jane is completely terrified of it. Jane is also able to stand up to her aunt before they are separated at Lowood. Ms. Reed tells the very religious headmaster, Mr. Brocklehurst that Jane is a liar. Jane reacts by telling her she wants Ms. Reed to have no part in her life and that she will never call her aunt again. Ms. Reed had a large negative effect on Jane’s life by causing her to feel unwanted by being sent to Lowood and isolating Jane from the rest of her family. Jane is later able to face the Ms. Reed again, several years later on her deathbed. Ms. Reed asks Jane to come back to Gateshead to seek forgiveness and redemption before she passes away. She feels guilt about the way she treated Jane, but mainly for her own selfish reason that she is worried her husband will find out how badly she mistreated Jane. Jane is able to stand her ground and forgive the woman who created the awful childhood Jane endured, which took a tremendous amount of personal and emotional
Mrs. Reed likewise separates Jane from the Reeds’ social circle by confining her to the nursery while her cousins spend their days in the drawing room (22) and calling Mr. Lloyd, the apothecary for “ailing servants,” instead of the family physician for Jane’s illness (15), thus placing her among the servants. However, the servants too reject Jane from their group—Miss Abbot told Jane that she is “less than a servant” because she does “nothing for [her] keep” (9). Jane thus
She loses herself, as I would imagine Sophie to do after a life time of oppression. Jane saw a woman in the wall, and then became her. She took on that identity, and in her mind, then became free of ruling and imprisonment. All of my sympathy for any of the other characters in this work went solely to Jane. Her obvious mental instability made the story difficult for me to read- not because it’s what’s wrong with her, but what’s wrong with professional medical abuse, which especially back then was an ongoing problem in addition to today.
It is ironic that Jane is seen as the guilty party in the incident with John Reed because John started the fight when he slapped Jane. Then when John’s sisters, Eliza and Georgina, go to “tattle tale” on Jane, their mother blames Jane for the whole situation. Jane compares John to a “murderer,” “slave-driver,” and “Roman Emperors” (Bronte 9). During this comparison, she is implying that he is a very cruel and awful person. That he would beat her and boss her around.
Jane Eyre has three cousins in Gateshead, who are Georgianna Reed, Eliza Reed and John Reed who treat her horrible especially John Reed as Jane Eyre proclaims, “ He bullied me and punished me not two or three times in the week, nor once or twice in the day but continually: every nerve I had feared him…” (Bronte 9). Jane Eyre being in the Gateshead was paranoid to be near John Reed. “Mrs. Reed was blind and deaf on the subject she never saw him strike or heard him abuse me…” (Bronte 9).
Jane requests to return to the Reed house, after learning about her cousin’s suicide and her aunt, Mrs. Reed’s, illness; however Rochester questions, “And what good can you do her… you say she cast you off,” Jane replies, “Yes, sir, but that is long ago; and when her circumstances were very different: I could not be easy to neglect her wishes now” (Brontë 227). Jane looks beyond that Mrs. Reed “cast[ed] her off,” implying that she has grown to let go of grudges and developed a mature mentality. The irony of Jane’s inability to “neglect her wishes,” infers how the injustice treatment of Mrs. Reed unaffectedly brings Jane to look past the situation by visiting the Reeds in a time of sorrow. In addition, Rochester attempts to convince his wedded Jane to stay with him, after learning about his mad wife; Rochester claims that his father had “sent [him] out to Jamaica, to espouse a bride already courted for” him but only so his brother and father to get “thirty thousand pounds,” Rochester further admits to Jane that “you know now that I had but a hideous demon. I was wrong to attempt to deceive you…
I will never come to visit you when I am grown up,” At such a young age, Jane recognizes how her aunt abuses her, and that one day she would have her own freedom, which is why she tells Mrs. Reed she would not see her again when she is older. Jane has a strong sense of independence early on and Bronte plays this up by having Jane speak of the future, and how she wants to be free from her family and not depend on them. There are only a few times in which Jane is so
Arguably, Helen’s short presence in Jane’s life influences Jane’s many of Jane’s decisions throughout the test. First, Jane forgives Mrs. Reed for her cruel treatment during Jane’s childhood. Jane also forgives Mr. Rochester for his deception and decides to return to him, all before knowing about the fire and Bertha Mason’s death. Just as Jesus preached to his disciples to forgive and live a pure life. In Maria Lamonaca’s literary criticism, "Jane's Crown of Thorns: feminism and Christianity in Jane Eyre" she states, “[Helen’s] example and beliefs serve Jane in good stead later in the novel.
she finds two unwed sisters who share animosity with each other, a son who committed suicide (or presumed to have committed suicide) and tarnished the Reed Family name, and a dying old lady who still holds a decade long grudge and hate for her husband’s favorite niece. Because of John Reed’s resulting self-inflicted violence we can observe how the Reed family has fallen from the top of the wheel of fortune to the bottom. Also by creating the approaching death of Mrs. Reed we can see how mature Jane has become after a decade away from Gateshead. We can observe this through Jane’s patience with Mrs. Reed by trying to make peace with her and staying at Gateshead longer then she should have for Georgiana. Through Mrs. Reed death we can see the difference in
When Jane transitions into Lowood, she is introduced to Mr. Brocklehurst who is oppressive and cold, similar to Mrs. Reed. In an effort to extinguish Jane's inner flame, Mr. Brocklehurst humiliates her in front of the entire school by forcing her to stand atop a stool, isolated in the middle, for everyone to see. Jane’s humiliation parallels Christ being crucified since the both are being persecuted for unjust reasons. Jane’s metaphorical
In the beginning, she is deprived of education, love and appreciation of her presence which ultimately is her prime reasoning of taking off to be successful. Her experience at Gateshead was nothing more than miserable, she fought for what she needed and grew out of her comfort zone to stick up for herself. The strict rules and limits to freedom was not something Jane could handle for much longer, starting with the false accusations said by Brocklehurst of Jane. Brocklehurst is one of the many obstacles Jane fights to become happy and successful. She did not let him control how she envisioned her future life, rather she became even more passionate to prove how much of a cruel master he was.
In Charlotte Bronte’s novel “Jane Eyre” Edward Fairfax Rochester plays a contributing role in Janes development and growth as a character and human being in the Victorian time period. Not only does he play a large role in her independency, but in her emotional and spiritual growth as well. She grows around him whether she likes it or not. Due to Edwards manipulative and seductive nature, jane has to grow and develop in a way that has her frequently questioning her own ideals, whether that be spiritually or morally, and strengthening her independence by constantly refusing her feelings for him and adapting to punishing situations. Edward also opens Janes eyes to a world that is bigger than she realized due to his company at the house, wealth, and opportunities at the favorable Thornfeild manor at which she was employed by him.
Since a young age, the protagonist had been dependent on a family that considered her inferior to them. Therefore, as constant undeserved punishments were imposed on her, she describes, “had I been a sanguine, brilliant, careless, exacting, handsome, romping child - though equally dependent and friendless - Mrs. Reed would have endured my presence more complacently,” (11). Jane’s plain exterior was a significant factor that contributed to the emerging self-defensive wall between herself and those around her. The hatred which penetrated the protagonist’s soul brought forth a continuous battle for justice, independence, and righteousness. Had the protagonist conformed with society’s ideals, Mrs. Reed may not have rejected her niece in the abusive, cruel manner in which she did.
Whenever she is put in a uncomfortable situation where she is trapped she feels the need to flee. Jane goes to an all-girls school where she has to deal with the horrid Mr.Blochu who is set on humiliating her, because her aunt told him about Jane is a liar. At this school is where Jane has her first encounter with religion. She finds solace in a young Christian girl named Helen, she looks up to Helen as she is selfless and intellectual. While, Helen uses patience and understanding to deal with a situation, Mr.Block believes in humiliation.
Jane states that she doesn 't love her aunt or even acknowledge their familial bond when she doesn 't address her aunt by the title of "aunt." Even as a child, Jane has a strong moral standard. After Jane gratefully leaves her aunt for Lowood, Jane conflicts with Mr. Brocklehurst. Mr Brocklehurst publicly accuses Jane of being a liar. Jane later approaches a teacher of Lowood, calling in evidence from a doctor from her aunt 's
Jane Eyre is a novel where a modern view on gender roles get in the discourse of the traditional Victorian social hierarchy and patriarchal