Childhood in Great Expectations and Jane Eyre

Compare the presentation of childhood in Great Expectations and

Jane Eyre

Both "Jane Eyre" and "Great Expectation" adopt a typically Victorian

outlook on childhood, which can seem quite alien set against modern

values. However in both books, and particularly in "Jane Eyre", there

is an effort to create a convincing expression of childhood through

strong emphasis of the child's point of view above all others.

In both books there is a interesting use of hindsight within the first

person narration; not only does the narrator describe their childhood

with perfect clarity of detail "before the long hour and a half of

prayers and Bible-reading was over, I felt ready to perish with cold.

Breakfast time came at last, and this morning the porridge was not

burnt" but also with a very mature and refined description of events

that, at the time, the child would most likely not have been capable

of. In "Jane Eyre" this maturity of description is visible both

through the intricacy of the language "reader though I look

comfortably accommodated, I am not very tranquil in my mind" and

through the complexity of the ideas used "I was in discord in

Gateshead Hall; I was like nobody there; I had nothing in harmony with

Mrs Reed or her children, or her chosen vassalage." However, Dickens

mostly attempts a slightly more realistically childlike and basic

narrative in "Great Expectations" than does Bronte in "Jane Eyre".

Linguistically, Dickens achieves this with a very structured

childlike, blow-by-blow listing of events "He turned it about in his

mouth much longer than usual, pondering over it a good deal, and after

all gulped it down like a pill. He was about to" but frequently he

changes the tone to one that is far more el...

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...cence through which Dickens and

Bronte can portray the adult world and its hypocrisy with a view

untainted by the preconceptions and expectations of adults. Frequently

this technique is used to the detriment of those less admirable adult

characters (Mr Brocklehurst, Mr Wopsle, Mrs Reed, Mr Pumblechook, Mrs

Gargery, and the list goes on), but it is also used to illuminate

those good adult characters (Mr Joe, Mr Lloyd, Mrs Temple, and

others).

Also childhood is the first constituent of the identity of our

protagonists. Pip's childhood is pivotal in the creation of his

identity, which becomes so thematically important later in "Great

Expectations". Also, Jane's moral conviction to honesty and justice

can be traced back to her mistreatment in childhood, and knowing of

her childhood allows the reader to see in context her later actions,

and so her identity.