The Importance of Jane's Early Life at Lowood to Shaping Her Character in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre
When Charlotte Brontë set out to write "Jane Eyre", she boldly
promised her sisters:
"a heroine as plain and as small as myself, who shall be as
interesting as any of yours."
As promised, Jane appears decidedly plain, "so little, so pale", with
"features so irregular and so marked", "sensible but not at all
handsome", "queer" and "a little toad".
The novel opens at Gateshead with Jane moving from childhood to
puberty. Even at ten years of age, Jane feels that "I can never get
away from Gateshead till I am a woman" and tells this to Mr Lloyd. She
actually leaves by the end of Chapter 4. Her becoming an adult is
marked by her revolt against the Reeds, which at this early age shows
a self-assertiveness, but one which gets her severely punished and
ostracised, but also wins her her freedom from the Reeds, first to the
red room and then on to Lowood School.
Lowood School represents repression and prolonged discipline. Here the
girls are "starved" - (in Yorkshire dialect this means frozen as well
as hungry) and deprived of all sensory awareness. They are all
uniformly dressed in stiff brown dresses which "gave an air of oddity
even to the prettiest" and shorn of their hair, the last sign of their
femininity. The girls of Lowood are instructed in the chastity they
will need for their future lives as poor teachers and governesses. Mr
Brocklehurst proclaims that his mission is "to mortify in these girls
the lusts of the flesh, to teach them to clothe themselves with
shamefacedness and sobriety".
Lowood disciplines its inmat...
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...od presents Jane with contrasting views of religious experience
(those of Brocklehurst and Helen Burns). She gained more of a
religious understanding from Helen than she did from Brocklehurst as
she could not put her faith in a hypocrite. However she could never
quite shake his persuasions e.g. her wedding attire.
The novel ends happily. Jane has proven her independence and has been
able to marry the man she loves. She has earned her happiness without
violating her integrity or her conscience and both her longing for
love and her self-fulfilment have been realised.
REFERENCES/ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Jane Eyre - Contemporary Critical Essays - Heather Glen 1997
Jane Eyre - York Notes for GCSE - York Press 2002
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Brontë - Penguin Popular Classics
Internet Notes - www.vanderbilt.edu/AnS/1994
The beginning of the novel starts out with a picture of a peaceful home that is very similar to the Moor House Jane lives in while visiting her cousins. It even states in line 2 that Bronte feels like the place is familiar. There is “marshland stretched for miles” ( ln 1) outside the home like the land of England in Jane Eyre. This common setting is also connecting how much Charlotte Bronte is like her character Jane. Dunn describes Bronte as “passionate [and] assertive” (ln 12) which is much like Jane Eyre’s character. Bronte is also said to not “come back to complain or haunt” (ln 20), and she lives in a “mod...
was not a better place but it helped Jane stand on her own feet. Through
In the book Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, the main character Jane experiences extreme character development throughout the story due to hardships she endures. This allows her to grow into an intelligent woman who provides for herself. This growth can first be seen in her childhood at her aunt's estate and the school for girl orphans, Lowood. Jane is brought up in a household
Jane Eyre's Parents die when she is just a baby. She was then moved to her Aunt and Uncle Reeds house, where she is raised by the horrible, Mrs. Reed. Jane does not experience love and care from a family member. When the time comes for Jane to go to Lowood Institution, she is driven by love to find this for herself. At the institution, Jane becomes close with a teacher named Mrs. Temple. Mrs. Temple acts as a mother figure for Jane in the novel. Jane explains, “Mrs. Temple, through all the
The feeling of being trapped can be one of the most terrifying feelings a human being can experience. This is especially true if the possibility of escaping is slim and unlikely. Whether it’s being physically trapped or emotionally trapped, the feeling can cause major changes to one’s character. This is the case for the character Jane Eyre. Written in 1847, “Jane Eyre,” by Charlotte Bronte, describes the character Jane Eyre feeling trapped with a small possibility of escaping. In order to demonstrate her feelings, Bronte uses symbolism and motifs. By using these literary elements, Bronte develops Jane's character by connecting them to her, which ultimately supports the deeper message of liberation.
In Charlotte Bronte’s novel, Jane Eyre, Mr. Rochester is not an average prince charming or even an overly attractive man. Instead, Mr. Rochester is a man with an undesirable past of chasing women and power. At the end of this novel, Mr. Rochester’s house is burnt down by his wife Bertha who has been locked away in the house for many years after being declared insane shortly after her marriage to Rochester; this fire leaves Rochester with not only a burnt house and a dead wife but also with a mutilated left arm and blindness. While many Freudian critics believe that this incident was a form of symbolically castrating Rochester, Adrienne Rich states that, through this incident, “Rochester has paid his dues” (Rich 481). Rochester’s past life is
We learn that Jane is a young girl who is a victim of emotional and
Analyse the methods Charlotte Brontë uses to make the reader empathise with Jane Eyre in the opening chapters. Reflect on how the novel portrays Victorian ideology and relate your analysis to the novel’s literary content.
In the beginning of Jane Eyre, Jane struggles against Bessie, the nurse at Gateshead Hall, and says, I resisted all the way: a new thing for me…"(Chapter 2). This sentence foreshadows what will be an important theme of the rest of the book, that of female independence or rebelliousness. Jane is here resisting her unfair punishment, but throughout the novel she expresses her opinions on the state of women. Tied to this theme is another of class and the resistance of the terms of one's class. Spiritual and supernatural themes can also be traced throughout the novel.
In the Webster's online dictionary, self-confidence is defined as confidence in oneself and in one's powers and abilities. A famous quote by Jim Loehr says, "With confidence, you can reach truly amazing heights; Without confidence, even the simplest accomplishments are beyond your grasp." Confidence in yourself does not come without effort. One must believe in themselves, and not let someone change their beliefs. In the novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, Jane shows self-confidence throughout the novel, by possessing a sense of self-worth, dignity, and a trust in God.
Jane Eyre, a novel written by Charlotte Bronte, is about a young girl named Jane that struggles to discover her identity. Jane’s a girl who is “unhappy, very unhappy”(23). She grows up with relatives that treat her unfairly because her diseased family was not wealthy. Jane’s uncle Mr. Reed had reminded his wife and family to consider Jane as their own, but in contrast she experienced physical abuse by her aunt and cousin John. “John Reed knocked me down and my aunt shut me up in the red-room...”(23), the abuse that Jane experienced impacted her young soul, but also helped her grow into a stronger person. Unlike her cousins, Jane’s childhood was unpleasant because “...I have no father or mother, brothers or sister...”(23). Years later, Jane goes to Lowood institution where she succeeds and becomes a school teacher. From there, Jane meets Mr. Rochester who turns out to be the love of her life. Throughout the novel the readers see a dependent girl transform into an independent young lady that overcomes all her tribulations.
her off to school. She tells him that he should "keep a strict eye on her,
Chapter seven sees Jane slightly more experienced to the ways of Lowood School. She has come to accept the poor conditions laid down by Mr. Brocklehurst, however has not yet learnt to ignore them and Bronte describes Jane suffering a lot in this chapter. This lack of food and appalling living conditions are down to the head of the school, Mr. Brocklehurst. This man uses his apparent strong beliefs in Christianity as an excuse to provide the children of Lowood with the absolute bare minimum. Brocklehurst claims his “mission is to mortify in these girls the lusts of the flesh”, presenting the idea that perhaps Brocklehurst is simply a man that has a immensely firm grasp of his beliefs and has made it his “mission” in life to enlighten others into the ways of christianity.
This feeling intensifies when Mr. Brocklehurst arrives to take Jane away to Lowood School. Her aunt is pleased to see her go, but manages to influence Jane's life even after Jane is settled in at the charity school, by informing Mr.
While at Lowood, a state - run orphanage and educational facility, Jane’s first friend, Helen Burns, teaches her the importance of friendship along with other skills that will help Jane grow and emotionally mature in the future. She serves as a role model for Jane. Helen’s intelligence, commitment to her studies, and social graces all lead Jane to discover desirable attributes in Helen. Helen is treated quite poorly, however, “her ability to remain graceful and calm even in the face of (what Jane believes to be) unwarranted punishment makes the greatest impression on the younger girl” (Dunnington). Brontë uses this character as a way to exemplify the type of love that Jane deserves. This relationship allows Jane to understand the importance of having a true friend. Given Jane’s history at Gateshead, finding someone like Helen is monumental in her development as a person. Helen gives through honest friendship, a love that is