To what extent is Jane presented as a victim during her time at
Gateshead in the first four chapters of Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre?
The first four chapters of Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre draw the
reader into the life and emotions of the heroine of the novel Jane
Eyre and the cruelty she suffers in the hands of the Reeds. These
chapters portray an image of Jane and present her character which
appears to be vulnerable yet determined to stick up for her self.
We learn that Jane is a young girl who is a victim of emotional and
physical abuse from the Reeds, and also suffers from discrimination.
We’re shown that the Reeds only provide her with a home but she
receives no love and is treated very different from her cousins. Jane
is shown to be a girl of great strength, this is revealed when she
stands up for herself in chapter 2. She is a sufferer of great abuse
but yet keeps herself going. The way she is treated shows the reader
what is was like in the 19th century and how people who were different
were treated. In Jane Eyre we see the 19th century through a child’s
eyes, Jane is not treated kindly or with love and because of this we
see how awfully some children were treated in the nineteenth century,
so very different to our world today where that would be unacceptable
to treat a child badly. Jane Eyre is set in the early to mid
nineteenth century and we see how different life today is, compared
with the time which Jane lived. In the nineteenth century, school was
not compulsory and that is why many people had little or even no
education at all. If you were rich, you would have a good education,
but you would not have to work. If you were poor however, your
education, if any would not be of a very good standard and you would
have to work to earn enough money to survive.
Bronte uses many techniques of writing to show Jane’s emotions and
position, the story is told through Jane’s perspective showing her
feelings and thoughts towards everything happening around her. This
helps us understand her life and her character causing us to feel
sympathy towards her isolated position. The novel is written in a way
that draws the reader into Jane’s life and suffering.
In the opening chapter, we begin to see Jane as a victim of cruelty
she suffers by the Reeds. An orphan since early childhood, Jane feels
exiled and ostracized at the beginning of the novel, and the cruel
There are many stages throughout the book in which the reader can feel sympathy for Jane Eyre; these include when she is locked in the Red Room, when Helen Burns dies at Lowood, and when she and Mr. Rochester are married the first time.
was not a better place but it helped Jane stand on her own feet. Through
Jane Eyre's Language in Charlotte Brontë Brontë portrays Jane Eyre as an untypical heroine. Examine Brontë’s language use, structure and character portrayals. The heroism of Jane Eyre is central throughout the novel of the same name. The classic Victorian novel, written by Charlotte Brontë, follows the protagonist Jane Eyre through episodic stages of her life as she strives to find her niche in life.
At Gateshead Jane Eyre grew up with her malicious cousins and Aunt. This fictitious location is placed in a part of England north to London. The name Gateshead has significant meaning in the book. This location was the “gateway” to the rest of the world. Also, this is where Jane grew up, so evidentially it was the “head” or beginning of all her tribulations in life. Throughout the rest of the book, all that Jane has to deal with is linked back to her childhood there at Gateshead. Abused verbally and physically by her Aunt and cousins, Jane felt an outsider among her kinsmen. She was ostracized by Aunt Reed from the rest of the family. At one point when her Aunt became extremely oppressive, she locked adolescent Jane into the dreaded “red room”, where Mr. Reed had died. She was frightened that his spirit haunted the room. Jane clearly describes how she feels when saying, “…I lifted my head and tried to look boldly round the dark room: at that moment a light gleamed on the wall. Was it, I asked myself, a ray from the moon penetrating some aperture I the blind? No; moonlight was still, and this stirred: while I gazed, it glided up to the ceiling and quivered over my heard… I thought the swift-darting beam was a herald of some coming vision from another world. My heart beat thick, my head grew hot…I was oppressed, suffocated: endurance broke down-I uttered a wild, involuntary cry-I rushed to the door and shook the lock in desperate effort.” (Bronte 17-18) Once Bessie came to rescue Jane’s, Aunt Reed to decided maliciously punish her for crying out and even went to say, “Let her go…loose Bessie’s hand child: you cannot succeed in getting out by these means, be assured. I abhor artifice, particularly in children; it is my duty to s...
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.
At the beginning of the novel while Jane is living under her aunt, Mrs. Reed, she is treated disrespectfully and cruelly. She accuses Jane of being deceitful and a troublesome girl in front of Mr. Brocklehurst, the master of Lowood School. Jane is so hurt by this accusation that she cannot stop herself from defending her well being, and she stands up to her aunt. She knows she is being treated disrespectful and has much more self-worth than ...
The Quest for Inner Beauty in Jane Erye The beauty of a woman is usually classified into two categories: superficial, or physical, beauty and inner, or intellectual, beauty. In the Charlotte Bronte's Jane Erye, the protagonist rejects her own physical beauty in favor of her intelligence and morality. This choice allows her to win the hand of the man she desires. Jane values her knowledge and thinking before any of her physical appearances because of her desire as a child to read, the lessons she is taught and the reinforcements of the idea appearing in her adulthood.
Many people believe that eating disorders are a product of the twentieth century, brought on by teenage girls aspiring to be supermodels like Cindy Crawford. Although such pressures are precipitating factors to many eating disorders, doctors diagnosed patients with anorexia as early as 1689 (Spignesi 7). One early example of anorexia is present in the novel Jane Eyre. Written in the mid-nineteenth century by Charlotte Brontë, this book describes a young girl whose personality bears striking similarities with that of a diagnosed anorexic. The life of the main character, Jane, has also been shown to share innumerable similarities with Brontë's own life. Biographical information from researchers and autobiographical information from Jane Eyre (whether intentional or not) verify that Brontë had an eating disorder.
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.
All the minor characters who appear in the novel, Jane Eyre are only sketched in, so to speak. They are "flat"; not developed in the way that the central three characters are developed. All of them are conventional; behave and speak conventionally, and do not develop at all. They are set merely as foils for the central characters, and they tend to be extremes or stereotypes, behaving very predictably and not surprising us with any unexpected reaction.
Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre chronicles the growth of her titular character from girlhood to maturity, focusing on her journey from dependence on negative authority figures to both monetary and psychological independence, from confusion to a clear understanding of self, and from inequality to equality with those to whom she was formerly subject. Originally dependent on her Aunt Reed, Mr. Brocklehurst, and Mr. Rochester, she gains independence through her inheritance and teaching positions. Over the course of the novel, she awakens towards self-understanding, resulting in contentment and eventual happiness. She also achieves equality with the important masculine figures in her life, such as St. John Rivers and Mr. Rochester, gaining self-fulfillment as an independent, fully developed equal.
Analysis of Jane Eyre & nbsp; In Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte portrays one woman's desperate struggle to attain her identity in the mist of temptation, isolation, and fear. impossible odds of winning. Although she processes a strong soul she must fight not. only the forces of passion and reason within herself,but other's wills. constantly imposed on her. In its first publication, it outraged many.
" I don't know, I asked Aunt Reed once, and she said possibly I might
A Critical Evaluation of Jane Eyre Although Jane Eyre grows and matures, Margaret McFadden-Gerber views her as a relatively emotionally stable young feminist. Through the duration of the novel, Jane demonstrates her "self-love" that is often an influential emotion leading to drastic and hasty reactions. In the very opening few chapters, Jane takes a stand for herself and presents her bruised ego, pride and maturity. Sara Reed, her aunt, dismisses her place in the family as Jane is physically and emotionally removed from her "family's" activities.
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.