Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte depicts the life of a girl who is at odds with her place in the world. Her life of indignation is one of hardship, which is clearly portrayed by Jane Eyre’s thoughts as she sits alone in the Red Room. After being abandoned in the room where her uncle died Jane recognizes her emotions about all her conflicts at Gateshead. The Red Room is an important scene in Jane Eyre as it will haunt her for the rest of her days. Bronte uses the room to give insight into Jane’s feelings of abuse and being an outcast in the Reed family.

The Red Room is conveyed as a huge expanse, housing furniture that is made to feel robust, describing the, “massive pillars” (Bronte 10) of the bed frame, “the two large windows” (Bronte 10) and “the piled-up mattresses” (Bronte 11). The mighty description of the furniture creates an idea of Jane being but a speck in the room. You can imagine her standing, looking all around, in awe at items in the room, absorbing every detail. The description of the Red Room is very visual in the colors that Bronte uses. Everything in the room is described either as a dark or pale hue. The dark hues are reserved for the furniture, drapes, and bed coverings; while the paler hues describe the walls and the easy-chair.

The colors in the room foreshadow Jane’s character and her feelings of anger, rage and fury in relation to her treatment at Gateshead. Being locked in the room gives her time to ponder, “Why was I always suffering, always browbeaten, always accused, for ever condemned? Why could I never please?” (Bronte 11-12). Jane’s repetition of the universal term “always” shows her character as feeling down trodden, unable to be accepted. Jane feels that no matter what, she would never be accepted at Gateshead; there were too many people up against her. Jane is constantly in a, “mood of humiliation, self doubt, forlorn depression” (Bronte 13) which prevents her from aspiring for greater things. Her depression leads her to thoughts of suicide and death. Bronte portrays Jane, in this scene, as weak and overcome by the grief of her situation. She is alone with herself to reflect upon her issues.

The Red Room is a powerful scene which has a lot of significance to Jane’s character in the novel.