The Innocence of Lady Jane Grey

1034 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The Elizabethan monarchy

The Innocence of Lady Jane Grey

Sixteenth century England was a turbulent time in the religious life of its citizens. The Reformation and Henry VIII's 'Great Matter' had turned Catholic against Protestant. This was a time of greed, as well as, controversy. As Henry VIII neared the end of his rule over England, many became thirsty for power and awaited any chance to attain it, no matter what, or who, was at stake. It was into thia hectic time that Jane Grey was born. A Protestant and grandniece to Henry VIII, Lady Jane was almost destined for tragedy. Having been so innocent and so eager to please, Jane was the perfect target for manipulation. Lady Jane Grey was an innocent victim of greed who was born into royalty, forced into marriage, forced onto the throne, and executed for the crime of others.

Jane Grey was born into the royal Grey family in October of 1537. At the Bradgate Manor in Leicestershire Hills the Greys received their first daughter (Luke 25). Although Jane was the first child raised by her parents, childbirth was not uncommon to her mother. Frances Grey had already given birth to and lost two children, making her desperate to give her husband the son he desired (Luke 25). Although disappointed, Frances and Henry Grey decided to name their child Jane in honor of the Queen, which Henry hurried off to see (Hal 1). At this same time, Queen Jane Seymour, Henry VIII's third wife, was giving birth to the king's son, Edward (Luke 26). By the age of three, Jane had begun her education. Being of nobility, it was normal to begin that young (Hal 2). When Jane was nine years old she went to live with Queen Catherine Parr. Queen Catherine was the sixth of Henry VIII's wives. This experience was to teach Jane the ways o...

... middle of paper ...

...ildford was taken away. No more than two hours later, the guards came for Jane. She was very strong and did not cry. She untied her own neckerchief and recited the fifty-first psalm. Jane covered her own eyes and found her way to her head's final resting place(Luke 289). When the task was done the executioner held up her head and said, "So perish all the queen's enemies. Behold, the head of a traitor"(qtd. in Hal 7).

Indeed, the sixteenth century was a time of much turmoil. For the citizens it was a difficult time, but for those of royalty it was even more so. A perfect example of this is Lady Jane Grey. By her own parents and the Duke John Dudley, whom I believe is the true villian of this story, Jane was betrayed. Lady Jane Grey was a brave young woman who was manipulated by others and had to pay the ultimate price of death for a crime in which she was innocent.

Show More
Related

  • Jane Eyre Through Bronte's Eyes

    3631 Words  | 8 Pages

    This novel was one of the most radical books of the Victorian Era. It portrayed women as equals to men. It showed that it was possible that men could even be worse than women, through John and Jane. It taught the Victorians never to judge a book by its cover. The novel would not be as successful were it not for Charlotte Brontë’s talent in writing, and were it not for the literary devices employed.

    Read More

  • Overview of The Creation of Anne Boleyn by Susan Bordo

    1033 Words  | 3 Pages

    The story of Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII, has been elusive to historians since her death in 1536 at the hands of her husband. This, in part, can be attributed to the destruction of almost everything she touched soon after her execution. On orders of the king, the castles that were once her home had all memory stripped of her. Portraits were destroyed, letters disappeared, their symbol of the H and A intertwined had the A ripped away. The remnants of her time on the throne are pieces of history that were overlooked in the workers haste to strip the castles in preparation for Jane Seymour to become queen. There are few hints left of what really happened during Anne’s life and how important she was during her reign which has created the widespread infatuation with Anne and who she really was. Why is Anne’s life of such interest to us then? The reasons are many and include the desire to know her role in the English reformation, being the first queen of England to ever be executed, and the impact it had on her daughter and the later Queen Elizabeth I.

    Read More

  • Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bornte

    924 Words  | 2 Pages

    From an early age Jane is aware she is at a disadvantage, yet she learns how to break free from her entrapment by following her heart. Jane appears as not only the main character in the text, but also a female narrator. Being a female narrator suggests a strong independent woman, but Jane does not seem quite that.

    Read More

  • Physical & Emotional Abuse in Jane Eyre: How This Affected Jane’s Evolution Into a Dynamic Character

    1183 Words  | 3 Pages

    Jane Eyre has been acclaimed as one of the best gothic novels in the Victorian Era. With Bronte’s ability to make the pages come alive with mystery, tension, excitement, and a variety of other emotions. Readers are left with rich insight into the life of a strong female lead, Jane, who is obedient, impatient, and passionate as a child, but because of the emotional and physical abuse she endures, becomes brave, patient, and forgiving as an adult. She is a complex character overall but it is only because of the emotional and physical abuse she went through as a child that allowed her to become a dynamic character.

    Read More

  • Queen Elizabeth: The Secret Life Of Queen Elizabeth

    673 Words  | 2 Pages

    Elizabeth [grew up in complex and sometimes difficult circumstances]. In 1547 Elizabeth’s father, Henry VIII, died. Catherine Parr took care of Elizabeth. She hired tutors for Elizabeth. Fighting between Catherine and her husband, Thomas, made Elizabeth have to go back the Hatfield estate. [Elizabeth’s relationship with Thomas came under scrutiny. Thomas was later tried for marring Elizabeth for power. He was found guilty and later executed].

    Read More

  • Jane Eyre

    3036 Words  | 7 Pages

    ane Eyre is a story filled with many forms of abuse and bad customs. In this essay I will bring you close to these. I will point out tyrants and abusers that Jane faces throughout her life. Jane Eyre Is also filled with hypocrisy and I will expose that. The suffering that Jane endures will be discussed. The book Jane Eyre starts out very powerful. Our first meeting of Jane is at Gateshead. Jane is an orphan who is being taken care of by Mrs. Reed her aunt by marriage. There is no love for Jane here; not only that the only thing here for Jane is abuse. “Why was I always suffering, always browbeaten, always accused, forever condemned?”(Pg.11) Keep in mind that this girl is only 10 years old. She is all alone. She is on her own. “I was a discord in Gateshead Hall; I was like nobody there”(Pg.12) Within the First ten pages we learn of the harshest abuse Jane has to face in the book. The infamous “Red Room.” Jane is sent to the “Red Room” after a dispute with John. John is Mrs. Reeds favorite, but he is a little tyrant. The foul part is that Jane was injured by him and she got punished. The reason the “Red Room” seems scary is that it is the room Mr. Reed passed away in. “ And I thought Mr. Reed’s spirt, harassed by the wrongs of his sister’s child, might quit its abode.” So Jane feels that his spirit is present and her harassment of him might keep him from showing himself.” As Jane sits in the “Red Room” a shadow of some kind begins to move about the wall like a dancer. Jane starts to worry to the point that her mind becomes overwhelmed and she passes out. When she wakes up, she begs Bessie and Miss Abbot the help to let her out. They run to Mrs. Reed to tell her of Jane’s high fever. As the sunsets a new found factor of worry is thrown at Jane. It becomes evident that she may not make it through the night. Mr. Lloyd the doctor arrives to tend to Jane, and he recommends that Jane attend a school called Lowwood. Jane makes it through the night but her abuse and torments have just begun. She will soon face a monster and a tyrant far worse than that of young John known as Mr.

    Read More

  • Jane Eyre

    794 Words  | 2 Pages

    Jane in her younger years was practically shunned by everyone and was shown very little love and compassion, from this throughout her life she searches for these qualities through those around her. Due to Jane’s mother’s disinheritance she was disowned by Mrs. Reed and her children, and was treated like a servant consistently reminded that she lacked position and wealth.

    Read More

  • Anne Boleyn Research Paper

    912 Words  | 2 Pages

    Known as the second wife of the King of England, King Henry VII, Anne Boleyn’s life and relationship with King Henry VIII and England has and will always be very intriguing in history. According to G.W. Bernard, Anne Boleyn is often presented as a ‘self-made’ woman, rising from lowly origins to the top before her dramatic fall. This is very true for the fact that her marriage to King Henry was done very quickly and it led to the end of the relationship between England and Rome. Unable to produce a male heir and her eagerness to do so ultimately led her to be charged with treason and eventually to her execution by beheading. Anne Boleyn’s life before King Henry VII, her marriage to King Henry VII, her part in the fall out between England and Rome and of course her death will be explained on this research paper.

    Read More

  • Elizabeth I: A Woman in a Man's World

    1422 Words  | 3 Pages

    It was the death of Edward VI, in 1553, that brought about the realization of Henry VIII’s nightmare of having no male heirs. Although Edward attempted to keep his sister’s out of the will (he did not want his Catholic oldest sister, Mary, to have control of the Protestant country he had inherited from his father) and appoint Jane Grey as heir. However Mary quickly declared herself queen at her manor Kenninghall on July 9, 15531. Jane’s feeble claim,passing over Mary, Elizabeth, Mary Stuart, and her mother, could have been declared Edward’s desire, however his council’s authority died along with him. Northumberland, the man behind Jane’s campaign, also did an about face at Cambridge, supporting Mary’s claim to the throne. This was due to his forces being wreaked by deserters. However Mary showed no mercy and he was executed in August as a traitor, along with Sir John Gates and Sir Thomas Palmer.

    Read More

  • The Challenges Faced In Jane E

    1009 Words  | 3 Pages

    At the start of Jane Eyre, Jane is living with her widowed aunt, Mrs. Reed, and her family after being orphaned. Jane is bitterly unhappy there because she is constantly tormented by her cousins, John, Eliza, and Georgiana. After reading the entire book you realize that Jane was perfectly capable of dealing with that issue on her own, but what made it unbearable was that Mrs. Reed always sided with her children, and never admitted to herself that her offspring could ever do such things as they did to Jane. Therefore, Jane was always punished for what the other three children did, and was branded a liar by Mrs. Reed. This point in the book marks the beginning of Jane's primary conflict in the novel. She feels unloved and unaccepted by the world, as her own family betrays her.

    Read More

  • A Rough Childhood in Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

    570 Words  | 2 Pages

    Life at Gateshead Hall was horrible for Jane. All the children could not play with her, and made fun of her. John Reed, son of Ms.Reed, constantly tortured, and abused Jane. Ms. Reed also kept isolating Jane from everyone. Everyone treated her below a servant because that is what they considered her as. "How is he my master? Am I a servant?' 'No, you are less than a servant," (Bronte 15) They thought this because for an unknown reason Ms. Reed hated Jane. She was an orphan that no one wanted or took care of. She swore she would take care of her to her brother, Jane's dad, who died in Jane's earlier years. Because Ms. Reed hated Jane, anyone could abuse Jane and torment her, and no one would do a thing. She is very independent and educated, which causes...

    Read More

  • Family and Masculinity in Jane Eyre

    2584 Words  | 6 Pages

    Jane does not experience a typical family life throughout the novel. Her various living arrangements led her through different households, yet none were a representation of the norm of family life in the nineteenth century. Through research of families in the nineteenth century, it is clear that Jane’s life does not follow with the stereotypical family made up of a patriarchal father and nurturing mother, both whose primary focus was in raising their children. Jane’s life was void of this true family experience so common during the nineteenth century. Yet, Jane is surrounded by men, who in giving an accurate portrayal of fathers and masculinity in the nineteenth century, fulfill on one hand the father role that had never been present in her life, and on the other hand the husband portrait that Jane seeks out throughout the novel.

    Read More

  • Duty vs. Desire

    1132 Words  | 3 Pages

    During the era were Jane lived it was thought to be a selfish for women to show desire, it was a bad emotion that women were expected to control and keep quite. To perform one's duty to society was thought to be respectful and should be put before anything else. Desire is a term to want something or someone very strongly no matter what the outcome is. Duty in contrast, is a moral obligation to something that somebody is obliged to do for moral, legal, or religious reasons , which is thought to be selfless. The decisions made regarding these emotions are significant throughout Jane Eyre. Charlotte Bronte shows us Jane’s integrity helps her find the balance between duty to herself, and desire to stay.

    Read More

  • Role of Women in Jane Eyre

    1506 Words  | 4 Pages

    Women, in all classes, were still living in a world which was misogynistic and male-dominated. Their purpose in life was to produce male heirs and maintain the home by hiring and overseeing servants. It was also taboo for one to marry significantly below one’s social class. This is one reason that Jane is not a conventional heroine for the society of her time. Although, as a governess, she is not considered to be as low as a housemaid, she is still part of the hired help in the house. This is why it is unconventional for her and Mr Rochester to be in a relationship. Yet this is not as peculiar as how Jane Eyre ends their relationship due to her sense of betrayal. It would have been considered extremely foolish for a working-woman’s sense of betrayal to end and turn down a man of great wealth.

    Read More

  • A Critical Review of Pride and Prejudice

    945 Words  | 2 Pages

    At age six, she was sent away to Oxford with her sister Cassandra. Three years later, they both got sick and were sent to Madame Latoelle, who conducted Abbey School. After the Abbey School, they were sent home to be educated by their father. Jane was never married, but was very close. In 1801, she was engaged to a man named Blackall, but all ended because of his sudden death.

    Read More

More about The Innocence of Lady Jane Grey

Open Document