The Portrayal of Childhood in Jane Eyre

The Portrayal of Childhood in Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre is a novel written in the first person about her life. It

follows her life from the eyes of an un-moulded child, to a moulded

young woman.

Charlotte Brontë was the author of the book and a lot of the book

reflected aspects of her life, this added a more personal and

atmospheric feel to the book. I think the genre of the book can be

classed by a mixture of two: the gothic novel and the romantic novel.

I think this, because the gothic novel includes many themes such as

the mysterious and horrific or unexplained. This genre can definitely

describe the mysterious happenings at Thornfield, which were to do

with Bertha Mason (Mr. Rochester's secret wife). The romantic novel,

expresses the passion that Jane holds within herself. There are

different streams of romance as such, running throughout the novel and

the love that Jane either receives or urges for. For example: there is

true romance encountered with Mr. Rochester, in contrast to the 'fake'

love suggested to her by St. John. Her passion or desire to be loved,

can be seen whilst she is living at Gateshead, in contrast to the

feelings of passion that she feels when she meets Helen Burns, or the

Rivers family.

The book shows a lot of independence and power that Jane has, and with

this independence she tries to make something of herself, and break

the social hierarchy. Parallel to this is Charlotte Brontë's own life,

because of two main things. Firstly, she wrote the book about Jane and

her independence and will power, which in the 1800's were not the

types of books people wrote about. In that day, the focus of books

were mor...

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...oticed that 'bedrooms' and the colour 'red' are two

significant subjects that keep passing throughout the novel. Therefore

combining the two could result in an even more dreadful or emotional

scene. This does happen, within the 'Red Room', which was inevitably a

very emotional and scarring event for Jane.

The themes portrayed in Jane Eyre's childhood, shaped her adult life.

This is because at the present, she explains vividly the events that

have occurred to her and have made a significant mark in her memory.

Her childhood is some what confusing and during the course of her

growing up, she moulded herself into a lady who consisted of all the

events and pieces of advice she gained from others.

The first 10 chapters are like a process diary of the evolution from

the dependant girl, to the independent woman Jane Eyre.