Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre - Miss Temple's Influence on Jane Eyre

Miss Temple's Influence on Jane Eyre

"Jane Eyre" is set during the Victorian period, at a time where a women's role in society was restricted and class differences distinct. A job as a governess was one of the only few respectable positions available to the educated but impoverished single women.

Not only is "Jane Eyre" a novel about one woman's journey through life, but Brontë also conveys to the reader the social injustices of the period, such as poverty, lack of universal education and sexual inequality. Jane's plight and her "dependant" status is particularly emphasized at the beginning of the novel.

Miss Temple is the kind and fair-minded superintendent of Lowood School, who plays an important role in the emotional development of Jane Eyre.

Miss Temple is described by Helen as being "good and very clever" and "above the rest, because she knows far more than they do". This description is more significant because it has been said by Helen, and she herself is extremely mature.

One of Miss Temple's most outstanding qualities is her ability to command (perhaps unconsciously) respect from everyone around her, "considerable organ of veneration, for I yet retain the sense of admiring awe with which my eyes traced her steps". Even during their first encounter Jane is "impressed"... "by her voice, look and air".

Throughout Jane's stay at Lowood, Miss Temple frequently demonstrates her human kindness and compassion for people. An Example of this is when after noticing that the burnt porridge was not eaten by anyone, she ordered a lunch of bread and cheese to be served to all, realising their hunger. This incident is also evidence of her courage, of how she is not afraid to stand up to her superior, when she feels that too much unnecessary suffering has been inflicted on the children

Miss Temple's Christianity contrasts with that of Mr Brocklehurst, where instead of preaching restrictive and depressing doctrine, which he then proceeds to contradict, she encourages the children by "precept and example".

After the incident involving Mr Brocklehurst announcing to the whole school that Jane is a liar, the reader becomes aware of Miss Temple's sense of natural justice, where before accepting what Mr Brocklehust has said, she inquires from Jane her version.

It is of no coincidence that Brontë choose to coincide Miss Temple's arrival into the schoolroom with the moon's light "streaming in through a window near".