At first Lowood seemed as bad if not worse than Gateshead. Why do you think Jane came to prefer it despite its hardships?
At first Lowood seemed as bad if not worse than Gateshead. Why do
you think Jane came to prefer it despite its hardships?
'Jane Eyre' was written in the mid-nineteenth century and is set during the Victorian period, at a time where a women's role in society was restrictive and repressive and class differences were distinct. A job as a governess was one of the only few respectable positions available to the educated but impoverished single women.
Schools of the 19th century were strict, and they demanded much hard work and participation from the students, however, just the same, children of the time loved going to school. Most children felt that it was a privilege to attend school and they especially enjoyed the time it gave them to be with and socialize with other children. This is reflected in the novel because Jane is glad to be leaving her cruel aunt and of having the chance of going to school. In the country where small, one-room schools existed, the "Three Rs" were considered the most important subjects because, to be able to read the Bible would make a person a better Christian. In the novel, Mr. Brocklehurst said 'take away your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh'. He was asking Jane to pray to God to change her attitude towards religion, highlighting the importance of religion. Good penmanship-writing was a valuable skill as neat, legible handwriting was considered a sign of a cultured person, and knowing how to solve mathematical-arithmetic problems was important for anyone who wanted to be a farmer, a store keeper, a craftsperson, a miller, or any number of other careers.
The depiction of disease in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre helps define Jane's social position and. This is because the poor were often associated with diseases such as tuberculosis in the Victorian period, as a result of their unhygienic living conditions and filthiness. Also Jane's father was a poor clergyman who died of typhus fever, associating her with the lower classes, and her friend Helen Burns died of TB at Lowood, which was a very dirty and unhygienic making the girls more vulnerable to the diseases.
Children in Victorian society were taught to be good Christians, and this is shown in the novel by Helen's strong belief in God and her self-denial as a result of her Christianity and Mr Brocklehurst's attitude towards Jane after she tells him she does not find psalms interesting.
The novel begins in Gateshead Hall where due to Jane's lower status; Mrs. Reed treats Jane as an outcast. Mrs. Reed is a conventional woman who believes that her class standing sets her to be superior, and therefore better than a member of her own family. As a ...
This is a preview of the whole essay
Children in Victorian society were taught to be good Christians, and this is shown in the novel by Helen's strong belief in God and her self-denial as a result of her Christianity and Mr Brocklehurst's attitude towards Jane after she tells him she does not find psalms interesting.
The novel begins in Gateshead Hall where due to Jane's lower status; Mrs. Reed treats Jane as an outcast. Mrs. Reed is a conventional woman who believes that her class standing sets her to be superior, and therefore better than a member of her own family. As a result of Jane's tantrums, quick temper, and lack of self-control, classifies her as an immoral person. As Bessie and Miss Abbot drag Jane to the "red room" she is told by Miss Abbot: "No; you are less than a servant for you do nothing for your keep". Miss Abbot believes God will punish her, that he might strike her in the midst of her tantrums. Miss Abbot constantly reminds Jane that she is wicked, she needs to repent, and she is especially dependent on prayer. The Reed children, in contrast, are treated completely opposite. Although John Reed is cruel and vicious to Jane, he receives no type of warning that God will punish him. Bessie and Miss, Abbot especially, treat Jane as if she is the enemy and tell her that she should be happy that she has a place to live and that she has been given a home despite the fact that she is unloved by any member of the household.
At Lowood Jane won the friendship of everyone there, but her life was difficult because conditions were poor at the charity school and Mr. Brocklehurst, who was the hypocritical head of the school, resented her just as Mrs. Reed did and accused her of deceitfulness. But she came to be respected by most of the teachers and students, largely due to the influence of her teacher, Miss Temple, who had taken a part as a mother, governess, and a companion. Jane found in Miss temple what Mrs. Reed always denied her. This is one of the reasons why she came to prefer Lowood to Gateshead. She was punished for minor faults at Lowood as well as Gateshead but at least she had people who cared for her. Miss Temple and Helen Burns were the two who had the most important roles in Jane's life. When living with her Aunt Reed and cousins, Jane had a comfortable home to live in but she was resented by almost everyone there. She felt that she could live without such a luxurious home as Gateshead but not without love and respect.
This episode in Jane's life is rich in imagery. Jane receives no love or approval from her family. The only form of love that she does have is the doll she clings to at night when she sleeps, as her doll is her only companion whom she can love. The image of fire is used to represent several emotions. Flame is associated with the passion that dominates Jane's emotions.
Reading is Jane's escape from the world around her to her own imaginary world. She reads about places she will probably never have the chance to visit because she wants to visit them in her imagination, and leave reality behind. She also feeds a hungry sparrow while at Gateshead. This is significant because she shows care and sympathy for the sparrow, two things which she is denied.
When she is ignorantly thrust into the red-room, we can see how the room has heavy religious imagery associated with it. We are told that the bed looked like a 'tabernacle,' and the footstool resembled a 'pale throne'. It is ironic that something a lowly as a footstool should resemble something as powerful as a throne, but this once again shows us how someone as lowly as Jane can rise to the status of someone like a king or a queen, 'Scarcely less prominent than...with a footstool before it, and looking, as I thought, like a pale throne.' It is in this room that we can now see how Jane starts to reflect on the abuse that she has suffered at the hands of the Reeds. She now refers to 'John Reed's violent tyrannies,' 'his sisters' proud indifferences,' and 'all his Mother's aversion and the servants partiality.' It can be seen now how Jane has become dejected and despondent. She has been locked into the red-room and is suffering a refined type of mental torture. Jane feels both physically and mentally overpowered in the red room, the sheer size of the space and furniture is so much bigger than her, it just makes her feel smaller than she already is. As her time in the red room draws on, her fear and anxiety levels dramatically increase and she becomes spiritually overpowered. As she passes the mirror, her sub-conscious mind plays tricks on her because of her physical state, and she thinks she sees the spirit of her dead uncle. This indicates the intensity of her terror. Indirectly Mrs. Reed is trying to break Jane, both psychologically and mentally. She has realised the significance of the room to Jane, since it was Mr. Reed who decided to foster and care for Jane but Mrs. Reed hated her from the day since she move to Gateshead hall, 'that child did nothing but whimper and moan, not like any other child who would scream heartily.'
It must have been an extremely frightening experience for a child of such a young naïve age, to be locked up in that room. Jane disliked Gateshead more because she knew she could never be treated in such a cruel manner in Lowood, nothing as terrifying as being locked up in the red room.
In Jane Eyre, good weather is the tool used to indicate positive events or moods. Similarly, poor weather is the tool used in setting the tone for negative events or moods (pathetic fallacy). This technique is used throughout the entire novel, alerting the readers of the upcoming atmosphere. Jane's mood is, to a degree, determined by the weather mentioned. For example, after Jane was publicly and falsely accused of being a liar by Mr. Brocklehurst, an upcoming positive event was predicted when Jane described her surroundings:
'Some heavy clouds swept from the sky by a rising wind, had left the moon bare; and her light streaming in through a window near, shone full both on us and on the approaching figure, which we at once recognised as Miss Temple.'
Miss Temple plays an important role in Jane's life because she is her only hope after Helen's death and she is the reason Jane decides to leave Lowood. If it weren't for her Jane probably would not have still preferred Lowood to Gateshead after Helen's death, maybe not at all.
By the time Jane comes to leave Lowood she has gained an education which enables her to become an independent woman. Jane's personality is one that needs total independence and self recognition. The reason Jane feels this constant need to depend only upon herself grows out of insecurity deriving from the lack of parental guidance in her childhood years. Her experiences as an emotionally abused and lost child result to feelings of constant need to replenish herself and rely on herself. It is necessary for women to be independent in life; but not to the point where they lack trust in others and cannot develop relationships with other people. Jane constantly doubts her trust in other people. She denies relationships that could be truly fulfilling in her life because she lacks the ability to depend on or trust other people. However, she eventually does realise her mistakes and matures through them.
In conclusion, I think that the most important reasons why Jane came to prefer Lowood to Gateshead despite its hardships is that she received love and affection at Lowood from mainly Miss Temple and Helen Burns, this was particularly important to Jane as she had not really had not really ever been loved by anyone.
'Jane Eyre' GCSE Essay 30/04/2007
Zonera Ilyas 10MJ
