At first Lowood seemed as bad if not worse than Gateshead. Why do you think Jane Eyre 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 character. 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. Tuberculosis, also known as consumption, was common amongst working classes because it was contracted through pestilent, infected air, manifesting itself in places surrounded by swampy land. Typhus Fever was most commonly contracted through mites or louse, often carried by rats. Typhus was also most prevalent amongst the lower classes, because the poor were often forced to live in unkempt and unclean environments. 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 Consumption at Lowood, which was a result of the very dirty and unhygienic conditions, making the girls more vulnerable to the diseases. Charity Schools were common places of infection due to inedible food and a vulnerability to contagion, i.e., the necessity of sharing beds and drinking from the same cups. Also, the pupils were not fed properly so they were weakened by poor nutrition as well as from the spread of contagious 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, 'Psalms are not interesting,' I remarked.
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, she is classified 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 ...
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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, she is classified 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. The language that Jane uses to describe Brocklehurst tells us a lot about her first impression of the man. 'I looked up at-a black pillar! Such, at least, appeared to me, at first sight, the straight narrow sable-clad shape...the grim face at the top was a carved mask placed above the shaft by way of capital.' Mr. Brocklehurst is portrayed so descriptively and metaphorically as a symbol of everything that oppressed Jane. She speaks of him in a gothic style, and so in effect Mr. Brocklehurst should be an object of fear towards young children. His 'Christian' teachings concentrated on sin and obedience, rather than on tolerance and love - an emotion Jane craved to experience. Even though Brocklehurst himself said that humility is a Christian grace, he does not practise it; instead he enforces harshness and humility upon all pupils at his school, and wishes to strip them of all possible vanity. Yet ironically at the same time he indulges his clearly proud and conceited daughters. This is an example of the type of character that Jane despises and challenges because of their abuse of power.
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, 'I would not now have exchanged Lowood with all its privations for Gateshead and its daily luxuries.'
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. The colour red is significant because it is the colour of fire and heat and can represent passion and fury. Flame is associated with the passion that dominates Jane's emotions and fire imagery, in the form of the red-room with its pillars of mahogany" and "curtains of deep red damask", is used to represent Jane's desperately passionate nature. It is stated that "the room was chill, because it seldom had a fire"; which could mean that whilst she is physically cold, her punishment for being overly passionate is to be emotionally cold. Red is usually associated with violence and anger and Jane initially feels angry and passionate after quarrelling physically and verbally with her cousin John. Mrs. Reed's answer to this is to lock away or put limitations on that warm passion, leaving her cold.
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 reads books, such as "Gulliver's Travels', 'Berwick's History of British birds', she is also read books such as 'Henry, Earl of Moreland'. These books feed her imagination, because she has a thirst for knowledge, and they also give her a chance to escape from her challenging life at Gateshead Hall. I believe that she uses her knowledge from the books to defend herself against bullying and victimisation from the Reed's. This is clearly presented when John Reed torments her, and attacks her. She uses characters from the book, Goldsmiths 'History of Rome' as metaphors for the behavior of John Reed when she answers back to his actions aimed at her. 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. 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. 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.' This quote suggests the extent of Mrs. Reed's cruelty towards Jane because all children have a tendency to cry whether they are 'screaming heartily' or 'whimpering and moaning,'
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.' Pathetic fallacy is also used during the "Red Room" incident both to reflect Jane's mood and the atmosphere of the room: 'Daylight began to forsake the red-room; it was past four o'clock, and the beclouded afternoon was tending to drear twilight. I heard the rain still beating continuously on the staircase window, and the wind howling in the grove behind the hall.'
Helen Burns, Jane's friend at Lowood School, serves as a foil to Mr. Brocklehurst as well as to Jane. While Mr. Brocklehurst embodies an evangelical form of religion that intends to strip others of their excessive pride or of their ability to take pleasure in things, Helen represents a mode of Christianity that stresses tolerance and acceptance. Mr. Brocklehurst uses religion to gain power and to control others; Helen trusts her own faith and turns the other cheek to Lowood's harsh policies. Like Jane, Helen is an orphan who longs for a home, but Helen believes that she will find this home in Heaven rather than Northern England, and while Helen is not oblivious to the injustices the girls suffer at Lowood, she believes that justice will be found in God's ultimate judgment-God will reward the good and punish the evil. Jane, on the other hand, is unable have such blind faith. Her quest is for love and happiness in this world.
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. Miss Temple is the kind and fair-minded superintendent of Lowood School, who plays an important role in the emotional development of Jane. Jane arrives at Lowood as a passionate little girl, who is deeply resentful of her aunt and cousins, but due to the influence of Helen Burns and Miss Temple's example, Jane learns to control these feelings, and be happy, "I had given in allegiance to duty and order...I believed I was content...I appeared a disciplined and a subdued character". Miss Temple's treatment of Helen also has an influence on Jane. Jane has a great deal of admiration for Miss Temple, and in many ways copies her behaviour. Miss Temple's treatment of Helen shows Jane how to treat other people, with kindness and respect. Miss Temple acts as a strong role model to Jane, and holds the qualities which Jane aspires to have: kindness, sensitivity to the sufferings of others and resolute in her stance to injustice, "I had imbibed from her something of her nature and much of her habits".
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. They were highly influential to her because they both had hearts of gold and they caused her to realise the importance of love and friendship, two things she had never experienced in her life until meeting Helen and Miss Temple.
'Jane Eyre' GCSE Essay 08/05/2007
Zonera Ilyas 10MJ
