Mrs Reed, after having been forced into looking after Jane showed her no love. This showed that Mrs Reed only thought of herself and her children. As a helpless child Jane was out of her depth in circumstances beyond her control and as the adult Mrs Reed should have acted more maturely.
Through her reading, Jane realised she was treated no better than “any other rebel slave.”
Charlotte Bronte shows us that the idea of locking children up as punishment was seen as acceptable if they were not of your standing in life.
The Red Room is used as a threat. This type of punishment would have been used in workhouses in that era.
Jane is going to be sent to Lowood School as her aunt, Mrs Reed, who said she would take care of Jane, has decided she cannot cope and that leads to a decision to send her away to Lowood.
Mr. Brocklehurst is responsible for the running of the school, so he goes to visit Jane and her aunt.
Mrs Reed tells Jane that she is needed in the breakfast room. She is not told why she is needed and Jane is frightened to go downstairs, as she was not allowed downstairs for three months, as she had been restricted to the nursery.
Jane felt “intimidated” and she was trembling with fear, as she did not know what was about to happen. Her aunt and cousins had always been cruel to Jane and they treated her like one of their servants.
As Jane entered the room she saw Mr. Brocklehurst standing on the rug. She describes his as “a black pillar, straight, narrow, sable-clad shape standing erect on the rug.” Jane describes Mr. Brocklehurst like this as she feels that he is cold.
Mrs Reed tells Mr. Brocklehurst that she wants Jane to join the school because she is “not quite the character and disposition I could wish.” Jane obeyed Mrs Reed’s wishes but her efforts were still “repulsed and repaid.”
You learn that Mr. Brocklehurst is a vicar but he does not really act like a Christian. Mr. Brocklehurst tells Jane of an earlier incident in his life with a boy that would give up one gingerbread nut, to say a verse of Psalm. He then goes on to say that the boy gets two nuts in recompense for his “infant piety.” This shows that Mr. Brocklehurst is not really very intelligent as Jane works out that the boy only said a verse of Psalm, as he knew he would get two nuts instead of one.
Mr. Brocklehurst tries to frighten Jane in this part of the novel by using the idea of going to hell when you die if you are a bad person. “Do you know where the wicked go after death?” He tries to persuade Jane that hell is a bad place and he asks her is she knows how to avoid being sent to hell. Jane replies by saying “I must keep in good health, and not die.”
Mr. Brocklehurst knows this is impossible as he explained how he had once buried a child of five.
This scene is an important scene to the novel as a whole, as it leads into Jane going off to Lowood School. This scene also gives a clear image of Jane and an insight into her fiery, passionate character.
In this episode of the novel, Charlotte Bronte is criticising Victorian society and the way children were under strict orders from the adults and how badly treated some children were. Bronte is also criticising the class system and that Jane is being humiliated just because she is not as high a class as Mrs Reed. The use of religion to make children behave and to frighten them is also being critised. Mr. Brocklehurst uses religion to frighten Jane in this part of the novel. This shows that although he is a vicar he uses the Christian religion to gain the respect from children, rather than using it to teach children right from wrong. In a way he is using religion as a power over them.
Another episode that stands out in the novel is the first fire. This happens in Jane’s adulthood.
Jane is now eighteen and is employed as a governess at Thornfield House. Jane’s employer is Mr. Rochester. At this point in the novel, Jane has started to fall in love with Mr. Rochester, “his presence in a room was more cheering than the brightest fire.” Although there is a class difference between Jane and Mr. Rochester, he has an easy manner with Jane.
The first fire takes place at night in Mr. Rochester’s room. Jane could not sleep as she was “thinking of his look when he paused in the avenue.” The avenue was where Jane first met Mr. Rochester. Jane tried to sleep but her “heart beat anxiously.” Jane sat up and then she heard a noise as “if fingers had swept the panels in a groping way along the dark gallery outside.” Jane was “chilled with fear” because of this, but then she thought it might be Pilot going to Mr. Rochester’s chamber.
Jane does not stop to think about her actions when she see’s Mr. Rochester’s room with “tongues of flame darted round the bed.” Jane managed to awake Mr. Rochester and was also able to put out the flames.
This episode is important in the development of the relationship between Jane and Mr. Rochester as no one else is told about the real cause of the fire, so Jane and Mr. Rochester now have a big secret together.
Later on in the novel when Mason gets attacked, Jane helps Mr. Rochester and no one is told about this attack. This is another secret they share bringing them even closer together.
Mr. Rochester’s behaviour is very strange in this episode of the novel. He just wants to act as if nothing had happened and that it was his fault. “I will account for this state of affairs.” This is probably because of the secret he is keeping from the whole of Thornfield House. As things like this had happened before he does not want people wondering what is up on the third floor.
Mr. Rochester seems glad that it was Jane that had saved him because if it had been anyone else he would have felt awkward. “Nothing else that has being would have been tolerable to me in the character or creditor for such as obligation.” This shows that Mr. Rochester feels comfortable and relaxed when he is with Jane.
Mr. Rochester also shows Jane that he has respect for her, “Your are no talking fool.” He knows that he can trust Jane, as she is not the sort of person that spreads rounds secrets and tells stories.
This novel is a classic Gothic romance. Gothic is a genre that uses ingredients such as supernatural events, strange creatures, dark old castles and a gloomy atmosphere. Rochester’s dark secret and the many unexplained events are typical of the Gothic genre. The descriptions of strange old furniture, mysterious laughter and accidents, such as the fire in Mr. Rochester’s bedroom all add to the interest of the novel.
