Compare the presentation of Childhood in Charlotte Brontë's 'Jane Eyre' and Laurie Lee's 'Cider with Rosie'.

Authors Avatar

Rachael Hole

Compare the presentation of Childhood in Charlotte Brontë’s ‘Jane Eyre’ and Laurie Lee’s ‘Cider with Rosie’

Begun in 1846, Jane Eyre was first published in October 1847.  The author, Charlotte Brontë, was born and brought up for most part in parsonage in North Yorkshire. Charlotte was initially educated at home, and then sent to a boarding school for clergymen’s daughters, having a Victorian, wealthy childhood. During the time of illness at school due to the outbreak of tuberculosis, Charlotte was sent home where she grew up reading Shakespeare, Byron and even writing her own fantasy creations to entertain her brothers and sisters.

In 1831, Charlotte went to Miss Wooler’s school at Roe Head, where she became an assistant teacher in 1835. She disliked the work and, from 1839 to 1841, attempted to make a living as a governess. However Brontë failed at teaching and decided to turn to writing under the name Currer Bell as she had a craving for intelligent society and social development in her life. She believed books should be ‘a work of art’ as well as poetry. Needless to say Charlotte’s constricted life led for the need to express her emotion in her writing as well as her vivid imagination and also the popular love of Gothic style.

Even though the novel reflects events in her own life, Brontë denies Jane Eyre to be autobiographical. Many people believe ‘Jane’, the main characters experiences to represent and show the events in Brontë’s life. As the novel was written in the nineteenth century it shows Charlotte’s belief in prose. In the nineteenth century novels became an art form and some say Brontë initiated a change in style.  The title of the book, ‘Jane Eyre’ suggests that the story evolves round a central character, which became more popular as a theme for novels therefore creating more realistic characters whose characteristics can be traced to past experiences.

Laurie Lee, the author of ‘Cider with Rosie’ was born in the town of Stroud in Gloucestershire on 26th June 1914. At the age of three his father abandoned his family in search of a career as a civil servant in London. Circumstances forced Laurie Lee’s mother to rent a small cottage n the nearby village of Slad, where Laurie had an disadvantaged childhood, which is where the writer’s autobiography begins.

Cider with Rosie was published in 1959. The success of the book enabled Laurie Lee to return from his travels to Slad and buy property there. Later Laurie fought on behalf of the village of Slad to preserve the valley from a large housing development. Laurie Lee’s work identifies strongly with rural life, and in depicting the valley of his upbringing he succeeds in preserving it.

The book was written as a celebration of the life of the author. Writing in 1950’s about his childhood in the 1920’s, Laurie lee wished to preserve the memory of the way he grew up.  The book evokes episodes from his life, which are written in no chronological order. The book is not just presented as idyllic, but it is rich in warmth and love, not just Laurie’s family, but also the life of the whole village community. The West Country valley is described in a series of anecdotes that leave the readers with firm sense of having been there themselves.

As Jane Eyre and Cider with Rosie were written in different times, the main characters of the books seem to reflect the different times in history. At the beginning of the novel Jane Eyre is ten years old. She is an orphan and lives in a grand house with her aunt, Mrs Reed, and her three children. We quickly discover that Jane is a most unhappy little girl. Jane Eyre comes across as a child who is unloved. This is because in Jane Eyre’s time and in her social class adults had expectations of children. They were expected to have certain qualities. For a child to be loved they had to meet these qualities and as a result they would be accepted into society. But as Jane did not meet these expectations she was not accepted for who she was and as a consequence she was made to feel withdrawn, unloved and unwanted. She was made to feel a burden on the family.

Laurie Lee’s childhood is much more independent and adventurous than Jane Eyre’s. From the age of three, Laurie Lee already had a certain amount of freedom and being brought up in a time when children had most freedom, Laurie Lee was mostly left to his own devices. He is able to live the way he wants, without rules or boundaries. Laurie Lee was accepted for who he was because no one really had certain expectations of him. Not being pressurised about how to act around people, Laurie Lee was able to express himself at an early age without the implication that he was doing something wrong. The method of discipline used on Laurie Lee was a very haphazard and relaxed. Laurie Lee never felt alone as he always had people around him and made him feel wanted and secure.

It soon becomes clear that Jane has a strong personality and is beginning to question the behaviour and attitudes of those around her. Although young, she refuses to be dominated. From being subjected to these conditions in her family life, Jane learns to hold her head high and suppress her true feelings. As a result of containing her emotion, Jane always appears to be sad and unhappy. She seems pessimistic towards her life at the Reeds. She learns not to show how she hates living in a place full of rules. As a character Jane is very rebellious and bold. When she is told or accused of something she strongly disagrees with, she tends to retaliate. This is shown when Jane is arguing back at Mrs Reeds and showing her true feeling towards her.

“I am not deceitful: If I were, I should say I do not love you, but I declare I do not love you.”

Here Jane is outright with her opinion and shows that she completely disagrees with Mrs Reed. Mrs Reed accuses Jane of being a deceitful little girl, but in fact Jane says that she lets her aunt know that she hates her and does not love her. Jane is not lying to her aunt, just telling her the truth, but from the way Jane responds, it is clear that that Mrs Reed does not want to hear Jane’s true feelings.

“I am glad you are no relation of mine. I will never call you aunt again as long as I live…”

Jane uses such force and anger with her retaliation that it is clear what her opinion is towards her aunt. Jane is releasing all her resentment and torment on her aunt, making it clear that it is her fault that she has this opinion of her. It is her fault that Jane feels like this. Using words like ‘never’ really emphasizes Jane’s feelings and shows Aunt Reed what she really thinks.

Her independence and strength of character is shown in well-defined opinions. Lashing out verbally is a sign of her strong nature and desire to be treated fairly. Jane expresses her emotions with such force and passion. Being made to feel unwanted and unloved Jane has learned to suppress her feelings but when it comes to being accused of being deceitful, Jane unleashes her feelings to state her true opinion and to show that she will not be blamed. She is very assertive and tends to fly into furies.

Laurie Lee’s personality is almost opposite to that of Jane Eyre. Laurie Lee is optimistic and will not stray far from ‘his world’ in the village. Laurie Lee seems very naïve. He never wants to look past the boundaries of the village. All he seems to believe is that the village is his world and whilst it is still there everything in the world is fine. At an early age Laurie Lee is already confident and secure about what is in the world.

‘But I, myself, was a natural infant, content to serve out my time, to slop around and whine and idle: and no one suggested I shouldn’t.

At the beginning of school Laurie already has a lot of confidence and feels secure in his surroundings. Here Laurie shows that he was a normal little boy at school, happy to ‘slop around’ and act lazy, event though he wasn’t told that he shouldn’t act in that manner. This shows that he has a high level of confidence in that he will do what he wants to do without anyone’s authority.

Being spoilt between a family of older sisters, Laurie Lee is always the centre of attention. There are times in the novel in which he calls himself ‘King’. Laurie Lee considered himself so important in the village that he thinks he is royalty.

Join now!

“I return to the school room as Miss Wardley scowls (she shall curtsy when I am King)”

This shows that Laurie Lee will always strive forward to have his own way. He is very ignorant and self-confidant about where he stands in the village society. He appears to not have much respect for people who disagree with him and does not respect other people’s opinions. Again similar to Jane Eyre, he believes that he is the centre of his world and all the people around him are his ‘subjects’. Laurie Lee is a very inquisitive boy who always ...

This is a preview of the whole essay