How and why is Jane continually picked on, made the “scapegoat of the nursery” at Gateshead Hall?

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Jane Eyre Coursework-How and why is Jane continually picked on, made the "scapegoat of the nursery" at Gateshead Hall? Does she deserve this treatment? Is she a "troublesome, careless child," or an intelligent but isolated young girl? Do you admire her, or agree with the treatment that she receives at the hands of the Reeds?

In the course of this book, we see how Jane progresses through life. She grows up from being an obnoxious, odious little child to a prim and polite lady, a reincarnation of her dead Mother. After her experiences at Lowood, she is a changed person. We must question the author's motives in portraying Jane as the repressed child, condemned to a life of misery by her cruel benefactress, send to a school for orphan children run by the tyrannical Brocklehurst, who almost personifies John Reed in his words and actions. We must wonder was Jane's punishment rightfully deserved for inflicting such grievous bodily harm on John Reed, or was it a continuation of the suppression of Jane's rebellious qualities. We must ask was Jane nothing more than a rebel against the establishment, or was she a visionary of things to come in later years.

When we get our first glimpse of Jane, we see how the author immediately sets the scene by describing the scenery as "bare and leafless." This automatically makes us think of a cold penetrating environment, where such things as love and generosity are non-existent. Jane tells us that she "was excluded from the privileges intended for contented, happy little children." Mrs Reed has excluded her from joining her family group, "until she had heard from Bessie that I had a more childlike disposition." When she sits in the window seat, the day is "dreary." This pathetic fallacy reflects Jane's home life with the Reeds. It is here that we can see how the author clearly reflects Jane's gothic nature. In reading her books, she encounters, "a black horned thing, sitting aloof of a rock." This once again reinforces her gothic imagination.

When we get our first glimpse of Jane's chief tormentor, she describes him as having "dingy and unwholesome skin and a dim and beaded eye." This description shows to us how John's physical nature reflects his personality. When wondering where Jane has gone, John describes her as a "bad animal." This shows us how the Reeds really regard Jane. John, like his Mother sees Jane as a "benefactor who is not worthy to live here with gentleman's children." It is interesting to note, that now his Father is dead, John now regards himself as the man of the house, this being reflected in the phrase, "Now I'll teach you to rummage in my bookshelves, for they are all mine." When John stands thrusting his tongue out at her, she describes him as "a disgusting and ugly appearance of one who would presently deal it." When John hits her, she totters backwards, "yet I regained my equilibrium and retired a step or two back from his chair." John's main reason for hitting her is one of jealously. He realises that the book that she had been reading was too advanced for someone of her years, and that he could not understand it himself. John sees how he might be able to defeat Jane physically, but he is no match for her resilience and defiance of his crude methods of tormention. John is also jealous of her intelligence, this being shown when she compares him to "a murderer, a slave driver and the emperors of Rome." This further reinforces how Jane views his tyrannical and oppressive rule.
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After Jane has inflicted a blow on John Bessie and Abbot coming running to "Master John's" rescue. It is interesting to note that even the maids refer to him as Master, this showing us how he is high in the social standing at Gateshead Hall. It is after she has inflicted this blow upon John, when we first hear the most commonly used term to describe Jane-passionate. When Mrs Reed comes along to see what all the fuss is about, her response is it's normal pathetic, feeble self. It is obvious to be seen that see has had ...

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