blame her for wanting this love, as most characters in the book feel quite
sorry for her, an exception of this, being Mrs. Reed. Unfortunately, Mrs.
Reed does not really care about Jane’s feelings and is only bothered
about the welfare of her own children – “Eliza, John and Georgiana were
now clustered round their mama in the drawing-room,” “Me, she had
dispensed from joining group.” Tension in the air is created by this small
problem, which makes Jane very stubborn towards other members of the
house for example Bessie. Jane is extremely sharp towards Bessie, and
this is important to us, as it shows us that she does not relate to people
very well, which is actually quite realistic. In my mind, Jane feels
something towards Bessie and wants her to show some love to her.
Luckily for Jane, a loving relationship is starting to develop between
them, which will hopefully bring Jane a little bit more happiness and light
into her life. Jane Eyre is a very lonely child, without any friends or
family. She keeps herself to herself and most of the time minds her own
business.
Charlotte Brontë uses a great deal of pathetic fallacy in the novel,
which are descriptions of natural surroundings to emphasise the mood of
the plot and also the mood of the characters. An example of this is at
the beginning of the book, “the cold winter wind had brought with it
clouds so sombre, and a rain so penetrating.” Charlotte Brontë is
describing the weather outside and it sounds very dull, cold and dreary.
This is exactly like the mood Jane is in, and so this description is being
used to emphasise Jane’s feelings. By using pathetic fallacy, the author is
creating an atmosphere and almost makes it easier for you to understand
how the characters are feeling. In some of the chapters I have been
able to draw out in my head a visual image of what is happening and this
intensifies the story. For example, pathetic fallacy in this book is used to
heighten the suffering and loneliness of Jane. It makes Jane’s feelings
seem life like and they really stand out from the rest of the text.
John Reed, Mrs. Reed’s greatly valued son, is Jane’s ‘arch’ enemy,
the person she dislikes the most in the whole of Gateshead Hall. John
Reed bullies Jane, calling her names, and sometimes even going as far as
physical violence. In most cases, apart from the importance of his
position as male heir, John does not have a reason for doing these things
to Jane and it is as if he is taking his boredom and anger out on her. For
example, in chapter one, when John cannot find Jane, eventually when her
hiding place has been discovered he first of all makes her call him
“Master Reed”, although he is only fourteen years of age, (only four years
older than Jane). Next he “thrusts out his tongue” at Jane, and although
this is not really a very bad action; the tension is building up, waiting for
something drastic to happen. Eventually it does, and “he struck suddenly
and strongly.” Meaning that John Reed had hit Jane Eyre. Although,
Jane knew that this was going to happen, and knew she would get hurt,
but there was nothing she could do about it. Jane is a delicate little child
who is very fragile. As John Reed is so violent and abusive towards her,
Jane fears him and “every morsel of flesh in her bones shrinks when he
goes near.” Jane suffers mental and physical cruelty at the hands of
John Reed who taunts her and physically assaults her. This makes me
feel very sorry for Jane, as no one realises how she feels about him. As
John Reed is Mrs. Reed’s son; she of course believes everything she is
told by him. Most of the time whatever John tells her is a lie to get Jane
in trouble, but because he is the ‘angelic’ son, she must be the one who
has done wrong and must be punished for it. This is very ironic, as John
Reed is often far ruder to his mother, and although Mrs. Reed in some
cases knows this, she cannot admit it, as her greatly treasured son never
faults or does anything wrong.
The whole of the Reed family living at Gateshead Hall dislike Jane,
and this provokes them to be nasty and horrible towards her. John Reed
is Jane’s biggest fear, and also her bully. He gets his influences off his
mother, Mrs. Reed. She does not appreciate Jane and at any point she
gets, lets her know that Jane was not taken in to be looked after by
choice. It was in her late husband’s will, and so she had to obey his
orders. Mrs. Reed is not one bit sympathetic towards Jane; she feels
that Jane is emotional so she will receive attention and a little bit of
care. Although, after Jane has had a go at Mrs. Reed, and put her into
place, she now feels sorry for Mrs. Reed and regrets what she just said.
Jane wishes she had not lost control when saying all those things and she
feels that she has descended to Mrs. Reed’s level. Jane knows what it is
like to have those kinds of things said to you, and now wants to turn back
time, so that none of those words would have been said. After this
situation, Charlotte Brontë presents Mrs. Reed as being very humiliated,
and in some ways put down. She is shocked that Jane has said those
things to her, as she should be respected.
Jane feels her treatment and behaviour of her cousins is very
unfair on her part. Eliza is described as being “respected”, even though
she is “selfish.” Georgiana is described as being “universally indulged”,
even though she has a “spoiled temper”. John, who “twisted the necks of
the pigeons and killed the little pea-chicks,” is described as being “much
less punished.” The three children of the Reed family are never punished
for doing wrong, where as when Jane says one word out of line, she is
banished to a room and locked in there, even though the Reed children
misbehave in a more meaning full way. The readers are made to feel
sorry for Jane, and her suffering evokes our sympathy because we
ourselves would never want to be treated the way Jane is. It is the
readers, therefore that want to offer Jane the love and happiness that
she one day dreams for.
Charlotte Brontë uses detailed descriptions of the setting and
atmosphere to create a sense of suffering and to evoke our sympathy for
Jane, while in the Red Room. The Red Room is the room in Gateshead
Hall, in which Mrs. Reed’s husband passed away. His ghost is believed to
be living in there, but nobody has actually ever seen it. Charlotte Brontë
has made the Red Room sound very gothic like, and when you read about
it, it is as if it comes from a gothic novel, which were very popular in the
Victorian era. This aspect adds excitement and an eerie effect to the
novel. Many of the descriptive words that Charlotte Brontë has used are
very ghostly like, and make the Red Room sound very dark, haunted and
scary. For example, “a bed supported on massive pillars of mahogany,
hung with curtains of deep red damask.” The deep red damask colour of
the curtains are meant to represent blood and the massive pillars of
mahogany, sound like dark figures towering over you. Charlotte Brontë
uses a lot of pathetic fallacy in this section of the book, to describe
Jane’s feelings and emotions, when she has been locked in the Red Room
by Mrs. Reed. She is very scared and cannot think straight. She is very
worried about what could happen to her, and she is very aware of the idea
of a ghost living in the room. The use of pathetic fallacy very much
heightens the sense of Jane’s suffering while locked in the Red Room.
For example, when Jane glanced into the looking glass, she saw a “white
face and arms specking the gloom, and glittering eyes of fear moving
where all else was still.” This is as if a ghost was in the mirror looking
back at her, but it was Jane’s imagination thinking the worst and she was
scaring herself. Jane is being put through mental torture and a child of
ten years old should not go through something as horrific as this.
There are of course many servants working at Gateshead Hall, but
only two of them are mentioned in the book – Bessie, and her maid Abbot.
Bessie is the children’s ‘nurse’, but nowadays she would be like a
childminder. She controls the children, and tells them what they can and
cannot do, while Mrs. Reed sorts out the important affairs. I get the
impression that Bessie is not very keen on the Reed family children, and
she thinks they are very impolite and not very well mannered. Where as,
she is becoming quite attached to Jane Eyre and is beginning to realise
that she needs some love, which Bessie is offering to give. Bessie is very
careful in the way she helps and talks to Jane, because if Mrs. Reed
catches her even showing a little bit of friendliness towards Jane, she
will probably loose her home, as well as her job. In my mind, Bessie is not
really a servant, she is more a secretary to Mrs. Reed, as well as being
like a second mother to the children. Although, she is treated very
unfairly, as all servants would be in the Victorian times. Bessie’s
relationship with Jane is developing day by day, and they are becoming
closer. Jane is learning that Bessie is there to help her, and she can
trust Bessie. I get the feeling that Jane understands how Bessie feels
about her. For example, when Jane was locked in the Red Room and all
got too much for her, she tried to get out and Bessie and Abbot came to
her rescue. “I had now got hold of Bessie’s hand, and she did not snatch
it from me.” Jane realises that if Bessie did not feel for her then as
soon as Jane had grabbed Bessie’s hand it would be snatched away
immediately. Jane therefore feels something for Bessie and knows if she
needs a shoulder to cry on, Bessie will be there lending it.
Jane Eyre is a little girl of ten years old who is very put down by
the way she is treated. She does not have any family, and this makes her
feel very lonely and unwanted. At the time the novel Jane Eyre was
written, Victorian children were not allowed to have opinions, and so Jane
kept all her thoughts and emotions to herself. She is physically and
mentally trapped, and the name of the house where she is staying –
Gateshead, means that because of the gates, she is stuck there and
cannot escape. They are holding her back from exploring and becoming
free. Jane has a very vivid and imaginative imagination, and this makes
her feel even more put down, as she dreams of the outside world, and
everybody being happy together – “I doubted not, that I might one day,
by taking a long voyage, see with my own eyes the little fields, houses and
trees.” She is singled out from the entire goings on at Gateshead Hall,
and so does not really have an exciting or fun filled life. As Jane has no
family, she has nobody to turn to when she is feeling down, so her head is
filled with all sorts of emotions and this makes her feel very lonely and
confused. She is not able to trust anybody and this makes Jane very
aware of the bad things in life. Jane just wants to be loved and have a
family like everybody else. If the Reed’s will not let her be part of
theirs, then perhaps one day she could become part of somebody else’s.
Mr. Brocklehurst is in charge of Lowood School where Jane
Eyre is to be sent. He is a very intimidating man, and even before he
speaks, the physical descriptions of him make him sound very cold and
scary. Charlotte Brontë uses humour when talking about Mr.
Brocklehurst, for example when he is asking Jane what she must do to
make sure she does not go to hell. Mr. Brocklehurst wanted her to reply
with something along the lines of being a good girl and doing as you are
told, but instead Jane answers with the remark of “I must keep in good
health and not die.” This answer totally deflates Mr. Brocklehurst and
shows his shallow nature. Another humorous part of the Mr. Brocklehurst
section, is when he is telling Jane about the boy and the psalms. He asks
the little boy which he would rather have, a gingerbread-nut to eat of a
verse of psalms to learn, and the little boy answers with, “Oh! The verse
of a Psalm! Angels sing Psalms. I wish to be a little angel here below.” He
then gets two nuts, as a reward for his dutiful devotion to God. The
readers know that the little boy replays saying this, as he knows that
because of what he has said, he will receive gingerbread-nuts as a bonus
for being so good. The character of Mr. Brocklehurst reflects this, as he
is hypocritical towards religious doctrines a he believes it is more about
appearing holy, than actually being holy.
Lowood School is the school that Mrs. Reed sends Jane to. Mr.
Brocklehurst is the owner of this very religious place and expects the
children that go there to be very well mannered and polite. Lowood
School is surrounded by “great grey hills heaved up round the horizon.”
This tells the readers that the school is very low down in the valleys of
the hills. This may be perhaps where the word “Lo” from the name of the
school comes from. Although, the school is of very low-maintenance and
does not have very much money, so Charlotte Brontë may have chosen to
call it low because it is a bleak and depressing place. The “wood” part of
the word will be there because the school is in the middle of a great
forest, and this makes the atmosphere very dull and depressive.
Miss Temple, is one of the teachers that works at Lowood School.
I get the impression that she is the pupils’ favourite teacher, and they
can trust her – “Miss. Temple is full of goodness; it pains her to be so
severe to anyone, even the worst in the school.” If any of them are ever
upset, or have been in trouble, Miss. Temple will be there to put a smile
on their face, and make them feel better. If a child does something
worthy of praise Miss. Temple, unlike any of the other teachers, will
congratulate them, and make them feel proud of themselves – “she sees
my errors and tells me of them gently; and if I do anything worthy of
praise, she gives me my need liberally.” In my opinion, Charlotte Brontë
gave Miss. Temple this name, as she will probably be very tall and skinny.
She is a very calm and loving lady, and she always does her best to help
everybody, even if she is going out of her way. An example of this is
when she asks for some cheese and bread for the girls when they are
hungry, as the porridge was burnt. Miss Temple knew that by doing this
she could have ended up in a lot of trouble, but this did not bother her
and she went ahead, and was victorious.
If Mrs. Reed had not sent Jane Eyre to Lowood School, who knows
what would have happened to her. It is a totally different environment,
than that of Gateshead Hall, and Jane is much happier here. As well as
obtaining an education, she has made friends although one of them is not
around for very long. At Lowood School, Jane receives independence and
freedom, and her life eventually starts to brighten up. In my mind, Jane
has been saved, and if she had not become a pupil at Lowood, the story of
Jane Eyre, would have a very different ending.
The Jane Eyre that I met at the beginning of the novel, was an
arrogant and aggressive little girl. I have read through the story of her
life, and she has now become a trustworthy, sensible, grown-up human
being. She has had many traumas in her childhood, all of which have made
her out to be confident and independent. She would not have managed
without her determination, as she has had many important decisions to
make some being successful and others not so. I really like the character
of Jane Eyre, and if she had been the slightest bit different I would not
have this opinion of her. At parts she has made me laugh, and other parts
brought a tear to my eye. I feel for her, as she does not have any family,
and because of this has suffered greatly. From the way Charlotte has
evoked Jane’s feelings, the reader is able to understand what it is like,
and the emotions you feel. Jane Eyre is a very determined ten-year-old
girl with a great personality, and Charlotte Brontë could not have used a
better character on which to base the novel. She is definitely my
favourite character in the book, mainly because of her determination and
pride. The book of Jane Eyre has many life changing decisions, and I have
sometimes wondered if it was me that had to make those choices,
whether they would have been as successful as they were for Jane.
