The opening of the novel establishes Jane as a sympathetic heroine because most of the time she is isolated from the world. It starts late in the year as it describes the cold winter wind which means winter has started. The effect of this is making the reader feel depressed because of the cold and while Jane is being bullied it give a greater impact on the feelings the readers give to Jane. She is always contrasted with other children such as the Reeds and Helen Burns. When she is contrasted with the Reeds she is told that she is less than a servant.
“No; you are less than a servant, for you do nothing for your keep.”
Abbot says this to her when she is taken to the Red Room because she was shouting at her cousin, John Reed, for hitting her and bullying her. She is always looked down on by the servants and her relatives. This makes the reader feel sympathy for her because no one looks after her and no one cares for her.
The story is in first person narrative, but is told by an older Jane Eyre reflecting to the past.
“Again I reflected: I scarcely knew what school was.”
This quote is when Mr. Lloyd asks her if she would like to go to school and she reflects and says she never did know what school was. Charlotte Bronte does this very well because we can imagine what Jane’s life was like when she was growing up. The reflecting of Jane’s past makes the story look from Jane’s point of view instead of a third person point of view. This encourages sympathy for the character of Jane because the story will be told in a bias way because it is told by the person itself and so we can feel what it is like to be in her shoes.
There are always unsympathetic characters who judge Jane such as Mrs. Reed, Mr. Brocklehurst and Abbot. Mrs. Reed judges her like she is a criminal. She never did what her husband asked her which was to treat Jane like one of her children. She always turned a blind eye to Jane when she gets picked on by her children. Mr. Brocklehurst judges her as if she was the devil reincarnated to form Jane because of the harsh thing Mrs. Reed said about Jane. He tells all the students to stay away from her and when she first arrived at the school she was made to stand on a stool for the rest of the day she arrived there. There were people who showed Jane some affection. Bessie at first judged Jane in an unsympathetic way at first, but changed and began to show affection towards her. Helen Burns was another person to show affection towards Jane because she was there to help Jane in not worrying and knowing she had at least one friend. All this makes us sympathise for Jane because of the way she is judged unfairly by other people and also when she begins to know friends and people who care for her.
I believe that Charlotte Bronte has been even more successful in engaging the readers’ sympathy because of her talent in writing and making Jane’s journey from her early life With the Reeds and when she goes to Lowood School a sad but great novel.
