When finally Jane is sent to what Mr Lloyd thinks will be a better place for her, Lowood School, she is faced with more distant relationships and hard conditions. However Miss Temple and Helen Burns are of great contrast to the main theme at Lowood and provide at last someone Jane can trust and relate to. Miss Temple has a kind character and concerns herself with Jane’s well being when she arrives at the school. She later becomes the closest Jane gets to a role model in life. Helen is Jane’s first friend and has a profound effect on her in many ways as well as being a counterbalance to Jane’s character and teaching her to be self-controlled and well disciplined and studious to get on in life.
As I put earlier when Jane first comes to Thornfield she is meet by Mrs Fairfax. As always Jane is quick to form impressions in her mind which as readers we learn and can appreciate. She describes her as “the neatest imaginable little elderly lady.” Which you see as quite a likeable and welcoming character. She then goes on to say “A more reassuring introduction for a new governess could scarcely be conceived.” This shows the perfect setting for Jane at last, which is something she has not found truly before in her life.
You can gain even more appreciation of her new setting by the way she describes her surroundings. “A cosy and agreeable picture presented itself to my view.” Also the fire sets the background to Jane’s sense of well being, finally a good place for Jane to settle. In the opening lines of this chapter “A new chapter in a novel is something like a new scene in a play,” it is made clear that this is the start of a new phase in Jane’s life. However one thing which does remain with Jane between all of the phases is the way in which she is strongly influenced by her surroundings as I have suggested at the beginning of this paragraph. After the first night during which she takes time to fully describe everything which comes into her view such as the oak staircase, long gallery, and maybe most important and of greatest contrast to that of Lowood her bedroom. “The chamber looked such a bright little place to me as the sun shone in between the gay blue chintz window curtains, showing papered walls and a carpeted floor, so unlike the bare planks and stained plaster of Lowood.” Her first full day at Thornfield starts with the thought of the pleasant aspect from her window, which cheers her and hints at a better life to come.
Just as Jane’s surrounding play an important part in how her life is panning out, the weather reflects her general mood and thought at the time. This technique in writing is known as pathetic fallacy as was often used in gothic novels of this time, of which Jane Eyre is an excellent example. Another writer who uses pathetic fallacy expertly is Shakespeare, not necessarily the same style of writing but during all of his plays especially Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet the weather plays a large part. Charlotte Brontë involves weather to magnify Jane’s mood, a few examples of this are; the bleak view from the window in the opening chapter backs up the idea of Jane being unhappy. The freezing conditions at Lowood add to the misery and unhappiness there, in the same way that the storm in the orchard at Thornfield on the night of Rochester’s proposal suggests a feeling of anxiety.
Before meeting Mr Rochester Jane again forms her own impressions of him. This time listening to how Mrs Fairfax has been describing him in his absence. The first appearance of Rochester can be linked to supernatural images; this thought remains throughout the relationship between Jane and Mr Rochester and reinforces his mysterious and slightly dangerous edge, which Mrs Fairfax had always dwelled on.
During her meeting with Rochester Jane sees that he is lit by the light of moon and not the sun which again adds to the mystery of his character. Another important point, which is greatly emphasised, is the dog’s name, Pilot. This is so because he leads Rochester to Jane and provides the first idea of Rochester’s identity to Jane.
So during such a small portion of the novel we learn such a lot of the main plot and its offshoots, as I have shown in this essay.
Bibliography
Jane Eyre - New Windmill classics – Charlotte Brontë
Jane Eyre Literature guide – Letts explore – Stewart Martin
Jane Eyre Study guide – York notes – Sarah Rowbotham
