Jane Eyre Essay

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Jane Eyre Essay

In this essay I will be exploring how Charlotte Bronte conveys hardships in her portrayal of life. Furthermore the issue of life in Victorian England and what Victorian readers may think of the treatment of children will also be looked upon. Many of the hardships that children face are shown through the several descriptions and the actions of characters that are close to Jane. Throughout the text we learn that the novel explores the lack of rights and mistreatment of an orphan by her rich relatives. The issues of child abuse are often considered between the Reed family.

In the novel the portrayal of the reed children seems to interfere with Jane’s life. The author emphasises them to be unfriendly and unkind to Jane as she is an adopted sister. They are shown as being immoral and haughty. They like to abuse Jane because they feel she is inferior. Their feelings of superiority towards Jane are what cause them to intimidate and torment Jane. The depiction of John Reed shows him to be a bully and unaffectionate: “John had not much affection for his mother or sisters” which indicates ungratefulness from John towards the rest of his family. Bronte tries to characterize him as a murderer. The quotation “I really saw in him a tyrant: a murderer” shows Jane’s feelings towards John; that he is ruthless and bloodthirsty. This is so that the audience can realise how and what Jane feels about her unintelligent cousin. The portrayal of Georgina differs greatly from that of John. A “spoiled tempered” brat at the mere stage of childhood is the interpretation of Georgina. She is shown as being spiteful through the quote “acrid spite” and is additionally perceived to be arrogant which is publicized by the extract “insolent carriage”. These extracts indicate to us that despite the lack of violence that Georgina contributes towards Jane, Jane still dislikes Georgina. Other attributes of Georgina are her “pink cheeks” and “golden curls”. These underline features of Georgina that Jane likes, and could possibly be implying that she herself may want to develop the attributes of beauty seen within Georgina, as Jane may not be self confident of her own image. Eliza is pictorised as being “Eliza who was headstrong and selfish was respected” indicating the personality of Eliza. Eliza is also depicted as being quick-witted. There is no evident quote however by reading between the lines we can obtain this from the passage “Eliza just put her head in at the door, and said at once: “She is in the window-seat to be sure Jack.” Bronte dictates Jane’s feelings so the audience are conscious of how and what Jane feels.

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        Mrs Reed is another character of the novel. The way she treats Jane differs greatly from her own children’s treatment. As the responsible adult of the household she is a role model for all the children, however her behaviour is not only damaging Jane, it is also harming her own children. Jane’s harsh treatment from all the family is what causes her to be isolated and unsociable. She treats her children with respect, care and love. We can accumulate this information from the text “Eliza, John and Georgina were now clustered round their mama in the drawing-room: she lay reclined ...

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