We see afterwards why Jane hates the manor in which she lives. The reason being John Reed is cruel to her and violent towards her, this is because he sees her as a person of lower class to him. All the setting representing the atmosphere has been explained after the events of John and Jane. It uses dark colours, dreary days to show how unhappy Jane is. Also violent words when describing the weather are used for example “storm-beat” which may mean that her personality has been beat down by violence.
Another example of the setting is the ‘red-room’. Jane describes the room as a “square chamber”, “curtains of deep red damask”, “blinds always drawn”, “the carpet was red”, “table at the foot of the bed covered with a crimson cloth”, “the walls were a soft crimson colour with a blush of pink in it”, “chairs and wardrobe were darkly polished mahogany”. All the features of the room are shades of red except the bed the shades of red could represent hell, demons, the devil, death and blood, basically the evil afterlife. But also it gives the room a grand feeling as red is the colour of royalty. The room is described as a square chamber, this automatically makes us think that the room is secure and grand. Also when the word chamber is said instead of bedroom it creates a feeling of imprisonment as do a lot of features of this room. For instance Jane says that she ‘resisted all the way’ to the red-room which shows her fear of it. This is another feature of imprisonment as she is resisting being there so she is locked in. Jane was thrust to a stool and the servants threatened to tie her down, which shows that Jane is unwilling to be there.
With the stories which Bessie reads to Jane as I said stated earlier it creates a lot of thoughts rushing through Jane’s young and immature brain, these thoughts are what if Mr Reed comes back to the room. There is a good use of pathetic fallacy involved in these stories Bessie tells. For example she describes the places as “bleak”, “cold”, “shadowy”, “frosty” all these words may represent Jane’s thoughts about her character. Also in the opening of the novel when talking about the winter afternoon, the weather is said to have been “pale blank of mist and cloud”, “with a storm beat shrub”. This is a very effective use of pathetic fallacy. As the storm beat shrub that they talk about is more or less Jane’s feelings. She is beat down by the way she is treated and the way she is excluded from the family just because she is different. The mist and the cloud in the weather could also be in her mind, by saying this I mean she may not see clearly and she may have fixed views on people and what these people are like. This may be why she reacts by talking back when in those days it was seen as very wrong.
The room is described as the largest and stateliest chamber in the mansion. The furniture consists of a “bed supported on massive pillars of mahogany”, “snowy Marseilles counterpane”. All the furniture in the room represents fear the bed is white and glaring, white represents heaven, spirits and a peaceful atmosphere, which may mean that Mr Reed died peacefully and happily. But the shadows and the darkness of the room may suggest that he died peacefully yet there were troubles for him.
The red-room is Mr Reed’s old room and he died in that bed. The furniture is oppressive and overpowering with its large features. The bed is described as being supported by massive pillars. The two words ‘massive pillars’ creates the thoughts that the room is very grand and is fit for a king. The red room seems very strange to Jane.
Brontë uses pathetic fallacy in the first two chapters of the novel to great effect. The red-room doesn’t just describe the mood of and atmosphere it also describes Jane’s feelings, character and experiences. The red-room represents death which has played its part in Jane’s past as she has had no parents due to death also her uncle Mr Reed passed away leaving Mrs Reed to look after her, she only looks after Jane as she promised her husband whilst he was on his death bed.
Also going back to Bessie’s stories there is a good use of pathetic fallacy involved in them. For example she describes the places as bleak, cold, shadowy, frosty that represent Jane’s thoughts about her character. Also in the opening of the novel when talking about the winter afternoon, the weather is said to have been pale blank of mist and cloud, with a storm beat shrub. This is a very effective use of pathetic fallacy. As the storm beat shrub that they talk about is more or less Jane’s feelings. She is beat down by the way she is treated and the way she is excluded from the family just because she is different. The mist and the cloud in the weather could also be in her mind, by saying this I mean she cannot see clearly and she has fixed views on people and what they are like. This may be why she reacts by talking back when in those days it was seen as very wrong. Children in the Victorian period were told they should be seen but not heard. I don’t think Jane is thankful for her Aunt keeping her although she bullied it is a lot better way to live than living in workhouse. This is where the homeless and orphans did strenuous work for their keep and for some food which isn’t worth eating.
The location does also represent Jane when she was put in the red-room she was angry and described herself as a “revolted slave”. The colour red represents anger and violence as well as the other things I said it represents.
Also the furniture in that room may show how she feels about the Reed’s, that they are oppressive and overpowering towards her especially John Reed. Also at the start of the novel she says she is in front of the ‘comfy’ warm fire. This may mean that she is comfortable with revolting against and being angry towards the Reed’s, she may be trying to fulfil and make her feelings known towards them, which she later does.
I think that all the red that we experience in the first two chapters e.g. the red-room, the fire etc… shows all Jane’s anger being hidden inside her and not allowing herself to burst. But then John reed releases her anger and gets her into trouble, which shows that she is gets annoyed but usually doesn’t let it all out like she id against John Reed.
Brontë uses the language detail in the novel extremely well; in some parts of the novel all it takes is one word to develop your understanding and your feelings towards certain characters that we come across. For example when Jane is describing John Reed some of the words she uses as the narrator give you a better idea of what the person is really like.
Some of the words that she uses to describe him are “dingy, unwholesome skin”, which makes him sound as bad as possible. Another point she says is that he has “heavy limbs and large extremities”. Jane also goes on to describe him in words such as, “bilious”, “large and stout for his age”. She even says, “every nerve I had feared him, and every morsel of my flesh in my bones shrank when he came near”. This shows how much fear he created when he went near her because she always new the consequences would be violent.
Another instance of the language detail is where Jane is being put in the red-room there are many cleverly used words, which make a much better effect than the alternatives she could have used. For example ‘had thrust me upon a stool’ thrust seems a lot more forceful than put me upon a stool or forced me upon a stool. Just little details like this make a huge difference and it keeps you wanting to read on which is always a good quality to have in a novel.
Another example of the language detail is when the narrator (Jane Eyre) says, ‘…were half shrouded in festoons and falls of similar drapery’ the word shrouded creates a much better effect than saying a word like wearing or covered as it creates the effect that instead if being covered it has been smothered in it, which suggests a lot of material was used and that it is a very expensive, grand room. For my last example I am going to use: ‘All John Reed’s violent tyrannies’ the word tyrannies is a brilliant word to use as it means someone who is ruthless, selfish, violent and takes no surrender this is a word to describe the most violent of people and is very, very effective.
In conclusion Brontë uses the setting to develop the mood and atmosphere very well by introducing the language detail in with the setting to further the effectiveness. Brontë also does the same with the pathetic fallacy; the author uses better descriptive words of the weather, character, feelings and experiences to create a more effective way to reflect how Jane is feeling
Richard Demko