Discuss the Theme of Isolation in the Gateshead section of Jane Eyre.

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Discuss the Theme of Isolation in the Gateshead section of Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre is the eponymous heroine and involved narrator of this novel. She is a small, dejected girl who lives with her middle-class aunt and cousins, as her parents died when she was young. Although she may not be suffering physically from hunger or disease, she is suffering emotionally. Jane is depressed, unloved, and constantly isolated from the family group who clearly resent her presence. It is this theme of isolation within the Reed family that I will endeavour to discuss below. This mood is immediately established in the opening paragraphs when you see at once that Mrs Reed does not like Jane – ‘she really must exclude me from privileges intended only for contented, happy, little children.’  

A technique that is used convincingly to convey Jane’s isolation is pathetic fallacy. This is frequently used with great effect throughout the book. In the opening paragraphs, it is employed to set the mood and reflect the theme of isolation that prevails throughout the Gateshead section. This is cleverly accomplished in the description of the weather in the opening of the book – ‘the cold winter wind had brought with it clouds so sombre, and a rain so penetrating,’ which also tells us about Jane’s feelings at the time. Pathetic fallacy is used again during the book and does not simply relate to the weather, but to the surroundings also. After Jane and John had been separated from one another in the breakfast room, Jane was blamed for the brawl and was taken to the ‘red room.’ This room was the room that her kind Uncle Reed had died in and so it was seldom slept in or visited. Despite it being a very grand and splendid room, it was probably the coldest and loneliest rooms in the house – ‘the spell that kept it so lonely in spite of its grandeur.’  This definitely reflects the mood of isolation, because out of all the rooms in the Gateshead manor, Jane was put in the most isolated.

Jane is an involved narrator ie. the book was written in the first person. I think that this style makes you feel empathy for Jane, and enables you to relate to her in the story as you witness events through her eyes. This technique is effective in the way that you become totally involved in the story, because you know only her thoughts and feelings. Therefore, her hopes and fears also become yours and consequently this enhances the feeling of solitude that she endures.    

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The other characters involved in the book play a very important role in contributing to this theme of isolation. An example of which is when Mrs Reed shows her great dislike for Jane and demonstrates this by locking her in the red room – ‘the red room was a square chamber, very seldom slept in, I might say never.’  Despite Jane’s pleas to be released and her obvious terror, Mrs Reed ignores her. An act, which shows total indifference to her feelings of fear and confirms Mrs Reed’s inability to love her. Moreover, even though Mrs Reed was responsible for ...

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