How does Bronte's portrayal of Jane Eyre's life at LowoodSchoolprepare the reader for the events later on in the novel?

Fiona McDonnell English Coursework Jane Eyre

How does Bronte’s portrayal of Jane Eyre’s life at Lowood School prepare the reader for the events later on in the novel?

“Jane Eyre” is a Victorian novel by Charlotte Bronte. The heroine of the title is a poor orphan with no sense of belonging or worldly knowledge. Bronte’s portrayal of Jane’s life at Lowood School prepares her life later on in the novel in many different ways. Whilst Jane is at Lowood she meets the characters of Miss Temple and Helen Burns. These become her role models and Jane grows to love and admire them. Bronte uses an austere regime of the school to form Jane’s character and the way she develops at Lowood prepares her for things which happen later in her life. Bronte’s character has many strong values and beliefs that stay with her throughout the novel, influenced by her time at Lowood.

Bronte describes how Jane spends the first ten years of her life at Gateshead where, because she is an orphan, she lives with her aunt and cousins who treat her harshly. Aunt Reed agreed to look after Jane at the death of her husband, but she doesn’t have to do it well as Jane is only an orphan. This brings in the Victorian moral idea into the novel. At age ten, Jane is sent to Lowood by her Aunt Reed. Whilst Jane is at Lowood she meets two role models, these are Helen Burns and Miss Temple. In contrast to most other girls of the time, Jane’s role models are not family members. Her only family treat her cruelly and harshly but once she is at Lowood she is treated fairly.

Bronte creates Lowood School, a charitable academy run by the evangelical minister, Mr Brocklehurst that Jane attends. He believes that children should be rid of their sins gained from Adam and Eve at their birth. In order to achieve this, Lowood is founded upon very harsh principles. The girls wear hand-me-downs and cheap, plain clothes. The conditions are damp and cold with poor food. A moral idea within the novel is that of the hypocritical Mr Brocklehurst. His firm, religious beliefs mean that the methods and approach of Lowood are very inhospitable. Mr Brocklehurst is hypocritical because his beliefs do not relate to his own daughters, only to his pupils. He informs Miss Temple that, “my plan in bringing up these girls, is not to accustom them to habits of luxury.” Mr Brocklehurst’s daughters dress lavishly with “a false front of French curls” wear extravagant clothes, in contrast to the girls at Lowood. Mr Brocklehurst believes that the girls at Lowood should have their top-knots cut off. A Victorian novel has many different classes in society, that were very distinct and as Jane was a poor orphan with no inheritance, she was seen as a lower class. Jane did not have any sense of belonging.

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Miss Temple, one of Jane’s teachers at Lowood plays an important role in the emotional development of Jane. She has kindness and sympathy for people and this brings her to believe Jane when she asks for her version of the “liar” incident. She shows a sense of natural justice. After her time at Gateshead, Jane had a strong desire to be loved and to love and that was fulfilled at Lowood by Miss Temple. Jane was also treated as an equal at Lowood even though she was an orphan (something that had never happened to her before). Miss Temple treated Jane with respect and equality. Jane was amazed when she first arrived at Lowood because of the way Miss Temple was able to command respect from everyone around her and Jane felt a sense of awe about her. By the end of Jane’s time at Lowood she also gained a lot of respect from her fellow students because she followed the example set by Miss Temple.

Bronte introduces Helen Burns into the novel at Lowood School. Helen is a fellow pupil of Miss Temple whom Jane grows to admire and follow. Helen teaches Jane many things and Jane has great respect for her because she is clearly very intelligent and well read. Jane admires these qualities greatly as they lead to an independent mind, something that Jane takes with her when she departs from Lowood. Helen always sees the best in others; even when she is punished she believes that it is her duty to suffer patiently. In this, Helen teaches Jane to be less excitable and accept her lot. Helen introduces the idea of religious sacrifice into the novel and when she dies of consumption (tuberculosis), Helen is sure that she is going to be with God. Bronte may have included Helen’s illness and death in the novel to reflect upon Maria and Elizabeth; her sisters who both died of tuberculosis while they were still young.

Bronte creates Jane as a person with many strong values and beliefs. The main one being that one should be true to oneself and she learned this from Helen. Perseverance and hard work are also high priorities that are learned and displayed at Lowood, even though Jane has no high expectations or plans for the future. Jane receives rewards for her hard work; like art lessons and extra French teaching. These help her to become a teacher for her last two years at Lowood.

Whilst Jane is at Lowood, she learns how to treat people with kindness and respect from the teachings of Miss Temple and her friend Helen. Jane works hard and progresses in art and French. Jane’s French skills enable her to get a job at Thornfield. Her art skills are used when she returns to Gateshead as an adult to be by the side of her dying aunt with her cousins, Georgiana and Eliza. Jane is used to coping with death, because of her time spent at Lowood with Helen (dying of tuberculosis). Therefore, Jane faces death with ease but the Reed sisters find it difficult. Jane becomes capable, intelligent and progresses quickly in her studies, none of which she has done before. Charlotte Bronte attended a harsh boarding school similar to Lowood, which was founded on religious principles. Similarly, Mr Brocklehurst was based upon a real character in Bronte’s life.

During the Victorian era, Britain was moving from a rural to an industrial country and this impacted education, women’s employment and marriage. But the main affect that industrialisation had was on the poor living conditions in Britain at the time. After the urbanisation of Britain, the public interest in promoting general health increased. The physical conditions at Lowood were damp and cold, leading to an outbreak of Typhus.

One of the main reasons that Jane leaves Lowood is because Miss Temple has left and Jane says “from the day she left I was no longer the same.” This tells us that Miss Temple had a big impact on Jane’s life. When Jane leaves Lowood after ten years there she feels that, “she has imbibed from her something of her nature and much of her habits”. Jane also wants to explore a bit more of the world as she has no experience of it so far. Jane has changed greatly in her time at Lowood and she is even bold enough to put an advert in the paper for a new job as a governess. This was mainly because a governess was one of the only few respectable positions available to the educated but poverty stricken single woman in the Victorian period.

At the beginning of the novel, Jane is a little girl, resentful of her aunt and cousins and Bronte uses this to show that Jane is unable to fit in. Throughout her time at Lowood Jane’s character develops based mainly upon her two role models and her limited experience of life and the world around her. By the time Jane leaves Lowood she has developed strength of mind and character and is a much bolder and braver, but naive young woman. Jane is accomplished in many skills except music.

Jane receives a reply to her advert from Mrs Fairfax, at Thornfield Hall, where Jane is to work as a governess to Adele Varens. When Jane arrives at Thornfield she is introduced to Mrs Fairfax, whom Jane assumes to be the owner of Thornfield. The next morning, Jane is surprised to learn that Mrs Fairfax is only the housekeeper – Thornfield actually belongs to the mysterious Mr Rochester. This shows of Jane’s lack of worldly knowledge. Jane meets her pupil Adele, a little French girl who she discovers later is Mr Rochester’s illegitimate child. Jane understands Adele’s faults but does not judge her on them. Jane may have learnt this from the “liar” incident that had previously happened to her and so Jane works with Adele and teaches her to improve her faults. Jane then eventually meets Mr Rochester whilst she is out on a walk. Rochester had fallen off his horse and Jane is obliged to assist him. On her return to Thornfield, Jane is astonished to learn that the man she helped was Rochester, her employer.

Jane and Mr Rochester’s relationship grows throughout her time at Thornfield and it dominates the novel. Jane and Rochester grow from and employee and an employer to being in love with each other and eventually the proposal of marriage. It is seen as the most important thing in Jane’s life.

Bronte created Mr Rochester as a Byronic hero. He is dark and mysterious, has a secretive past with Bertha Mason and is very passionate. Rochester has his own code of beliefs in which he sees it as acceptable to marry Jane although he already has a wife. Rochester has been a womaniser and has had many relationships with Blanche Ingram, Celine Varens and Bertha Mason. A Byronic hero is also strongly related to fire, ice, black and darkness. Bronte introduces some of these elements into the novel. For example there is always a fire lit whenever he is in Thornfield, his bed catches fire and Thornfield burns down at the end of the novel. Ice also plays a part in Rochester’s role as a Byronic hero because his horse slips on ice when he meets Jane for the first time. Fire and ice are also symbols for the fiery passion of Rochester and the ice is the water that calms him down. This is shown in the book when Jane puts out the fire in Rochester’s bed. A Byronic hero is sometimes disfigured and at the end of the novel Rochester is blinded by the fire that burnt Thornfield.

Mr Rochester offers Jane expensive gifts, but she refuses and feels uncomfortable with them – Jane is only a “plain, Quakerish governess” not “your beauty”. This is because Jane is not used to all the attention she receives after her humble beginning. Jane received only plain and boring clothes at Gateshead and Lowood and they were her only possessions when she moved to Thornfield. But Jane successfully manages to steer Rochester away from sentimental behaviour with her strong mind and she is in control of the situation.

Mr Rochester is found to be already married when, at his intended wedding to Jane, the vicar asks if there is any lawful impediment. This halts the marriage between him and Jane when Mr Mason steps forward to reveal Rochester’s secret. The arrival of Mr Mason at the wedding is an example of the melodramatic storyline of “Jane Eyre”. The deception and bigamy stop the wedding and bring another moral idea into the novel.

Jane’s strength of character enables her to stand up to Rochester when she decides to flee from Thornfield. Jane is penniless once more and stumbles upon a cottage in the countryside. The master, St. John Rivers hears her call to God and brings her inside. St. John provides shelter for Jane and his sisters, Diana and Mary nurse her back to strength. St. John turns out to be Jane’s cousin after a John Eyre dies and leaves his fortune in Jane’s hands. Jane shares her fortune with the Rivers because she is not used to owning riches and her needs are simple because of her upbringing under Lowood’s principles.

Whilst Jane is with St. John, they set up a school together in Moreton and she becomes the teacher. Jane has had experience of teaching at Lowood, and it is this opportunity that enables her to become more independent.

Whilst Jane is at Moor House with St. John she has a confrontation with him that echoes those of Mrs Reed, Mr Brocklehurst and Mr Rochester earlier in her life. St. John and Jane study Hindustani together. But when he asks her to accompany him to India and for her hand in marriage he admits that he does not love her. Jane rejects the idea of being “forced to keep the fire of my nature continually low, to compel it to burn inwardly and never utter a cry, though the imprisoned flame consumed vital after vital.” Jane remains firm in her ideas about love that she learned from Helen at Lowood.

At the end of the novel, Jane hears Rochester calling for her and she leaves Moreton to search for her true love. She returns to Thornfield, only to find it burned to the ground and asks at a local inn where Mr Rochester would be. She returns to her loved one who is now blinded by the fire, and this emphasises her belief that one should be true to oneself and ignore a person’s faults. Rochester and Jane then get married and enjoy spending the rest of their life together.

The Victorian period was a time when a Women’s role in society was restrictive and cruel. Through “Jane Eyre”, Bronte attacks social discriminations such as poverty, the lack of a universal education for male and females and sexual equality and also the limited opportunities for women at the time.

Charlotte Bronte creates many links between Jane’s life at Lowood and her life later on in the novel. Jane bases her principles upon those similar to Helen and Miss Temple. The life she lived at Lowood stood her in good stead for what was to come and the harsh conditions and principles on which the school was founded helped Jane throughout her life. “Jane Eyre” is a Victorian novel with a melodramatic storyline that has a moral, social and historical context.

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