How does Charlotte Bronte prepare us for a change in Jane's life in chapter 12 of Jane Eyre?

Authors Avatar

Afzol Ahmed- Jane Eyre                             /

How does Charlotte Bronte prepare us for a change in Jane's life in chapter 12 of Jane Eyre?

Jane Eyre is a famous novel written by English writer Charlotte Bronte and was published in England in 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. The Victorian era was a time period plagued with problems of inequalities, symbolism and independence between men and women, in this novel Charlotte Bronte uses Jane Eyre as a mouthpiece in order to express her views on such elements. The novel is about an orphan named Jane Eyre; Charlotte Bronte takes us on an incredible journey through which we see Jane Eyre's life in the Victorian era. Bronte uses thrilling and descriptive language to clearly describe Jane Eyre's tragic journey. Growing up she has a sad life, from the death of her parents to her abusive and horrendous & unfair treatment from Mrs. Reed or John Reed. Jane’s tolerance of change begins very early in the novel and helps her in developing a strong sense of independence. When she moves to Lowood institute, she almost lives in a state of poverty, rationed food and poor accommodation, yet when she moves to Thornfield institute and is appointed as a governess, she meets Mr. Rochester and her life takes a rapid turn. Bronte uses many authorial techniques such as prophetic fallacy and imagery to convey her characters feelings; she also uses techniques such as first person narration to indulge us into her Victorian novel. In this essay I will explore how Bronte prepares us for a change in Jane’s life in chapter twelve.

“The promise of a smooth career, which my first calm introduction to
Thornfield Hall seemed to pledge, was not belied on a longer
acquaintance with the place and its inmates.”

Jane speaks of when she was first introduced to Thornfield, she believed it would bring a promising and smooth career, her belief in this did not last long as she became familiar with the place and its ‘inmates’. Bronte uses Jane’s tone of voice to show us that Jane is bored of her new change. We can tell that Jane is not happy with her life at Thornfield. Jane goes onto describe some of the people at Thornfield hall, we don’t know much about them but we soon learn about them, in order to get an insight as to why Jane feels bored because of them.

“Mrs. Fairfax turned out to be what she appeared, a placid-tempered, kind-natured woman, of competent education and average intelligence.”

Here we get a description of Mrs Fairfax, the housekeeper of Thornfield hall. Jane describes her as she ‘turned out to be what she appeared’; this gives us the impression that Jane judge’s people by just looking at them, almost like judging a book by reading its blurb. Jane goes onto describe Mrs Fairfax’s nature and intelligence, both of which seem normal, nothing peculiar or interesting. This is only one person that adds to the boring atmosphere that Thornfield hall boasts, according to Jane. She goes onto tell us about her pupil, Adele Varens.

“She had no great talents, no marked traits of character, no peculiar development of feeling or taste”

Adele is Jane’s pupil, she a young French girl. Once again Jane picks on Adele’s boring edge; she describes how Adele has nothing peculiar about her. We get the idea that Adele is another ordinary person who adds to the boring atmosphere of Thornfield hall.

Join now!

Adele is also a orphan, her attitude and character almost reflect those of Jane’s as a young girl at Gateshead, Adele is a orphan like Jane, she in Thornfield hall, and gains no love from no one, in chapter fifteen we learn about Adele’s history, Mr Rochester informs Jane of Adele’s history, I e’en took the poor thing out of the slime and mud of Paris, and transplanted it here, to grow up clean in the wholesome soil of an English country garden”, We learn that Rochester brought Adele over from France.

Because of Jane’s experience as ...

This is a preview of the whole essay