What have you learned about the educational system in Victorian England from the opening chapters of Hard Times and first 10 chapters of Jane Eyre?
There were many factors that influenced the educational system in Victorian times. They included religious beliefs, gender, class and the industrial revolution. These are explored in Dickens’s Hard Times and Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. Dickens is particularly critical of the standards of education at the time of the Victorian period and the methods of teaching employed. There were many different types of schools including “ragged schools” which suffered a lack of qualified teaching staff, church schools and middle class fee-paying schools. It is no wonder the standards varied considerably.
The experience of being educated in the Victorian period was also affected by gender. Girls were thought to be less intellectually able than boys. This is reflected in the fact that Charlotte Bronte, like her sisters had to publish their novels under male pen names, such as Currer Bell.
The novel Jane Eyre begins when Jane is living at Gateshead. In material terms Jane is very well looked after there as she is fed and clothed, however, she is treated separately from the children at Gateshead and is not spoilt. In fact, Jane is made most unwelcome and made to feel very inferior because of her poor background. Jane must have attained some form of education at Gateshead and although this is not specifically mentioned in the text I think that she must have had a governess. I conclude this because the books that are mentioned when Jane is reading seem very difficult and challenging for a girl of only 10 years. She reads books such as “Bewicks History of British Birds”. This book has been written for someone much older than Jane. Other books she reads include “Gulliver’s Travels” and “History of Rome”. Both of these books are demanding in terms of language and subject matter. As she seems able enough to understand these books I would say that Jane is a very intelligent child who is able to learn well. By reading these books Jane is able imaginatively to leave Gateshead and travel to the places where the texts are set. Jane has a very lively imagination. Her mood is reflected in the books she reads. In the period of time in which the novel “Jane Eyre” is set, there were very few children’s books available. Jane enjoys Bessie’s tales very much because they stimulate her imagination. Mr Brocklehurst gives Jane the only sort of book specifically written for children. It contains stories that are very moral and are based on a very puritanical view of Christianity in which children were considered sinful. Such stories stressed the fact that children needed strict discipline and should be seen and not heard. As Mr Brocklehurst claims, ‘Children are wicked and need reformed’.
