will mainly discuss the way in which Charlotte Bronte portrays Jane Eyre whom the book is based on. I am going to show how Jane was treated and viewed by her companions.

I aim to discuss how the first ten chapters of Jane Eyre which is written by Charlotte Bronte, my question is how does Charlotte Bronte portray the way in which orphans were seen as during the nineteenth century? I will mainly discuss the way in which Charlotte Bronte portrays Jane Eyre whom the book is based on. I am going to show how Jane was treated and viewed by her companions.

Jane is an orphan in the novel fully named Jane Eyre. She was portrayed as the victim of charity rather than a beneficiary of it. In this time the book was written middle and upper classes felt that they were doing a good deed for the less fortunate members of the community by offering them charity but sometimes the giving of charity became acts of cruelty and neglect towards the poorer classes and encouraged feelings of being “holier than thou” and self satisfaction in the upper classes. Charlotte Bronte shows this clearly and constantly early into the novel. Jane is seen by other characters as being nothing compared to them. Bronte states how orphaned children were seen as less than human because they needed charity. The upper classes thought that because they give them supplies such as food and shelter, they did not need more advanced things like love warmth or education. They were treated poorly and often used and sometimes abused. This was shown throughout in the book, e.g. being part of the Reed family but not being good enough to be a family member and looked down on as some piece of dirt at the bottom of their shoe. Orphans were seen as children yet who were not as normal as normal children and did not have their capabilities, culture, cleverness just because they were orphans.

In the beginning stages of the novel Jane tells about her not having any family stating that; her mother and her father had the typhus and "both died within a month of each other" which senses she is lonely and does not feel that the reed family is a part of her and she is single and has no one at all. She is excluded from being a part of the Reed family- almost as if she is orphaned yet again after the death of Mr. Reed. Bronte again highlights that at a young age, regardless of her characters inner strength or intelligence, she cannot influence her own future, she is entirely the responsibility of others. This highlights that orphans had no control over what happened to them. By discussing Jane’s early life as an orphan at Gateshead and Lowood, and also her relationship with Helen Burns, we can see how Bronte’s novel is an escape from the familiar predestined fate of at least one orphan in the novel—Jane. In Victorian times, orphans were often portrayed as children who had no potential without a means of creating a successful life for themselves. Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, however, is a portrayal of a female orphan who triumphs over almost every environment she enters. Therefore, Jane’s ability to overcome the hardships that she encounters is a fictional success story.

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Jane becomes an orphan after her father, a poor clergyman, became infected with typhus fever whilst visiting among the poor of a large manufacturing town. Jane’s mother also catches typhoid, and both die within a month of each other. As Jane was still a young child when this occurs, she knows no other life but of that as an orphan. Mr. Reed, her uncle who informally adopts her, wants Jane to be brought up in a positive family environment. After his death, however, Mrs. Reed makes certain that this does not continue. Through her character, Bronte draws on the typical literary figure of the wicked stepmother. Although Jane now lives with the Reeds, a financially well-off family, she continues to be treated as a poor, working-class orphan. Jane’s position in the Reed household is inferior and intolerable. Even the Reeds’ servant, Miss Abbot, tells her, "you ought not to think yourself on an equality with the Misses Reed and Master Reed, because Missis kindly allows you to be brought up with them". Even after being sent to Gateshead, Jane is constantly reminded of her lower- class, orphaned status.

Bronte shows Jane at the mercy of the Reed family’s demands and being severely punished for anything they deem improper. Values at the time were very strict and many in society were narrow minded and religious. These values often allowed people to be cruel towards those less fortunate whilst seeming to be charitable- Jane is often criticized and punished for her strength of character. Bronte’s observation of Jane’s passionate disposition viewed by the Reeds as willful and destructive that the Reeds often use as a justification for punishment, highlights this and continues as Jane is forced into a "habitual obedience." Therefore, she obediently listens to John Reed who frequently reminds her of her insignificant, poor status by lecturing her on her position within the household:

“you are a dependant, mama says; you have no money; your father left you none; you ought to beg, and not to live here with gentlemen’s children like us, and eat the same meals we do, and wear clothes at our mama’s expense”.

The constant verbal and physical abuse from the Reeds makes Jane’s time at Gateshead, for the most part, intolerable. She is a social outcast in the Reeds’ home. The only peace she finds at Gateshead is during times of voluntary solitude and while reading. Like orphans throughout English literature, Bronte allows her to develop an identity through the challenge of social mobility, a challenge that keeps her inferior while at Gateshead.

Because of her young, orphaned status, Jane is unable to escape from the torment at Gateshead until Mrs. Reed decided to send her away. Again highlighting the fact that the children of the lower classes at the time had no control over what happened to them. As a result of her traumas at Gateshead, her experiences become the grounds on which she is able to build her future character. Jane is alone without any parental love to guide her except for Bessie’s occasional show of affection. She has to make a life for herself by herself. With the lack of parental attachment, Jane welcomes her liberation from the Reeds, even if it is to yet another intolerable place and able to enjoy the parting even with the insecurity and uncertainty that she feels.

Although Lowood, which was a charity school, provides Jane with a means to escape the abuse of the Reeds, the living conditions were extremely poor. The winter snows kept the girls confined within the walls of the garden, clothing was insufficient, often resulting in frostbitten toes and fingers, and the supply of food was inadequate. Again this shows Bronte’s feeling that orphans were kept isolated from the rest of society. However, Bronte illustrates how Jane is able to become a member of a group in that she is able to live with and interact with other orphans. It was here where she was able to truly begin her transformation from a miserable, lower-class, orphaned child into an ambitious, independent woman.

Unfortunately, Jane’s oppressive misfortunes do not immediately stop simply because her living environment changes. Soon after her arrival at Lowood, she is demeaned by Mr. Brocklehurst and once again reminded of her inferior status as an orphan. After he refers to her as "a liar”, he adds the following:

“This I learned from her benefactress; from the pious and charitable lady who adopted her in her orphan state, reared her as her own daughter, and whose kindness, whose generosity the unhappy girl repaid by an ingratitude so bad, so dreadful, that at last her excellent patroness was obliged to separate her from her own young ones, fearful lest her vicious example should contaminate their purity.”

Again Bronte highlights the feeling of the time that decent people could be contaminated by orphans and the poor in some way. The ignorance and piousness of the middle classes is shown because they do not see a person as an individual, merely as part of a social group.

Mr. Brocklehurst nullifies Jane’s credibility by using her orphaned status against her. He insinuates that Jane was evil and incapable of interacting with a normal family unit and, therefore, that she should not be trusted by anyone at Lowood. This accusation of Jane’s malevolence was one of the many examples throughout the novel that displays her passionate disposition and is consistent with the manner in which orphans were depicted by many other Victorian writers. Even as she struggles for independence as a woman, Jane was often reminded of her wicked qualities. Jane’s story was even more profound because she gradually overcomes this “wicked” disposition, mostly while at Lowood.

Bronte contrasts Jane’s ability to overcome her disadvantages in life by gaining a better education and improving her position in life by using another character- Helen Burns. Although Helen Burns is technically not an orphan (her father is still alive), she attends Lowood in order to get an education. Like Jane, Helen also fits into the "angel-demon" mold. On one hand, Helen is often punished by Miss Scatcherd and referred to as a "dirty, disagreeable girl!". She is a feeble child, and like the nineteenth century literary portrayal of orphans, she was a social outcast. Unlike, Jane, however, Helen never breaks free from this stereotype . But Helen also possesses qualities that are almost angelic. After Helen is unjustly punished (at least Jane feels that she was).

Jane states, "The punishment seemed to me in a high degree ignominious, especially for so great a girl".

Because this incident occurs before Jane and Helen become close friends, Jane still does not quite know what to make of Helen Burns. She asks herself,

"I wonder what sort of girl she is-whether good or naughty"

Jane soon learns that Helen was good, and Helen’s advice helps Jane come to terms with her past and move on with a clear sense of true goodness. Bronte shows here that by the questioning Helen she to has been influenced by the commonly held values of the time and at this point she feels that there may be a slight possibility that Helen is naughty simply because she is an orphan. Jane’s strengths of character grows as Helens health deteriorates. Jane learns true goodness from Helen who is measured and far more Christian than the likes of Mr. Brocklehurst which balances her tendency towards improper behavior for the time.

In comparison to her life at Gateshead, Lowood offerd Jane the opportunity to grow out of her "childlike disposition" and strive for a meaningful life on her own, with the guidance of the mother-like figure, Miss Temple.

I feel that throughout “Jane Eyre, Bronte gives her character a strength and independence that were not typical characteristics of women of the time. She shows throughout Jane’s development from childhood into a woman, that the common characteristics and misapprehensions felt towards orphans at the time were mostly true, simply because the majority did not have the same opportunities as Jane or the ability to make the most of them. The only way Jane escaped the life of an orphan was by true strength and determination, leaving behind those who did not share these strengths behind in the world of the lower, poorer classes. I also feel that at the same time criticizing the narrow minded often cruel values held by the religious Christians and upper classes, Bronte acknowledges that it takes a very special person such as Jane to break free of the stereotypical mold and also that society needed to question their treatment of orphans.

Michael Village 11s