Cruel Jane Eyre

Readers are exposed to the different reactions of Jane, Helen, and Miss Temple to injustice. In Charlotte Brontë’s novel, Jane Eyre, there is a great deal of injustice done to these three characters. Jane suffers with injustice throughout her lifetime, from Mrs. Reed’s abuse to Mr. Brocklehurst’s false accusations. She finds it hard to ignore it and always wants to take revenge. Although Helen also suffers from injustice in Lowood, she does not take action because she believes that justice will be found in G-d’s ultimate judgment. Miss Temple, a teacher at Lowood, is a great role model to the girls at Lowood. If injustice is done to her students, she will stand in their defense and only look at the good. Jane, Helen, and Miss Temple

Chapter seven sees Jane slightly more experienced to the ways of Lowood School. She has come to accept the poor conditions laid down by Mr. Brocklehurst, however has not yet learnt to ignore them and Bronte describes Jane suffering a lot in this chapter. This lack of food and appalling living conditions are down to the head of the school, Mr. Brocklehurst. This man uses his apparent strong beliefs in Christianity as an excuse to provide the children of Lowood with the absolute bare minimum. Brocklehurst claims his “mission is to mortify in these girls the lusts of the flesh”, presenting the idea that perhaps Brocklehurst is simply a man that has a immensely firm grasp of his

In 1866, the press continued to provide coverage of the event and defended the former Governor because he protected the colonial order. One June 23, 1866, the Spectator defended the governor because “he threw himself into crushing the rising, and crushed it… to prevent injustices to the negroes, as he was to prevent injustice by the negroes.” Conservative sentiment sided with Eyre because he suppressed a rebellion that hurt British men and women. It was the Governor’s duty to protect the interest of the people because he worked through a struggle of “race, he was as much bounded to control the cruelty of the power in the ascendant, as to punish the violence of the wretched people who had tried in vain to get the upper hand.” The issue of race remained central to defending the Governor because it helped the masses understand why the politician acted in such a harsh manner. Additionally, the Jamaica Committee continued to press the public about their beliefs and this created further sympathy for Eyre. While the committee centered their arguments on the notion of law and colonial dependencies, Carlyle utilized the public’s fear of another race rebellion that would hurt the colonial order. Meanwhile, Mills firmly believed that “equality among the races” came before that of the law, because the law needed to protect blacks within the system. This also correlated with Mill’s notion of civilization

As a child, Jane encountered hypocrisy under the label of Christianity with Mr. Brocklehurst. Her first meeting with him consisted of him condemning her for not ‘liking the Psalms.” Mr. Brocklehurst specifically tells her in response to her comment, “That proves you have a wicked heart; and you must pray to God to change it…” (Bronte, 21). At this point, it could be inferred that Mr. Brocklehurst is simply a devout Christian and has a harsh view of immature faith. However, as their relationship progresses at Lowood, his true motives become prevalent. He is not interested in the well-being of any of the girls’ souls, but, he is truly interested in his own personal wealth. Instead of using the school’s money to provide

How can a girl, who started out with nothing, blossom into a well educated, generous, blissful woman? Well, in Jane Eyre, the main character overcomes all obstacles thrown at her and makes a great life for herself. From a miserable, orphaned young girl to a happily married, well educated woman, Jane Eyre transforms immensely throughout the novel. Through her many experiences in essential locations, she grows significantly at Gateshead, Lowood School, Thornfield, Marsh End, and Ferndean.

“Her conscience told her that she would respect herself all the more if she bore her suffering alone and did what she believed to be right.” Jane had been introduced to love, yet chose fear again, as she had done in her early life. Jane was fearful of the suffering of not marrying him yet still being with him. This fear drove her to leave Thornfield for a year. During her mid-life, Jane was offered the chance to leave her fear behind, yet she still held on to it, driving her away from the ones she loved and hurting the ones who loved her. Yet in her later life, she did not make this mistake

In Charlotte Bronte’s coming of age novel Jane Eyre, the main character Jane not only struggles with the aspects of social class deviations but also her journey to find her own faith in God and religion. On her journey she encounters three greatly different variations on Christian faith, all of which, though she ultimately rejects, help her come to her own conclusions of her own faith and spirituality. Her first true questioning of religion is with her friend and Lowood school Helen Burns. Jane finds Helen to be serenely devout in her faith in God, and Jane admires her for it. However, Jane struggles to accept Helen’s passive view, as it lacks the understanding that Jane seeks. Also, at Lowood Jane encounters the owner of the school Mr. Brocklehurst, who acts as a dictator over the girls and teachers at Lowood. His religious ideals are those of sacrifice but it is apparent that Mr. Brocklehurst takes no consideration of these ideals in his own life style. Jane immediately rejects Mr. Brocklehurst’s point of view as it is so obviously hypocritical. Finally Jane meets her cousin St. John, a minister. Upon observing him and observing one of his sermons she realizes that though he is driven and passionate his views focus on “disquieting aspirations” as oppose to the uplifting of spirituality. She realizes that St. John lacks a true understanding of what faith and spirituality really mean. In Jane’s search for spirituality her journey leads her to find her own faith through the

Charlotte Bronte created one of the first feminist novels--Jane Eyre--of her time period when she created the unique and feminist female heroine, Jane Eyre. Throughout the novel, Jane becomes stronger as she speaks out against antagonists. She presses to find happiness whether she is single or married and disregards society’s rules. The novel begins as Jane is a small, orphan child living with her aunt and cousins due to the death of her parents and her uncle. Jane 's aunt--Mrs. Reed--degrades her as she favors her biological children. Jane 's aunt--Mrs. Reed--degrades her as she favors her biological children. Her cousin--John Reed--hits her and then Mrs. Reed chooses to punish her instead and sends her to the room in which her uncle

Everyone thinks a child in an orphanage will find a kind family and live happily ever after, but not in this book. Jane Eyre is a book that illustrates the struggle and growth of a young orphan girl named Jane. Jane battles through the hardship in her education and captivity. This can be seen throughout the places Jane has stayed, such as Gateshead Hall, Lowood Institute and Thornfield. Throughout this story, Jane unlocks her emotions which sculpts her into a mature and independent woman.

Have you ever read the first chapter of the book and decided right away whether you were going to enjoy that book or not? After reading chapter one of the three novels Emma, Wuthering Heights, and Jane Eyre the one that grabbed my attention and left me wanting to know more was Jane Eyre. The three novels had similarities and differences between tones and writing styles. All of the novels began with a conflict for the characters. Each protagonist is faces with a situation of concern that affects them.

Helen Burns’s memorable, albeit short-lived role in Jane Eyre proves to be incredibly influential on young Jane during the rest of the novel. Helen serves as Jane’s first direct interaction with strong faith in someone her own age. Helen embodies an incredibly passive faith, believing that she will be rewarded in heaven for her suffering on Earth. She goes as far to say, “...do good to them that hate you and despitefully use you” (Bronte 70). And being a student at Lowood, the boarding school where Jane first makes her acquaintance, she is quite familiar with suffering. All of the students, in fact, are familiar with the sacrifice and self-deprivation present in many aspects of their life, such as their diet of “burned porridge” and “strange

Independence, the capacity to manage ones own affairs, make one’s own judgments, and provide for one’s self. Jane Eyre herself is a very independent woman. Throughout her life she has depended on very few people for very little. Charlotte Brontë wants the reader to learn that independence can open many doors of possibilities.

Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre emerges with a unique voice in the Victorian period for the work posits itself as a sentimental novel; however, it deliberately becomes unable to fulfill the genre, and then, it creates an altogether divergent novel that demonstrates its superiority by adding depth of structure in narration and character portrayal. Joan D. Peters’ essay, Finding a Voice: Towards a Woman’s Discourse of Dialogue in the Narration of Jane Eyre positions Gerard Genette’s theory of convergence, which is that the movement of the fiction towards a confluence of protagonist and narrator, is limited as the argument does not fully flesh out the parodies that Charlotte Bronte incorporates into her work. I will argue that in the novel

An obscure orphan governess, perceived to be too young, too penniless, too insignificant to control her own life, defied societal conventions of her time, and remains relevant to this day. Why does this poor, plain governess with no financial prospects or social standing matter in a modern feminist perspective? If she could speak, a modern feminist’s beliefs would likely shock her, so to interpret this novel as feminist, one must see it through the lens of the time and place Brontë wrote it. Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre was a feminist work in that Bronte expressed disdain for oppressive gender structures through the voice of Jane Eyre, and the actions of Bertha Mason.

A feminist is a person whose beliefs and behavior are based on feminism (belief in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes). Jane Eyre is clearly a critique of assumptions about both gender and social class. It contains a strong feminist stance; it speaks to deep, timeless human urges and fears, using the principles of literature to chart the mind?s recesses. Thus, Jane Eyre is an epitome of femininity - a young independent individual steadfast in her morals and has strong Christian virtues, dominant, assertive and principled. That itself is no small feat.