Melanie Wielander
In the novel Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte, the protagonist Jane is alienated from her society in order to explore the Victorian cultural and social norms. Having the main character completely isolated allows readers to understand the expected norms for women during the Victorian era and those of lower social standing from a different light. Without including these experiences where Jane was exiled from society both physically and emotionally, she would not have arrived at the mental, emotional, and physical destinations the novel ends at.
Jane’s character finds herself alienated from society early on in the novel when the narrator reveals Jane’s standing at Gateshead Hall. We see the young Jane, refrain from participating in the activities the
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Jane compares herself at a young age to her cousins and automatically notices differences. Jane considers herself plain and inferior to them. This idea in Jane’s head is confirmed when Miss Abbott says “you ought not think yourself on an equality with the Misses Reed and Master Reed” (12). Considering Jane grew up in this environment, she eventually became “accustomed to John Reed’s abuse” (9) and according to social class, she has no reason to act any better than a servant in this home she is not welcome. Bronte juxtaposes Jane’s master, John Reed, with a tough, powerful character to Jane in order to highlight the essence of Jane’s shyness and how this quality is a direct result of her isolation and mistreatment. Across Jane’s time at Gateshead Hall, she is punished not for her actual behavior but because she is not truly one of the Reeds and they look at her as a lower social class even though she is living with them. Mrs. Reed tells a servant to “take (Jane) away to the red-room, and lock her in there.” simply because she doesn’t think of Jane highly and believes she should be punished for her low social class. Jane’s alienation from the