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Why Is Jane Eyre Important

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Rebecca Loos once said, “I am not trying to give an image of a fairytale, perfect, everything else, I am just trying to be myself.” In the novel, Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte, setting happens to continually be brought up and the significance is always questioned upon. The novel is revolved around a “not your average” ten year old orphan named Jane. Her parents passed at a young age, therefore, she is forced to move her residence to her Aunt’s house, Mrs Reed. Every day she is constantly reminded that she is poor and worthless. Jane is not afraid to speak her mind toward these gruesome people. She starts to move around from place to place and now is a governess for an adolescent French girl. No matter what sweeps through her life, she will …show more content…

Be seated somewhere; and until you can speak pleasantly, remain silent.” (chapter 1 page 1.) Because Jane's parents are not pictured anymore, she is forced to stay at Gateshead. Gateshead is a wealthy home that has servants and is eventually going to be run by John Reed, her adolescent cousin. The quote stated in the novel, really describes how Jane is treated because of her social class. Jane is above the servants but below everyone else that resides in the mansion. Moving into this mansion, people could infer that life would be pleasant and be vulnerable. It most certainly was not. Jane was physically and mentally abused by John Reed. This family is her own family, she is insulted and look down upon from everyone in the household. The most crucial event that happens at Gateshead is the frightening ‘red room.’ Jane is locked in here when she is caught for her inappropriate actions. Jane’s uncle, Mr. Reed, died in this room, leading Jane to see supernatural ghosts everywhere. The significance of Gateshead is that Jane realized what she deserved. She knew that the Reed family did not control her and nobody did. Staying at Gateshead made Jane come to the conclusion that there is a more superior world out

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Ultimately, as a woman, she is a limited agent and can only do so much indecently. Jane breaks off from the domestic sphere to which she is confined

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She was told he had waited for her to arrive, but because she did not, he thought he had changed her mind. She finds out William is off doing business with the governor for an unknown amount of time. Jane is now completely alone in a strange new territory, and with William gone, she does not have proper

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Jane dislocates herself from the society of her family, one that in a perfect world is every kid’s closest society. Jane’s dislocation results from a ¨lousy childhood¨ filled with a ¨booze hound running around the house naked, with Jane around¨ as a step dad (Salinger 32). Jane lives in the unfair situation where she grows up in an unstable home, and it alienates her from her family. Holden tells how Jane never spoke of her family situation, and that shows how she tried to isolate herself from the family and think about the situation as little as possible. Jane is alienated from her family, but she chooses to do it and feels it is best for her.

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Finally, the details about society show that Jane recognizes the standards of her victorian society and needs to abide by them. After Jane had thought awhile, she no longer “felt justified in judging” Mr. Rochester and Blanche for “acting in conformity to ideas and principles instilled into them.” Though Jane wishes to be loved by Mr. Rochester, she comes to the realization that rich men do not marry lower-class women in her

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Mrs. Reed likewise separates Jane from the Reeds’ social circle by confining her to the nursery while her cousins spend their days in the drawing room (22) and calling Mr. Lloyd, the apothecary for “ailing servants,” instead of the family physician for Jane’s illness (15), thus placing her among the servants. However, the servants too reject Jane from their group—Miss Abbot told Jane that she is “less than a servant” because she does “nothing for [her] keep” (9). Jane thus

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In Victorian England, the rich were treated with class and respect, but if one was poor, they received harsh and unfair treatment. An example from the novel is when Jane is treated unfairly by Miss Abbott, she says, “And you ought not to think yourself on an equality with Misses Reed and Master Reed, because Misses kindly allows you to be brought up with them” (Bronte 12). Miss Abbott is saying that Jane is not equal with her adopted parents just because she was poor and without a home before she came to Gateshead. Jane is frustrated and does not understand why she has to always be beaten up and blamed for things that she never does. Jane says, “Why was I always suffering, always browbeaten, always accused, forever condemned” (Bronte 14).

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Bertha involuntarily ruins Jane’s marriage and impedes her happiness. Both women are disregarded and overlooked: Bertha (due to her delegation to an attic for a long period of time) and Jane, as a result of her class as a governess and orphan. As a child, Jane was often sentenced to the red-room - the room in which her Uncle Reed died - just as Mr. Rochester confined Bertha to the attic of Thornfield.

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Jane's unwavering determination to stand up for what she believes she deserves is quite apparent, especially given the societal expectations of her time. During those times, women were expected to keep their opinions to themselves and go with the flow of what they were offered, however, Jane would rather leave Rochester and become impoverished than compromise her values. If she were to agree to become Rochester's mistress, she would be betraying her beliefs, but fortunately, she was raised to be much stronger than that. Her upbringing and life events have turned her into an empathetic person who has a clear understanding of right and wrong and upholds strong moral values. [M] John G. Peters disputes the idea that Bront's novel is subversive by pointing out how Jane's religious journey is ahead of her time.

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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.

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Bronte 's Jane Eyre transcends the genres of literature to depict the emotional and character development of its protagonist. Although no overall genre dominates the novel exclusively, the vivid use of setting contributes towards the portrayal of Bronte’s bildungsroman (Realisms, 92) and defines the protagonist’s struggles as she grapples with her inner-self, and the social expectations of her gender. The novel incorporates Jane’s frequent conflicts, oppression, isolation and self-examination as she defends her identity and independence. Set amongst five separate locations, Bronte’s skilful use of literal and metaphorical landscapes, nature, and imagery, skilfully intertwines with the plot and denotes each phrase of her maturity.

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From having experienced this abuse before, she knew what to expect and attempted to prepare herself. This violence and constant preparation was significant throughout Jane’s life, and continued to affect her no matter her age or maturity. Abuse and neglect can be physical, emotional, medical, educational, or sexual, and in Jane’s case it was both physical as well as emotional (“What is Abuse and Neglect” 3). A child experiencing abuse can also often be compliant and withdrawn from the outside world (“What is Abuse and Neglect” 6). Jane, from the start of Bronte’s novel, was portrayed as an intellectual shy girl who always has her head down in a book.

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In Gateshead she was terrified of bothering the Reed’s and being sent back to the red-room. At Lowood she was first focused on her studies and then her pupils. She wants to feel secure and like nothing could harm her in anyway. At Thornfield Jane was making some money from being a governess. She met someone she loved and she was at one of the highest points in her life.

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Because they could not sue, vote, nor maintain property, having a family was considered to be one of the single most important aspects of life for a Victorian woman. In the Victorian era, having a family equates to having both emotional and financial support—and, depending on one’s circumstances, maintaining or climbing the ranks of social status. Charlotte Bronte’s novel, Jane Eyre, illustrates the complicated dynamics surrounding the quirks of an unconventional heroine and the expectations and ideals imposed upon her by her Victorian environment. This bildungsroman, a “coming of age” story, focuses on the moral and psychological growth of a young girl. The protagonist, Jane Eyre, begins as a poor, lowly, and formally uneducated young girl.

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In the beginning, she is deprived of education, love and appreciation of her presence which ultimately is her prime reasoning of taking off to be successful. Her experience at Gateshead was nothing more than miserable, she fought for what she needed and grew out of her comfort zone to stick up for herself. The strict rules and limits to freedom was not something Jane could handle for much longer, starting with the false accusations said by Brocklehurst of Jane. Brocklehurst is one of the many obstacles Jane fights to become happy and successful. She did not let him control how she envisioned her future life, rather she became even more passionate to prove how much of a cruel master he was.

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The Victorian era placed a woman’s value in how much money and beauty she possessed. In Charlotte Bronte’s coming of age novel, Jane Eyre, outward beauty deceives as it ironically represents a true evil in oneself. The beautiful Reed family, who resides at Gateshead, has cruel hearts as they boast about their luxuries as they deny them to their “outsider” blood. Even though Mrs. Reed promised her deceased husband that she would care for Jane as if she was one of her own children, Mrs. Reed encourages everyone in the house to never hesitate to tell Jane that she is a

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