A Young Jane Eyre Characterized

Jane Eyre, the female protagonist of Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, begins the novel as a ten-year old orphan living with her aunt in Victorian England. As an orphan, Jane gains very few happy experiences with her cousins—John, Georgina, and Eliza Reed—and her aunt—Mrs. Reed, and she has even fewer privileges in the Gateshead estate where she is viewed as “less than a servant [because] she does nothing for her keep” (14). However, Jane, for a youth of barely ten years, clearly communicates an intrinsic dream to find a community in which she not only feels loved and respected, but also finds that she can act independently of this community. Unfortunately, these desires work against the conventions of society that would rather see Jane be “kept humble” (36) and utilized “properly” according to her class. Nevertheless, Jane Eyre’s precise articulation, effective assimilation will help her conquer society’s conventions and gain a sense of individualism.

Clarity in thought and words has always been a desired characteristic—and during the Victorian Era, society viewed articulate statements as a necessary skill for the advancement within a social class. The first time the reader notices just how well thought out Jane’s statements are, is when Mr. Lloyd—Mrs. Reed’s apothecary—is giving Jane “a lecture” (25). When Mr. Lloyd requests to know why Jane is so unhappy, Jane has the restraint to “frame [an] answer” (26) before she spoke. She understands that at her age, she is not able to fully analyze and express her feelings. Therefore, she calmly starts, “For one thing I have no father or mother, brothers or sisters” (26). Further, into this conversation Mr. Lloyd questions Jane to see if she would want to go to school. But before speaki...

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...This temporary act of submission act to lessen the punishment that was dealt and allow her to state her case afterwards. Again, Jane’s adaptability will like help her in many situations; however, her ardent sense of justice may not allow her to bend to all of the Victorian society’s wants.

Jane’s Eyre faces many problems in her short life: her father and mother died when she was young, they left her to a family who views and treats Jane as a burden, and she is a girl desiring individualism in a patriarchic society that eulogizes conformity. But in Mrs. Reed’s last action involving Jane, Mrs. Reed, unintentionally gives Jane the gift of an education—which has given Jane the confidence in her ability to perorate and adapt to many situations. Thus, Jane is now prepared to achieve whatever she wants to achieve—whether it conforms to Victorian conventions or not.