In charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, there are several paradigms that are used throughout the story; one of the most obvious is the Cinderella template. When looking at Jane Eyre through this template, the ideas of an orphan child, the stepfamily, and the fairy godmother seem to be all the characteristics of Cinderella.
Jane Eyre is the orphan child, which symbolizes Cinderella. Jane, like Cinderella lost both her parents and is dependent on others to care for her. In the case of Cinderella, her mother died when she was young and her father remarried. Her father then died leaving the stepfamily to care for her. Jane's parents both died when she was young and her Uncle looked after her till hid death. After her Uncle passed away, she was left in the care of her aunt, which is now Jane's stepfamily.
Mrs. Reed is the typical stepmother. She treats her children well, not paying attention to their bad habits, and unfair dealings with Jane. When the children get into trouble, it is always Jane that gets blamed, even if she had no part in it.
Eventually Jane is sent off to school, to lowood. Here there is another example of a stepfamily, Mr. Brocklehurst to all the children who live at Lowood. Mr. Brocklehurst always looked down upon the children at Lowood. He only let them have bare minimum supplies needed to survive. Jane talked of rarely eating enough to stay energized, and how the school was poorly heated in the winter. Mr. Brocklehurst would humiliate the girls at Lowood by bringing in his family. His family was always well dressed and proper looking compared to the children at Lowood.
The fairy godmother characteristic is also seen repeatedly in Jane Eyre. The 2 main characters that resemble the fairy godmother are Bessie and Miss Temple. In the beginning, Bessie was always around to comfort Jane. In the Reed household, Jane turns to Bessie in times of need. Jane also told of how Bessie always read her stories before bedtime. When Jane was to leave from one establishment for another, Bessie was there to see her off. The next time Jane saw Bessie is when Jane was leaving Lowood for Thornfield. This time Bessie brought news of Jane's Uncle who was looking for her. This news leads to good things in the future.
At Lowood, Miss Temple is the image of a fairy godmother. Miss Temple overlooked the schoolhouse, and made sure all the children were properly cared for. Even when the porridge is burnt, Miss Temple took responsibility for feeding all the children extra food. Jane grew very close to Miss Temple during her stay at Lowood. Another time when Miss Temple showed signs of a fairy godmother was when she went out of her way to clear Jane's name and to publicly announce that Jane was not a liar as Mr.. Brocklehurst had claimed. To Jane and the other children at Lowood, Miss Temple was a fairy godmother figure because she gave them the love and compassion noone else had ever given them.
