A Rough Childhood in Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

570 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Jane Eyre and her independence

Jane Eyre Jane Eyre had a rough childhood. She, as a person, likes adventure, and control over her own life. Although while living in Gateshead, she barely had any control, but she had a voice that she cherished in using. Throughout her life, Jane Eyre makes a determined effort to adhere to her strong sense of self and independence. Life at Gateshead Hall was horrible for Jane. All the children could not play with her, and made fun of her. John Reed, son of Ms.Reed, constantly tortured, and abused Jane. Ms. Reed also kept isolating Jane from everyone. Everyone treated her below a servant because that is what they considered her as. "How is he my master? Am I a servant?' 'No, you are less than a servant," (Bronte 15) They thought this because for an unknown reason Ms. Reed hated Jane. She was an orphan that no one wanted or took care of. She swore she would take care of her to her brother, Jane's dad, who died in Jane's earlier years. Because Ms. Reed hated Jane, anyone could abuse Jane and torment her, and no one would do a thing. She is very independent and educated, which causes...

Show More
Related

  • Cruelty In Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre

    614 Words  | 2 Pages

    Jane abhors her life in Gateshead where she lives with her malicious aunt who falsely declares her deceitful. When Jane falls ill, she tells the doctor that she would like to attend school, and Mrs. Reed was happy to be rid of her. Jane, finally feeling free of the cruel authority of Mrs. Reed, renounces their relation when she tells her that “I am glad you are no relation of mine. I will never call you aunt again as long as I live… and if anyone asks me how I liked you, and how you treated me, I will say the very thought of you makes me sick, and that you treated me with miserable cruelty” (Bronte 34). This is the

    Read More

  • Pain, Misery and Dissapointment in Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

    918 Words  | 2 Pages

    Pain, misery and disappointment are all a significant part of this world’s concepts of both life and love. A prime example of this is displayed in Charlotte Bronte’s novel, Jane Eyre, where the protagonist, Jane, suffers through a particularly difficult life; her love is constantly stripped from her the moment she is relishing it most. With Bronte’s introduction of Bertha Rochester, Jane’s never-ending cycle of disappointment and loss of love.

    Read More

  • The Maturing of Jane in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre

    575 Words  | 2 Pages

    was not a better place but it helped Jane stand on her own feet.  Through

    Read More

  • Jane Eyre?s Self-Discovery

    619 Words  | 2 Pages

    Jane makes her journey from Gateshead to Lowood at the age of ten, finally freeing her from her restrictive life with her aunt, who hates her. Jane resented her harsh treatment by her aunt. Mrs. Reed’s attitude towards Jane highlights on of the main themes of the novel, the social class. Jane’s aunt sees Jane as inferior, who is less than a servant. Jane is glad to be leaving her cruel aunt and of having the chance of going to school.

    Read More

  • The Search for Happiness in Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë

    729 Words  | 2 Pages

    Jane spends her first 10 years of her life at Gateshead Hall, a lavish mansion. She lived with her Aunt, Mrs Reed, and three cousins, Eliza, Georgina and John. During her time in the mansion she wouldn't dare argue with the mistress, and fulfilled every duty. Jane is deprived of love, joy and acceptance. She is very much unwanted and isolated.

    Read More

  • Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre

    1754 Words  | 4 Pages

    Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre chronicles the growth of her titular character from girlhood to maturity, focusing on her journey from dependence on negative authority figures to both monetary and psychological independence, from confusion to a clear understanding of self, and from inequality to equality with those to whom she was formerly subject. Originally dependent on her Aunt Reed, Mr. Brocklehurst, and Mr. Rochester, she gains independence through her inheritance and teaching positions. Over the course of the novel, she awakens towards self-understanding, resulting in contentment and eventual happiness. She also achieves equality with the important masculine figures in her life, such as St. John Rivers and Mr. Rochester, gaining self-fulfillment as an independent, fully developed equal.

    Read More

  • Family and Masculinity in Jane Eyre

    2584 Words  | 6 Pages

    The reader first learns of Jane when she is an inhabitant of Gateshead. At Gateshead, Jane was excluded from the rest of the family. She was merely an outsider looking in on a nuclear family, excluding the father, who had died. We know that Jane’s Uncle Reed, the father and dominant figure of Gateshead, when alive, was a kind man. He was the guardian for Jane and when dying made his wife promise to always care for Jane. After his death, his wife resented the little girl and did not want to care for her. Knowing what we know of family life in the nineteenth century, we know that Jane’s life would have been much different if her uncle Reed had not died. Being the master of the home one can assume that he would have made sure that everyone in the household would have treated Jane well and with love and respect. A father’s authority was unquestioned. Once Mr. Reed had died, the masculine dominance was somewhat given to his son who did not care for Jane and made her life miserable by all of his cruelty and abuse. Although he did not rule the home, due to his young age, his authority as seen by Jane was unquestioned.

    Read More

  • A Tale of Two Hearts in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre

    1170 Words  | 3 Pages

    While an artist uses a variety of colors and brushes to create a portrait, Charlotte Bronte used contrasting characters and their vivid personalities to create a masterpiece of her own.  In her novel Jane Eyre, Bronte uses narration and her characters to portray the struggle between a society’s Victorian realism and the people’s repressed urges of Romanticism.

    Read More

  • Independence and Love in Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

    1336 Words  | 3 Pages

    The story begins with a young Jane Eyre who is essentially neither loved by anyone nor independent in nature. At this point in the story, the reader discovers that Jane is an orphan and is being supported by the Reed family. This discovery is made through the portrayal of John Reed when he is taunting Jane about her social status. John claims that since it is his family who supports Jane, it is their choice to dictate the circumstances under which she lives. In this case, Jane is not allowed to play with the younger Reed children or read a book that belongs to the Reeds. The fact that6 Jane is an orphan living under someone else's roof displays that she has not yet gained her independence.

    Read More

  • Morals And Psychological Aspects in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre

    375 Words  | 1 Pages

    her off to school.  She tells him that he should "keep a strict eye on her,

    Read More

  • Physical & Emotional Abuse in Jane Eyre: How This Affected Jane’s Evolution Into a Dynamic Character

    1183 Words  | 3 Pages

    The three events that mark Jane as an evolving dynamic character are when she is locked in the red room, self reflecting on her time at Gateshead, her friendship with Helen Burns at LoWood, her relationship with Mr. Rochester, and her last moments with a sick Mrs. Reed. Brought up as an orphan by her widowed aunt, Mrs. Reed, Jane is accustomed to her aunts vindictive comments and selfish tendencies. Left out of family gatherings, shoved and hit by her cousin, John Reed, and teased by her other cousins, Georgina and Eliza Reed, the reader almost cringes at the unfairness of it all. But even at the young age of ten, Jane knows the consequences of her actions if she were to speak out against any of them. At one point she wonders why she endures in silence for the pleasure of others. Why she is oppressed. "Always suffering, always browbeaten, always accused, forever condemned" (Bronte, 12). Jane’s life at Gateshead is not far from miserable. Not only is she bullied by her cousins and nagged by her aunt, but help from even Bessie, her nurse and sort of friend, seems out of her reach. In the red room scene Jane is drug by Ms. Ab...

    Read More

  • Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre as a Coming of Age Story

    1678 Words  | 4 Pages

    The story begins as Jane lives with the Reed family in their home at Gateshead Hall. Here, the theme of education vs. containment develops immediately, as Jane is kept confined indoors on a cold winter day. The other children (Eliza, John, and Giorgiana) are "clustered round their mamma in the drawing-room" (Bronte: 39) being educated, as Jane had been excluded from the group. Jane tries to educate herself by reading from Berwick's History of British Birds, but once again, she is held back from her attempt at enlightenment by the abuse of John Reed, who castigates her and throws the heavy book at her. In anger, Jane cries out, "You are like a murderer - you are like a slave-driver - you are like the Roman emperors" (Bronte: 43). In this passage, Jane compares John Reed to a slave-driver because, like a slave-driver, he deprives Jane of her attempt at education and keeps her suppressed. Afterwards, Jane is blamed for the entire incident and...

    Read More

  • The Challenges Faced In Jane E

    1009 Words  | 3 Pages

    The novel, Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte, has a plot that is filled with an extraordinary amount of problems. Or so it seems as you are reading it. However, it comes to your attention after you have finished it, that there is a common thread running throughout the book. There are many little difficulties that the main character, the indomitable Jane Eyre, must deal with, but once you reach the end of the book you begin to realize that all of Jane's problems are based around one thing. Jane searches throughout the book for love and acceptance, and is forced to endure many hardships before finding them. First, she must cope with the betrayal of the people who are supposed to be her family - her aunt, Mrs. Reed, and her children, Eliza, Georgiana, and John. Then there is the issue of Jane's time at Lowood School, and how Jane goes out on her own after her best friend leaves. She takes a position at Thornfield Hall as a tutor, and makes some new friendships and even a romance. Yet her newfound happiness is taken away from her and she once again must start over. Then finally, after enduring so much, during the course of the book, Jane finally finds a true family and love, in rather unexpected places.

    Read More

  • The Maturity of Jane Eyre in Charlotte Bronte's Novel

    1815 Words  | 4 Pages

    As a child, Jane Eyre suffered from much torment from her Aunt Reed and her callous cousins. She never received the love she deserved and longed for. She felt the need to escape from the misery and torture that she got at Gateshead from her so called family. In a way, Mrs. Reed helped Jane in her process of growing and maturing. Jane was determined to find something better for her in life because she did not want to feel that rejection from the Reeds. With that rejection, Jane was motivated to become someone better than they were. Jane Eyre was sent to Lowood, an orphanage school, and met Miss Temple and Helen Burns.

    Read More

  • Jane Eyre

    1059 Words  | 3 Pages

    At the beginning of the book, Jane was living with her aunt Mrs. Reed and her children. Although Jane is treated cruelly and is abused constantly, she still displays passion and spirit by fighting back at John and finally standing up to Mrs Reed. Even Bessie ‘knew it was always in her’. Mrs. Reed accuses Jane of lying and being a troublesome person when Mr. Brocklehurst of Lowood School visited Gateshead. Jane is hurt, as she knows she was not deceitful so she defends herself as she defended herself to John Reed when he abused her, as she said “Wicked and cruel boy! You are like a murderer – you are like a slave driver – you are like the Roman emperors!” to John Reed instead of staying silent and taking in the abuse, which would damage her self-confidence and self-worth. With the anger she had gotten from being treated cruelly, she was able to gain ...

    Read More

More about A Rough Childhood in Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Open Document