Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
The importance of miss temple in jane eyre
Gender roles throughout the 19th century
Gender roles throughout the 19th century
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: The importance of miss temple in jane eyre
Miss Temple's Influence on Jane Eyre
"Jane Eyre" is set during the Victorian period, at a time where a women's role in society was restricted and class differences distinct. A job as a governess was one of the only few respectable positions available to the educated but impoverished single women.
Not only is "Jane Eyre" a novel about one woman's journey through life, but Brontë also conveys to the reader the social injustices of the period, such as poverty, lack of universal education and sexual inequality. Jane's plight and her "dependant" status is particularly emphasized at the beginning of the novel.
Miss Temple is the kind and fair-minded superintendent of Lowood School, who plays an important role in the emotional development of Jane Eyre.
Miss Temple is described by Helen as being "good and very clever" and "above the rest, because she knows far more than they do". This description is more significant because it has been said by Helen, and she herself is extremely mature.
One of Miss Temple's most outstanding qualities is her ability to command (perhaps unconsciously) respect from everyone around her, "considerable organ of veneration, for I yet retain the sense of admiring awe with which my eyes traced her steps". Even during their first encounter Jane is "impressed"... "by her voice, look and air".
Throughout Jane's stay at Lowood, Miss Temple frequently demonstrates her human kindness and compassion for people. An Example of this is when after noticing that the burnt porridge was not eaten by anyone, she ordered a lunch of bread and cheese to be served to all, realising their hunger. This incident is also evidence of her courage, of how she is not afraid to stand up to her superior, when she feels that too much unnecessary suffering has been inflicted on the children
Miss Temple's Christianity contrasts with that of Mr Brocklehurst, where instead of preaching restrictive and depressing doctrine, which he then proceeds to contradict, she encourages the children by "precept and example".
After the incident involving Mr Brocklehurst announcing to the whole school that Jane is a liar, the reader becomes aware of Miss Temple's sense of natural justice, where before accepting what Mr Brocklehust has said, she inquires from Jane her version.
It is of no coincidence that Brontë choose to coincide Miss Temple's arrival into the schoolroom with the moon's light "streaming in through a window near".
After the death of Jane’s parents, her uncle Mr. Reed has taken her in with his family to a mansion called Gateshead Hall. Nine years after Jane uncle has past she has been trapped in Gateshead Hall while suffering the bitter treatment of her aunt Mrs. Reed. Mrs. Reed was resentful of her husband’s favoritism toward Jane and takes every opportunity to neglect and punish her. When Jane is punished by Mrs. Reed she would be sent to the red room by two of Mrs. Reed servants, Bessie and Miss Abbot. The red-room was “a spare chamber, it was one of the largest and stateliest chambers in the mansion” and in this every same chamber is where Jane uncle past (8). Not only did Mrs. Reed treat disrespectfully but her own son, Jane’s older cousin John Reed. John Reed would abuse and punish Jane several times a day, in the words of Jane; “every nerve I had feared him, and every morsel of flesh on my bones shranked when he came near”(4). Everyone would ignore Jane’s plea for help especially Mrs. Reed who would act be blind and deaf on the subject. No one except for Mr. Reed show any love and care for Jane during her childhood in Gateshead Hall. Jane said “I was a discord in Gateshead Hall; I was like nobody there; I had nothing in harmony with Mrs. Reed or her children, or her chosen vassalage” (10). Jane continued by saying that they did not love her not if as little she loved them. Although the family mistreats her, Jane still wished for the atte...
was not a better place but it helped Jane stand on her own feet. Through
In the novel Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte uses Jane Eyre as her base to find out how a character confronts the demands of a private passion that conflicts with her responsibilities. . Mistreated abused and deprived of a normal childhood, Jane Eyre creates an enemy early in her childhood with her Aunt Mrs. Reed. Just as Mrs. Reeds life is coming to an end, she writes to Jane asking her for forgiveness, and one last visit from her.
Jane in her younger years was practically shunned by everyone and was shown very little love and compassion, from this throughout her life she searches for these qualities through those around her. Due to Jane’s mother’s disinheritance she was disowned by Mrs. Reed and her children, and was treated like a servant consistently reminded that she lacked position and wealth.
As the story progresses Jane is slowly but surely transforming into a new woman. From the beginning, Jane has always possessed a sense of her dignity. Jane integrity is constantly tested over the progression of the novel, and Jane must learn to balance the repeated conflicting parts of her in order to find contentment. During this era in England, women are viewed differently than they are today. In the 19th century women in England were expected to maintain a certain image or act in a certain manner which is referred to as the traditional woman who accepts her role in society. Men are the dominant ones in the society. Although women are expected to be a traditional woman, not all of them follow play the part. This is a woman who does not live by the standards of the society. A new woman does not sit back and do as she is told; she makes her own rules and determines her own success. These are all characteristics that Jane starts to gain.
Mr Brockleurst is the head teacher of the school. He is another extremely religious figure that Jane comes across. He talks about the deadly sins Jane has commited, yet he does not see his own actions are far worse. Mr Brocklehurts is a harsh and dishonest man, forcing the school to live in squallid conditions, so he can support his own lavish lifestyle.
Jane Eyre, written by Charlotte Brontë, was published in 1847 by Smith, Elder & Company, in London. This year is exactly ten years into Queen Victoria’s sixty-four year reign of the British Empire. The Victorian Era was renowned for its patriarchal Society and definition by class. These two things provide vital background to the novel, as Jane suffers from both. Jane Eyre relates in some ways to Brontë’s own life, as its original title suggest, “Jane Eyre: An Autobiography”. Charlotte Brontë would have suffered from too, as a relatively poor woman. She would have been treated lowly within the community. In fact, the book itself was published under a pseudonym of Currer Bell, the initials taken from Brontë’s own name, due to the fact that a book published by a woman was seen as inferior, as they were deemed intellectually substandard to men. Emily Brontë, Charlotte’s sister, was also forced to publish her most famous novel, Wuthering Heights, under the nom de plume of Ellis Bell, again taking the initials of her name to form her own alias. The novel is a political touchstone to illustrate the period in which it was written, and also acts as a critique of the Victorian patriarchal society.
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.
Jane next lived at Lowood. This institution was anything but a true family unit. However, Jane sought out people to care for and who would care for her in return. Helen Burns and Miss Temple became very close to Jane. In ways like the mother of the typical family served as a moral guide and a nurturer, so too did Helen Burns, and to a certain extent Miss Temple.
At the beginning of the novel while Jane is living under her aunt, Mrs. Reed, she is treated disrespectfully and cruelly. She accuses Jane of being deceitful and a troublesome girl in front of Mr. Brocklehurst, the master of Lowood School. Jane is so hurt by this accusation that she cannot stop herself from defending her well being, and she stands up to her aunt. She knows she is being treated disrespectful and has much more self-worth than ...
These beliefs do not, however, hold him back for long as the society he now lives in alter his previous values and morals. A majority of the boys on the island are wanting to go after the pigs for meat. Jacks major convern is to obtain meat and as Ralph is trying to convinve him to help with shelter jack says, “ We want meat” (Golding 51). Golding is making Jacks growing savage nature blatantly obvious, as he ignores the need for shelter and simply wants to go hunt down pigs. The hunt is no longer merely a source of gathering food but has transmuted into the only activity of interest and fulfillment for jack and his hunters. Now a complete savage Jack has acquired a thirst for killing and hunting. This thirst, and abso...
As Jane enters into the Lowood school she meets three important characters who are Miss Temple ,Mr. Brocklehurst and Helen in chapters 5-10. How Miss Temple was described by Helen was that she was “good and very clever“. Her personality was kind and she showed her compassion for people, she played a major role in the development in Jane’s life . Miss Temple was relatable to Jane because she was kind hearted and also faced the harsh realities of people. Miss Temple was also against her superior who was Mr. Brocklehurst which is similar to Jane bein...
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte is a novel about a woman, Jane, moving from place to place on a path to find her own feeling of independence. Throughout her journey, Jane encounters many obstacles to her intelligence. Male dominance proves to be the biggest obstruction at each stop of Jane's journey. As Jane progressed through the novel her emotional growth was primarily supported by the people and the places she was around. This examination will look for textual support from different sections of Jane Eyre to review how Jane had grown emotionally and intellectually as she moved from location to location, as well as looking at critical analysis from Bronte critics as to how each location plays a role in Jane’s progression.
Evidence : She points that when Jane comes to this realization through her careful observation and analysis of Helen Burns. At first, Jane is puzzled by Helen; But as time passes, Jane comes to appreciate the depth of Helen's character while acknowledging that it was frequently hidden by her appearance. When Jane is humiliated i...
Tremendous spirit. The enviable trait that Jane Eyre from Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre possesses is what stimulates her to achieve self-actualization despite the fact that she is a woman. True feminism isn’t as violent as a handful of vicious extremists claim it to be. The accurate definition of feminism is “the doctrine advocating women’s social, political, civil, educational and all other rights as equal to those of men.” Women of Charlotte Bronte’s era did not have basic rights such as the aforementioned. The feminist movement in the Victorian Era had only just begun and Jane Eyre was far ahead of her peers. Published in 1847, the bildungsroman novel of Jane Eyre was an intricate one, with subtle feminism carefully woven in it, particularly through the actions and thoughts of Jane Eyre, the protagonist. Her quest for self-worth and identity lead her to overcome the various stigmas that women in that era were faced with. These ambiguities reflect the tensions real Victorian women of faith experienced in trying to meet multiple often conflicting demands in their lives. Such challenges were complicated further by the fact that 19th century Evangelical Christianity- attentive to the realities of sin, sorrow, sacrifice, and loss- was no easy creed for women and men. (Lamonaca) Jane Eyre’s battles for authentic love, good reputation and indifferent attitude towards social classes dominated English women’s lives. The heroine tackles gender roles and breaks all the mannerisms of the time to inject an early dose of feminism in the English audience. Jane’s transformation from naïve child to independent woman stunned the public and gave women the inspiration to make their own decisions and defy the norms of their era.