Nineteenth Century Education in Jane Eyre

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Nineteenth Century Education in Jane Eyre

Charlotte Bronte was born in Yorkshire in 1816. She spent most of her

life in Haworth, a bleak Yorkshire village where her father was

curate. In 1821 her mother died, so she, her four sisters, Elizabeth,

Anne, Maria and Emily and her brother Branwell were sent to live with

their Aunt, Elizabeth Branwell.

In 1824 Charlotte was sent with Elizabeth, Maria and Emily to a school

for daughters of the clergy. While at school two of her sisters died

of typhus, this is where she got her inspiration for Lowood. After

Charlotte left this school she went to Miss Woolers School and

returned home as a teacher. She also became a governess, as this was a

respectable profession for someone of Charlotte’s status.

The novel Jane Eyre is autobiographical in that Charlotte Bronte

describes her own education through the character Jane Eyre. Many of

the incidents at Lowood really happened to her.

At the beginning of the 19th century only 1 child in 20 went to school

in 1800, and these were mainly boys, the sons of rich parents. Poor

children were too busy to go to school as they worked on the land and

in the factories to bring money for their families. Some factories

provided some education for their workers but very little. If there

was a Sunday school in the village many children attended if they

could, but they were only taught to read the bible, not how to write,

as many of the teachers could not. There were schools that were

privately run by the church, but they were not free, this is like the

school Charlotte was sent to. The Monitorial system was common. Harsh

discipline was used. There was no com...

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...harlotte was unlucky to loose two of her sisters at school

and that must have made her have unhappy memories about her school

life. When Charlotte attended Miss Wooler’s school she was the

happiest that she had ever been at school. She respected Miss Wooler

and this was reflected in her grades. When she left this school she

had quality experience that stood her in good stead and allowed her to

progress further in life than many of the women at that time. Jane

Eyres education is very similar to that of Charlotte Bronte, she had

unpleasant experiences of death when her closest friend dies of

typhus. Jane also had a teacher that inspired her to do well, Miss

Temple. In the novel Jane was also very lucky to get such a quality

education to set her up for later life, as she had very good jobs in

her life considering her age.

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