The Importance of Miss Temple in Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

The Importance of Miss Temple

In the novel Jane Eyre, written by Charlotte Bronte, one reoccurring motif is the idea of Jane, the protagonist, needing a motherly figure to guide her. From the very beginning it is obvious that Jane is an orphan without any real motherly figure, so she finds a few people to fill this void in every environment she is placed in. The major substitute mother is a woman named Miss Temple in which Jane meets at the Lowood Institution. Miss Temple dramatically helps Jane along her journey and comforts her in a way that only a mother could.

Miss Temple can be described as the nondiscriminatory woman superintendent of Lowood. During their very first meeting Jane claims how she is "impressed by her voice, look and air" (180). Helen, another student that Jane befriends at Lowood, describes Miss Temple as being "above the rest, because she knows far more than they do" and "overall good and very clever"(221). Having Helen describe Miss Temple this way speaks volumes because she herself is very fair-minded and admirable towards Jane. Miss Temple's strongest quality is her ability to be a role model from the girls, this quality is depicted by Jane as "considerable organ of veneration, for I yet retain the sense of admiring awe with which my eyes traced her steps" (216).

When Jane is at at Lowood, Miss Temple is constantly showing her genuine kindness for the students. A big moment of her kindness is when the girls did not want to eat the burnt porridge that was given to them one morning and so she ordered a lunch with cheese and bread to be served to them for lunch. Mr. Brocklehurst did not like this act done by Miss Temple, and she probably knew that it would be frowned upon but knew it was the right thin...

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...and Miss Temple had a relationship that can be compared to a mother and a daughter. Each of them cares deeply about their futures and thinking of Miss Temple not being in Jane’s makes are felt lost. Mothers instill a sense of morals to their daughters and set the standard for the rest of their lives. "I had imbibed from her something of her nature and much of her habits" (353).

Miss Temple's influence carries on with Jane in the rest of the novel or for the rest of her life. Miss Temple provided Jane the idea that she can be an intelligent individual. Although Miss Temple is not a main character in this novel, she is vital to Jane’s personal and emotional development. Throughout eight years of Jane’s life Miss Temple is who aids her to be the person she has always strived to be. One might think her last name (Temple) suggests the value of her existence to Jane.