I've read Jane Eyre once before, and it's actually one of my favorite books. The Gothic is such a strange and twisted genre, and I feel as though Jane Eyre includes many of its elements, such as a young woman, ghosts, and the jagged, dark and mysterious Thornfield.
Throughout the story, Jane is treated pretty terribly--by her adoptive parents, her cousins, and especially by Mr. Brocklehurst. One of the passages that I have always found really terrible and interesting is when Mr. Brocklehurst forced Jane to stand in front of the other girls at Lowood on a stool, and calls her out for being different--to go back to what we were talking about in class, an 'other.' Mr. Brocklehurst said, "This little girl, who might be one of God's own lambs, is a little castaway: not a member of the true flock...an alien." (56) First of all, what an awful thing to say to a little kid! She's just a kid, for goodness sake. And of course you have Miss Temple's kind words thrown in there as to show us not to hate all adults, but Mr. Brocklehurst is a terrible example of how to treat a child, an example that he is setting for all the other girls at the school. This is ironic because he goes onto say, "shun her exmaple: if necessary, avoid her company" (56). Mr. Brocklehurst is literally trying to make this girl friendless. It's so cruel! On one hand, this makes us sympathize with Jane, but on the other hand I think this episode is included to show us that in this society people are being grouped together; classified--just like with Darwin. And Jane is being classified as the other, the girl not to associate with. Mr. Brocklehurst feels that she has such little class value, that other must flee from her. This is similar to how white people felt about anyone of a different race, and shows how people feel the need to shy away from anything that is different because different meant that you were not as good as everyone else.
This scene also reminds me of the scene in Women of Colour where Olivia is made a spectical of at the ball. But unlike Olivia, Jane is unable to turn Mr. Brocklehurst's insults around and make herself seem more civilized. She's just a little girl after all, and he's in change. She doesn't really have anything else to do except to take it. It's awful, and a scene that makes me mad every time I read it, but it really does a great job of showing how people grouped and labeled each other in this time period. If you were different you were the other.
I definitely agree that Jane Eyre incorporates many aspects of the gothic. These themes help add to the plot and enhance Jane’s character as well as the story as a whole. Jane is treated absolutely horrible in her childhood. At first I thought she would never fight back, but when she finally stood up to her aunt I was like yes, badass! Jane says, “I dislike you worst of anybody in the world... I am glad you are no relation of mine. I will never call you aunt again as long as I live” (30). In this moment I saw extreme character growth for Jane. Not only is she intelligent and witty, but also finally we see her grow as someone who can stand up for herself. Mr. Brockleworst is the epitome of everything I hate in a human being. I mean he even has the word “worst” in his last name! He tries to isolate Jane from society by making her seen as different and at fault. It appalled me that people treated her so coldly after the incident. Maybe they feared him, who knows, but it was horrible. I’m glad you related it to “The Woman of Colour,” However, I think Olivia did turn the insults around just like Jane did. Mr. Brocklehurst tries to make Jane look like the savage beast, However, just like Olivia, Jane shows that she is the better person while he in fact is the savage one. Despite all her struggles and horrible encounters with truly terrible people, Jane continues to show her superior intelligence and wit.
ReplyDeleteImmediately upon starting the book, all I could compare little Jane Eyre to was Matilda (am I right or what?!) In the scene you mention that casts her out an the "other" in front of the classroom, and I could envision was the evil principal from Matilda (Agatha Trunchbull) who had that "death-closet" that she threw Matilda into and also made fun of her in front of the class. Unlike Matilda who fought back against her being made fun of (by moving the water glass or talk with her eyes, right?), Jane does nothing because she is too timid. I don't blame her- the abuse that these girls were subjected to by their instructors and in their peer environment must have been so humiliating and discouraging. Again, I'm thinking of Matilda, especially when the extremely caring and compassionate teacher, Miss Honey, becomes her closest comfort and support. Jane's comfort is Miss Temple (although the same strong bond isn't quite developed). Jane finds comfort in a single girl, Helen, which Matilda fails to do and that I think is very essential in her stay at Lowood. having a sense of importance in someone's life (as was shown when Helen holds her close in death-bed-side) is vital in developing their own self-worth and desire to form companionships and bonds. I think Jane furthers her desire for companionship post Lowood in keeping a relationship with Grace (is that the initial friendly servant's name?) and developing one with Mr. Rochester. Although having the tendency to be independent, Jane seems to develop the desire to find comfort and community in others (when she eventually meets and lives with her Eyre cousins).
ReplyDeleteI guess I've come to realize that Jane Eyre is the "imagination" to Matilda's "fancy," quite obviously in many ways (at least in the childhood part). Jane finds absolutely no happiness or sense of family with her aunts and cousin in the beginning as Matilda does with her parents and brother, steals away to read a book...
We have Victorian-Era British Literature to thank for utilization today, now don't we.
Caroline, I really like your explanation of your connection to Darwin. I agree with howJane is the "other", and starting with Mrs Reed, Jane is constantly being put in a position where she is made to feel different, and attacked. This is pretty consistent with how people during this Era are starting to feel about Nature, and how it is no longer something that is gentle, but something that now invokes fear and could potentially destroy. The environement Jane is constantly in is a good representation of this dangerous environment. Gabriella, I had the exact same thought about Matilda too. And how the Red room was almost like the chokey (ok getting a little too much into this). One scene that really stood out to me was when Helen Burns was forced to allow the monitor to beat her with a stick, and Jane genuinely didn't understand why someone would permit such treatment. I think this is another instance in which Jane herself separates as the "other" by enforcing her own moral code, when the thing to do at the time was to be submissive and allow anything your fate brought to you.
ReplyDeleteAnother separation evident within the third chapter when Jane is speaking with Mr. Lloyd about her situation and her options is the poverty stricken low class. Jane chooses to attend Lowood instead of trying to find any relatives in order to avoid becoming a member of this class. These two Jane quotes explain this idea better than I can: "they [children] think of the word [poverty] only as connected with ragged clothes, scanty food, fireless grates, rude manners, and debasing vices: poverty for me was synonymous with degradation" (20). Although she is just a child, Jane already has a very clear division between people with money and people without. This second quote really stuck with me, because Jane specifically notices the language differences between the classes, "I could not see how poor people had the means of being kind; and then to learn to speak like them, to adopt their means, to be uneducated..." (20).
ReplyDeleteI am so glad that someone decided to write about poor little Jane. As Jane grows up, I am less inclined to be sympathetic to her, but the abuses that are heaped on her as a child are really quite disgusting.
ReplyDeleteMrs. Reed (and, to a lesser extent, her children) and Mr. Brocklehurst act monstrously towards this little girl. When Mrs. Reed put so much effort into sweeping Jane into the terrifying red room and ignored her screams, I was confused by the servants’ reactions. Instead of whispering about the cruelty of their mistress, they talk about the evilness of a little girl who had been cut on the head and placed in a cold room. What?! Mrs. Reed can obviously live with herself, but it was very hard for me to believe that the servants felt that what she did was right (even if they are not necessarily in the position to criticize their mistress. Bessie, at least, feels guilty when Jane falls ill.
The later scene with Mr. Brocklehurst was more realistic because, even though he similarily denounces Jane, the teachers and the girls of the school are able to maintain their own opinions. I love the fact that Helen points out that had Jane been favored, she would have been hated. I think that this is a realistic representation of a dichotomy of power.
There are some characters that extend small kindnesses to Jane in the form of Dr. Lloyd and Bessie. However, these characters seem unable to extend that kindness to any great action. Instead, they seem constrained by their social positions, and do what they can by way of suggestion and small shows of favor when their betters are not around. This seems to be the best that they can do, and even their best is pathetic.
Caitlin I couldn't agree more with you. However, this is the first time I am reading Jane Eyre and I've always wanted to because people rave about it. Unfortunately, it is a really disturbing book so far. I feel so bad for Jane and I hate majority of the adult characters that I read about so far. I am so glad you went on a rant about Mr. Brocklehurst. He is actually the worst example of a school authority figure. I am studying to become a teacher at the university so he is doing everything I was taught thus far NOT to do. Calling/ singling out Jane infront of the whole class is mortifying. Like she doesn't have enough to deal with from her aunt. It's crazy because he is doing this because she is kind of an orphan? I know teachers can't favor one student over another, but I would definitely be more gentler and patient with a character like Jane. I am so curious to see what pans out in the rest of the book, hopefully he eases up but I am sure that won't happen.
ReplyDeleteI really liked your comparison of Jane Eyre to Woman of Colour. One other conclusion I would like to draw between the two pieces are the similarities of the characters of Bessie to Ms. Milibanke. I think both of these characters need to have their significance noted in that they both took form of a soft support for the main character’s Jane of Jane Eyre and Olivia of Woman of Colour. So often I feel like theis type of supporting characters are forgotten and yet I feel like they are of the utmost significance in that they give that strong push that each girl needed. Though both Bessie and Ms. Milibanke are not given many lines, their silent presence is imperative in the girl’s fight to keep going. I think that Bessie and Ms. Milibanke are two of the more relatable characters in that I look to them as motherly figures. Personally, I know if I was going to uncharted lands like Olivia and Jane, I would need someone whom I could trust and vent to our look up to, and I felt that Bessie and Ms. Milibanke acted as such a comfort.
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