Charlotte Bronte”s character, Jane Eyre, is a young orphan girl. She has been provided with accommodation at Gateshead hall. She lives with her much-detested aunt and her privileged yet extremely loathsome cousins John, Georgiana and Eliza. The reason she lives with them is because it was the dying wish of her uncle reed, who is established as a benevolent character. Jane is treated badly by all at Gateshead hall apart from a servant named Bessie.
Jane’s emotions as a character are established very, there is a great contrast in her emotions. To begin she shows sorrow and hatred. These treatments are shown due to the treatment Jane constantly endures from aunt Reed and John Reed. To begin Mrs reed is clearly a malevolent character and shows this by her bad treatments. Mrs reed excludes Jane from socialising with herself and her own kin, Mrs reed regrets “regrets to be under the necessity of keeping Jane at a distance…” Jane sees this as an opportunity to indulge in pleasures of her own. However, Jane states that Mrs reed “…really must exclude her from privileges-only contended for happy, little children.” Moving on to the terrible treatment Jane receives from her cousin John Reed. John frequently inflicts mental and physical abuse upon Jane’s fragile character. Jane endures the continuous tyranny from her corrupt cousin for several years. There is one main incident in which Jane breaks out and defends herself from the constant intimidation. Eliza and Georgiana are not as cruel to Jane as her aunt and cousin and therefore Jane does not despise them that greatly.
The incident in which Charlotte
Bronte establishes the character of Jane Eyre best is when she shows a change in Jane’s mood. Jane had been excluded by the Reeds and had found pleasure in a book. Nevertheless, John discovers Jane’s hide out and begins to question her. When John finally receives information of what Jane had been doing reading he shows an envious character. He demands the book saying, ” You have no business to take our books.” Then as Jane was expecting, he hurls the volume towards her knocking her to the ground and causing her head to split. Jane finally does not submit to anymore violence and throws herself at John spitting with fury and showing all her rage. She is immediately halted and is then exiled to the eerie Red Room by the orders of Mrs Reed.
The red room used to be the sleeping chambers of her now deceased Uncle Reed it also contains his deathbed which all petrified Jane. Charlotte Bronte establishes the fearful character of Jane Eyre in this section of the novel by using ghostly setting and a character that is hardly in the novel. Jane’s broad imagination obtains her body as she gasps as what she believes to be her late uncle’s eternal spirit. Her fear sends her body into a hysterical fit, which then is succumbed into a deep slumber.
In the opening chapters of the novel it holds a miserable and very gloomy setting to it. This is all done by the fact that Jane lives in Gateshead Hall were she is treated unwell. The estate may be portrayed as grand and lavish yet it has a dreary shadow cast over it. This is because of the poor treatment she receives and the lack of companionship she has to treasure at Gateshead Hall. However this is all stopped as Jane is finally separated from Gateshead as she is sent to Lowood charity school for girls. As much as Lowood is deprived of the luxuries Gateshead hall bears, it still holds a brighter atmosphere because it is very much adored by Jane. Charlotte uses the technique of setting here to establish character very well, she uses a school as Jane enjoys learning and expanding her knowledge she uses other girls to show Jane’s friendly character.
The Novel holds the strong theme of love; this is highlighted well when Jane is at Lowood. However the love genre does not fall into romantic love but the love of others close companions. It shows the reaction of Jane to feel the love of Helen burns, Helen bestows Jane with the affection of a caring sister. The gentle and warm Miss Temple provides the same love and compassion to Jane in the form of a mother. This is the first love Jane has ever felt and certainly the first received. It portrays a very new character in Jane; she begins to show happiness and changes to a character with broader emotions not just hatred, now she shows love care for others and compassion. This is all because her acquaintances, Helen and Miss Temple treat her exceedingly affably.
Jane’s character is unanticipated for the time the novel is written in. The usual rule of children being seen but not heard does not follow Jane’s behaviour. Jane shows resilience in particular chapters of the novel. She displays it against Mr Brocklehurst, Mrs Reed and John. As she is female, she shows a surprising character for that era of time.
I was not interested in the book when we began reading. However, my interest grew as Charlotte Bronte began sculpting into a different character with mixed emotions. As the class continued reading the novel and my understanding broadened that Jane does not change scenery as much as I may have hoped. I wish the novel would also fall into the genre of adventure on certain occasions. Yet I still realise the skill involved in the novel and Bronte’s fascinating imagination also being dedicated.
To conclude my piece of writing I think that Bronte establishes the character of Jane Eyre very well. She establishes the character of Jane by exploring how Jane reacts to other character, which is very genius. She also uses the setting very creatively and the events of Jane’s life also establish her character.
