Charlotte Bronte, Jane’s author, adds many social standards to Jane Eyre through Jane herself as well as the people Jane interacts with during the story. Jane starts her life on her parent’s estate Jane Eyre. Jane was orphaned at a young age and had to live with her cruel aunt, Sarah Reed, who does not care for Jane. Jane spends the first ten years of her life with her aunt before she is sent to Lowood School.
Jane stays at Lowood for about eight years where Mrs. Reed’s son, St. John Rivers later becomes headmaster until Jane is old enough to become a governess for Mr. Rochester’s ward Adele Varens. Jane goes through many hardships during this time including the death of Helen Burns which made Jane extremely upset because Helen was her friend whom Jane felt very close to after their misfortune during this period in history together as students of Lowood Institution for orphaned and unwanted girls. Jane’s hardships in life eventually lead Jane to Thornfield where Jane finds peace after such a rough period of her life at Lowood Institution.
Jane states, “My future husband was becoming to me my whole world; and more than the world: almost my hope of heaven. He stood between me and every thought of religion, as an eclipse intervenes between man and the broad sun. I could not, in those days, see God for his creature of whom I had made an idol. ” Jane loved Mr. Rochester so much that it interfered with Jane following any religious beliefs she may have had left from her time at Lowood School. Jane loved him so much that nothing could get in between them including religion which Jane used to let guide her life a great deal.
Jane goes on to say, “I had found a friend in Jane, and it was Jane who undid me” Jane’s love for Mr. Rochester became so strong that when they returned to Thornfield after Jane almost dies from the fire that burnt down Thornfield she believed this was what God intended because Jane could not live without him any longer. Despite Jane Eyre being such an important piece of literature during the period in which it takes place it also is still very relevant today with many people reading the book and loving Jane’s character and storyline as well as Charlotte Bronte’s writing style.
Jane later marries Mr. Rochester despite his facial disfigurement and blindness caused by the fire that burnt down Thornfield. Jane and Mr. Rochester live out the rest of their lives happily in Jane’s new house called Moor House with Jane’s best friend, Saint John Rivers, Jane Eyre ends with Jane breaking the fourth wall to tell her readers how she is enjoying her love-filled life with Mr. Rochester along with their adopted child whom Jane plans to name Adele after Jane’s former ward at the beginning of Jane Eyre.
My background knowledge on this novel can be described by saying that I read this for my senior year English course in high school and enjoyed it because it was different than other books we had read during our last semester because Jane Eyre wasn’t set in the present day but rather a Victorian England during a period in which Jane and I don’t relate to and that is what made Jane Eyre more appealing. Also, Jane had some hardships during her time on earth and it helped me realize how good of a life I have because Jane lives through so much but always stays positive.
This novel can also be enjoyed by many people who are not forced to read this for school as well as those reading it for academic purposes due to Jane Eyre being such an influential piece of literature from the Victorian era. In Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte uses specific settings at certain times during Jane’s life to better illustrate the feelings Jane has about each scene she is placed in with a certain setting by using geometry and different scenery during social standards-heavy events.
Jane Eyre takes place mainly in Lowood Institution for orphaned and unwanted girls, Thornfield with Jane’s employment as governess for young Adele Varens, Jane’s time at Moor House, St. John Rivers’ estate, Jane’s return to Thornfield after she is married to Mr. Rochester, Jane’s rescue of Mr. Rochester from the burning Thornfield with Jane and Adele living out their lives in Ferndean up until Jane’s death several years later.
One setting Bronte uses which stands out a lot is light versus dark imagery throughout Jane Eyre because it always ties into a feeling or emotion Jane feels while a certain event is going on than whether that be happiness or sadness while going somewhere dark Jane’s tone is always downcast and somber while Jane is usually in a happy mood when she goes somewhere with light. Jane describes the school Lowood Institution for orphans where Jane came from saying, “I was received at Lowood like a commended pupil, allowed to wear no bonnet rouge, and to consort only with the fair-ones.
Jane Eyre focuses mostly on Jane’s tough childhood growing up an orphan who didn’t go to school or learn much until she started attending Lowood School where Jane learned her reading skills but that wasn’t without its hardships as well because Jane was not treated kindly by other students which made living there very difficult for Jane due to other girls verbally abusing her calling her names such as Jane Eyre.
Jane describes Lowood Institution as “a large, regular, stone building” where Jane felt she was attending a tomb because of how Jane saw it through negative eyes due to the treatment Jane received from others there which Jane mentions when saying “I had experienced so many mortifications in the course of my residence at Lowood that I was as it were dead to anticipation: prefigured nothing but ills. Jane’s tone is always somber while mentioning these places in Jane Eyre because all Jane can think about is her past hurts and emotional pain she feels when thinking back on them such as her time spent at Lowood making the setting seem very dark for Jane despite being surrounded by the light because Jane sees everything through cloudy gray tinted lenses.
Jane, however, does mention several times throughout Jane Eyre the brightness of the sky which Jane always sees in a positive light because Jane has hope for something better to come, or Jane feels happy which is why Jane mentions it so often during Jane’s time at Lowood making her feel slightly content with her surroundings despite being surrounded by darkness. Another setting Bronte uses are specific colors when Jane is mentioning where she lives during Jane Eyre due to how much effect it had on Jane’s mood living there.
It was pretty interesting how Charlotte Bronte uses color imagery within Jane Eyre because every time certain colors were used while describing places it tied directly into Jane’s emotions because certain colors acted as symbols for different things which I thought was rather interesting, Jane’s living conditions were very dreary for Jane during Jane’s time at Moor House but her mood improved drastically which Bronte used color imagery to reflect Jane’s newfound happiness while she was at Moor House.
Jane describes that “the house had been built by some former proprietor who had made money in trade” where Jane is always downcast and somber when mentioning this place because Jane feels like this is a tomb which makes Jane describe the rooms as dark with low ceilings due to how Jane usually feels there.