How Does Charlotte Bronte Use Language to Convey the Experience of a 10 Year Old Child in the Opening Chapters of Jane Eyre?

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In the opening chapters of Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte describes the childhood of Jane when she’s ten years old. She uses language to convey the innocence and naivety of childhood and how a ten year old child would speak and view the world. In the first chapter of Jane Eyre the first thing you notice is that the narrative is in very adult language. For example a child wouldn’t say “I was endeavouring in good earnest to acquire a more sociable and childlike disposition, a more attractive and sprightly manner”, the language is too mature to be a ten year old. This suggests that an older Jane is looking back at her childhood and narrating. However, when Jane uses direct speech, the reader can tell she is a child. When in a rage she exclaims “Wicked and cruel boy! You are like a murderer – you are like a slave driver – you are like the Roman emperors!” Bronte uses child-like language by using simple, short sentence structure. Also children repeat themselves and Jane uses a lot of repetition. Even the punctuation of this short outburst (the dashes and exclamation marks) conveys the passionate rage of a child in a temper. This contrasts with the adult, complex, narrative sentences of the older Jane. In chapter two, Jane gets locked in the red room as punishment for attacking John Reed. Bronte’s description of the red room helps the reader understand that Jane is very frightened by this room because she is a child. The windows in the room are described as being “shrouded in festoons and falls of similar drapery”. Bronte uses the adjective “shrouded” which is a metaphor for death. Dead people are usually shrouded and this gives the impression that the room is haunted. Also the fact that the window is described as being half shrouded gives the connotation of a dead person, half living. Half way between the veil of life and death. Furthermore, I think the point

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