Jane's Thwarted Childhood

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Jane Eyre(1847) by Charlotte Bronte is an epic love story which marks the triumph of ordinary women. It was written at a time when social conditioning of girls began at an early age and they were in every way trained to become an efficient housewife and hosekeeper.Jane begins her story as an orphan raised by her wealthy aunt.She is alienated by her cousins and is regarded inferior.Symptoms of an upcoming rebel are visible in Jane’s childhood,which are apparent through her confrontations with John and Mrs.Reed.Since her childhood itself,Jane defies the norms set for her by the patriarchy and challenges the social preconceptions of the nineteenth century Victorian society.The red room scene marks an important phase in Jane’s life.It gives the reader a sense of literal and metaphorical imprisonment and also exemplifies the Victorian doctrine of feminine control.Bronte uses images of “mad cat” and “rebel slave”,which hints at the underlying class and gender hierarchies of the Victorian society. Jane spends the first half of her childhood in confinement and containment at Gateshead(Gatedhead,the name itself is symbolic).From there she moves to the “bosky darkness and spiritual abyss” of Lowood.She endures harsh conditions,cruel teachers and the tyranny of Mr.Brocklehurst in her early years at Lowood.Time and again,an indication of unfulfilled,unsatisfied appetite is witnessed during her stay at Lowood.The three important people-Mr.Brocklehurst,Helen Burns,Miss Temple;who cast a deep impression on Jane’s character are also encountered at this point in the novel. Jane is apparently ignorant of religion in her early years(doesn’t like psalms),but she gains a better understanding of religion at Lowood in Helen’s aquaintance.Even after this she remains indifferent to the shallow religious values preached
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