Theme Of Social Class In Jane Eyre

Decent Essays
Mistreated because of Social Class: Jane Eyre “Being brilliant is no great feat if you respect nothing.” These are the wise words of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe saying that no matter how brilliant one can be does no justice if one does not respect. Jane Eyre is often brought down by brilliant people that do not respect those of a lower class but she prospers. In the novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, the character Jane Eyre goes through a series of mistreatments as a child and as an adult due to her low social class, which results in her being a moral and educated person.
In her childhood, Jane Eyre was secluded due to her lower class and the fact that she was an orphan. For example, Jane was not allowed to read her wealthy family 's books
…show more content…
Before, Jane was offered a helping hand by her uncle John but her aunt neglected any help that would help Jane overcome her low social rank: " 'I disliked you too fixedly and thoroughly ever to lend a hand in lifting you to prosperity. '"(203). Mrs.Reed strongly disliked Jane and would never help her succeed. Jane received abuse from those who disliked her but received help from those who wanted a better future for her as a child. Furthermore, Jane did not let the selfish deed her aunt committed lead her into hatred: " 'Love me, then, or hate me, as you will, ' I said at last; 'you have my full and free forgiveness: ask now for God 's: and be at peace. '"(204). In contrast to all the mistreatments, Jane received from Mrs.Reed Jane like a good Christian is able to forgive her aunt. Jane is able to overcome all the hatred she had towards Mrs. Reed as child and she has now turned it into love and forgiveness. Hence, Jane obtains that fortune her uncle left her when he passed away and then returns to Ferndean with Rochester: " 'I told you I am independent, sir, as well as rich: I am my own mistress. '"(370). Jane is now free of mistreatments and independent because she does not need the money of others to live anymore. The mistreatment she received had a prize and she could now live the life she wanted to live. Jane went through a series of mistreatments which resulted into a happy prosperous

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Not surprisingly, Jane gets angry at the unfair treatment and abuse, as she is always the one to be punished even though she is the victim but there is one thing that truly puts her aside from many people and makes her a true hero; after being beaten down again and again she continues to be brave and stand up for what is morally right. She calls John Reed a “murderer” and a “slave-driver” when he says that she has no right to look at the Reed family’s books, inferring that she is of interior status to himself and in no way a member of the family. Although totally isolated in the world of the Reed family it is as if Jane realizes that no matter what her status is or the consequences of her actions could be that there is no one else to stand up for her so she must do it herself. She is heroic in this decision because, even though her childhood life has little impact on anyone else and she is solely standing up for herself, the reader empathizes for her while she endures the punishment for her acts bravery and courage. It is hoped by the reader that over time she will be able to, like the birds in the books she reads so religiously, soar above all the torment and let her…

    • 568 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    She inherited 20,000 pounds from her uncle upon his death. Also, Mr. Rochester was a rather wealthy man which made life easier with more stability in her home. Not having to worry about finances provided more stability to her home life. Even after ten years, in a letter Jane describes her happy marriage to Rochester who regained sight in one eye. Jane also explains that they have had a baby boy, that everything is well.…

    • 542 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    When Reeds states “gentlemen’s children,” he provides insight into the social class of Jane’s family; he informs the reader of Jane’s low upbringing and further isolates her from her cousins. She is forced into living a life of solitude and commands. The dominance that John Reed has over Jane also helps to support Brontë’s social commentary on gender inequality. Not only is Jane secluded from the Reed family due to her low upbringing, but also obligated to surrender to John’s…

    • 112 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Jane was left to live with her aunt mrs.reed and her 3 cousins. They showed disrespect and hatred towards her presence. All they did to jane was mistreat her, bully her and blame her for anything wrong that happens. Jane is excluded from her family. She feels isolated and different from everyone else.…

    • 453 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    She was the person that helped clear Jane’s tainted name at the school she attends, and Jane will always remember her for being kind-hearted and concerned with others’ feelings. Directly contrasting to Miss Temple’s compassion, Mrs. Reed, when on her Jane visits her on her deathbed, says, “I disliked you too fixedly and thoroughly ever to lend a hand in lifting you to prosperity” (356). Ever since Jane was a young child, Mrs. Reed has always treated her different. She has treated her as if she is a piece of trash on the ground—excluding her from family conversations, family events and even family meals. Jane never got the chance to receive the same love that Mrs. Reed showed her own children, she was always seen as an inferior to the others.…

    • 1256 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    With all of the bad events that have occurred over Jane’s life, she finally has found her sense of love and family. When the reader sees this there is an acknowledgment of Jane’s drive for love and how those affect her…

    • 887 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Jane’s experience with oppression starts at a young age. While living in Gateshead with Mrs. Reed and Mr. John, she faces criticism and is seen as inferior even to her adoptive sister Georgianna, who is around the same age. While at school in Lowood she was taught to take heavy criticism from teachers and other authority figures she interacted with. “...I am, as Miss Scatcherd said, slatternly, I seldom put, and never keep, things in order; I am careless; I forget rules; I read when I should learn my lessons; I have no method; and sometimes I say, like you, I cannot bear to be subjected to systematic arrangements,” (53). Jane’s teachers, like Miss Scatcherd, and other authoritative figures she should be looking up to, are explicitly pointing…

    • 1177 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Her persecution started with Mrs. Reed and her children’s unfair treatment towards Jane at Gateshead. Jane is treated as an animal and is sent to Lowood where she is abandoned by Mrs. Reed and further mistreated by Mr. Brocklehurst. “‘I should be glad if the superintendent and teachers were requested to keep a strict eye on her, and, above all, to guard against her worst fault, a tendency to deceit”’. Her abandonment of Jane at Lowood symbolises how much she actually cared for Jane and why Jane was in search for love and acceptance. Jane’s troubles and misfortunes as a child, ironically end up being better later on for Jane as she befriends Helen Burns, one of her first and only true friends.…

    • 817 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Initially, Jane Eyre began to gain self reliance when she was living with the Reeds. She was treated with neglect and abuse and she began to resist and fight back, which was the first sign of her independance. While being abused by John Reed, Jane stated, “‘Wicked and cruel boy! You are like a murderer ̶ you are like a slave-driver ̶ you are like the Roman emperors!’”(6) This was the first time Jane had ever spoken out against her unfair abuse.…

    • 608 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    But to have companionship, she must enter a social contract, and to enter a social contract, she must relinquish some of her independence. In Rochester, Jane finds the solution to her dilemma. Rochester, scarred and blinded from the fire Bertha, Rochester’s mad wife, set after Jane abandoned him in the night after their attempted wedding, is, in many ways, her equal. His disability makes him as reliant on her as she would be on him, under Victorian marriage laws -- he cannot walk without assistance, let alone force her to bow to his will. And he is equally as torn between society and independence as she is.…

    • 944 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Religion In Jane Eyre

    • 1606 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Bestowing a Heavenly Atmosphere Upon a Bland Planet The inner conflict between the pressures of society and the innate passions of the individual often arises, and social pressure often dominates. As a result, visceral inclinations of the soul can only manifest in the mind, having no bearing on external conduct. In Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë's masterpiece, this initially is the case: Jane upholds, in her mind, values that contradict wholly Victorian ones, but does nothing to bring upon herself a condition that reflects them.…

    • 1606 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Betrayal In Jane Eyre

    • 467 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, Bronte portrays her theme of the importance of women's’ independence and gender equality by employing betrayal throughout her novel. In particular, Bronte portrays how betrayal propelled the character of Jane Eyre to attempt to find herself and how betrayal affected the character of Bertha Mason. Throughout most the novel, Jane never feels settled into where she stays. In the beginning, Jane feels tormented by her cousins and her aunt in Gateshead.…

    • 467 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Oppression In Jane Eyre

    • 942 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Jane Eyre has never received love from her aunt, cousins or anybody to be specific. When going to Lowood School, Jane finds herself being accepted by someone else; Helen, her best friend who is dying. Jane Eyre desperately seeks affection by others which makes she says: “but that is enough; if others don’t love me, I would rather die” (Bronte 101) to show how unaccepted and unappreciated she has been feeling all her years. When Helen dies, Jane Eyre goes back to being alone and unloved. That is until she meets Mrs. Fairfax who is so nice to her which makes Jane think if that is all an act and she will later on become like Mrs. Reed.…

    • 942 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Orphan Status In Jane Eyre

    • 1551 Words
    • 7 Pages

    When an orphan girl is placed into the home of unloving relatives, most would argue that the child would be negatively affected by her experience. However, this is not the case for Jane, the protagonist of Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. The story begins in Jane’s childhood while she is living with the Reed family, her aunt and cousins. Her family treated her just as a servant would be treated, thus Jane felt like she did not belong. The novel follows Jane through her life as she goes to school, then begins her employment at Thornfield as a governess.…

    • 1551 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    Gender Issues In Jane Eyre

    • 1955 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Jane wants excitement and adventure in her life, she does not want to do what is expected of her and to be limited because she is a woman. She believes that women should have every right that men do, including expressing their emotions, and should not be limited to at home activities that prevent them from fulfilling their potential in…

    • 1955 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays