Preview

Jane Eyre - Miss Temple's Influence on Jane Essay Example

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
976 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Jane Eyre - Miss Temple's Influence on Jane Essay Example
"Jane Eyre" is set during the Victorian period, at a time where a women's role in society was restrictive and repressive and class differences distinct. A job as a governess was one of the only few respectable positions available to the educated but impoverished single women.
<br>
<br>Not only is "Jane Eyre" a novel about one woman's journey through life, but Brontë also conveys to the reader the social injustices of the period, such as poverty, lack of universal education and sexual inequality. Jane's plight and her "dependent
" status is particularly emphasised at the beginning of the novel.
<br>
<br>Miss Temple is the kind and fair-minded superintendent of Lowood School, who plays an important role in the emotional development of Jane Eyre.
<br>
<br>Miss Temple is described by Helen as being "good and very clever" and "above the rest, because she knows far more than they do". This description is more significant because it has been said by Helen, and she herself is extremely mature.
<br>
<br>One of Miss Temple's most outstanding qualities is her ability to command (perhaps unconsciously) respect from everyone around her, "considerable organ of veneration, for I yet retain the sense of admiring awe with which my eyes traced her steps". Even during their first encounter Jane is "impressed"... "by her voice, look and air".
<br>
<br>Throughout Jane's stay at Lowood, Miss Temple frequently demonstrates her human kindness and compassion for people. An Example of this is when after noticing that the burnt porridge was not eaten by anyone, she ordered a lunch of bread and cheese to be served to all, realising their hunger. This incident is also evidence of her courage, of how she is not afraid to stand up to her superior, when she feels that too much unnecessary suffering has been inflicted on the children
<br>
<br>Miss Temple's Christianity contrasts with that of Mr Brocklehurst, where instead of preaching restrictive and depressing doctrine, which he then proceeds

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Development of Jane Eyre

    • 859 Words
    • 4 Pages

    At the opening of her incredible journey, Jane Eyre is a timid, shy, and headstrong girl. Through the course of her journey, her character does not exactly "change", but rather expands and develops. Her first growth starts at the Lowood School, where she finally finds herself in a society with which she can relate and grow. The second advance appears in the place of Thornfield, a place of many wonders. Then, in the region of Morton and Marsh End (or Moor House), Jane really evolves into the person she is truly meant to be.…

    • 859 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    From her troubles with the abusive Reed family, her friendships at Lowood, her love of Mr Rochester and her time with the Rivers family, Jane 's character remains strong and vigilant despite the hardships she endures. Through the course of the novel, Jane 's character changes slightly but moreover reinforces itself as Jane uses people, situations and her personal experiences to gain knowledge, and assist her gaining her full character.…

    • 862 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jane Eyre Essay

    • 413 Words
    • 2 Pages

    While reading this book, the reader may pity Jane. Charlotte Bronte creates a consistent thread until the end of the book. Jane struggles with the same problem throughout the work, which is betrayal. She deals with it a place that was supposed to be her home, school and the work place.…

    • 413 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Ellen DeGeneres, Oprah Winfrey, and Tyra Banks, modern-day renowned television celebrities, are examples of strong, independent women who influence and inspire many people. In Charlotte Bronte’s novel Jane Eyre, the main character of Jane is an orphaned girl who feels abused and neglected living with the Reed family. As the story progresses and she gets older, she makes friends such as Helen Burns, the girl she met at Lowood, and sheds her feelings of loneliness. As she befriends more people, she overcomes her hesitant tendencies and expresses herself openly. In the same way as the aforementioned celebrities, Jane develops into a strong and confidant woman who ends up falling in love with Mr. Rochester. Jane is initially lonely and doubtful but throughout the book her personality blossoms into one of confidence as she learns to stands up for herself. As a result, she becomes a strong and assertive woman who expresses her opinions candidly and grows to love Mr. Rochester.…

    • 1301 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the novel Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte wants the readers to be able to have insight about what it was like growing up as a female during this era. In my analysis of the book, I found that the novel did a great job portraying what it is was like for women to grow up in the era that the book takes place in. Women is this period of time were treated with disrespect, and were forced to be a typically housemaid and were not allowed to have real jobs. When Jane Eyre was growing up, she was often shunned by her aunt and cousins and was taken into rooms to be locked in with no one else. In my opinion, this shows how poorly women, young girls in particular, were treated. In addition to women being treated incompetently, they also had far less personal…

    • 715 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Eva Braun

    • 1379 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Mr.Brocklehurst believed Mrs. Reed and Jane went to Lowood School and she was shunned because Mr. Brocklehurst told to students to do that. This is what he said “And you, girl. [He has Jane stand on her stool] This is the pedestal of infamy, and you will remain on it all day long. You will have neither food nor drink for you must how barren is the life of a sinner. Children, I exhort you to shun her, exclude her, shut her out from this day forth. Withhold the hand of friendship and deny your love to Jane Eyre, the liar.”(Bronte). Then after Jane she goes Lowood becomes a teacher. After a few years as a teacher Mrs. Temple leaves. Jane then looks for work elsewhere. Then she…

    • 1379 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre tells the story of Jane’s growth and development as she searches for a meaningful existence in society. Author Faith McKay said, “No matter what your family happens to be like…it affects who you are. It matters.” Jane is an orphan, forced to battle a cruel guardian, a patriarchal society, and a rigid social order. (Anderson, “Identity and Independence in Jane Eyre”) Jane has concrete beliefs in what women deserve, as well as obtainable goals for how she imagines her place in society as a woman (Lewkowicz, “The Experience of Womanhood in Jane Eyre”) and with self-growth, Jane Eyre was able to define herself as well as equip herself with wisdom and…

    • 116 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Jane Eyre Essay

    • 3572 Words
    • 15 Pages

    Compare and contrast the ways in which Bronte and Rhys construct the adult selves of Jane and Antoinette and consider how this shapes their relationship with Rochester.…

    • 3572 Words
    • 15 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gender Roles in Jane Eyre

    • 1153 Words
    • 5 Pages

    To varying degrees, Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre addresses the expectations of gender roles presently common in Victorian novels during the nineteenth century. Even in modern day society, the view of man tends to be aggressive, dominative, and ambitious, while women are portrayed as emotional, subservient, and sometimes passive. Bronte's depiction of the stereotypical male and female roles are accurate, but she also displays how one's gender can be altered. Jane, the novel's protagonist, is a cookie-cutout of what was expected of women in Victorian times. She dresses simply, is submissive, and longs for a male counterpart. As the story progresses, Jane shys away from conformities, but her willfulness to remain abnormal is tested when she endures heart-wrenching situations.…

    • 1153 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Controversy of Jane Eyre

    • 1356 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Cited: A classic feminist discussion of Jane Eyre is the book The Madwoman in the Attic by Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar (Yale University Press, 1979) See also Martin, Robert B. Charlotte Brontë 's Novels: The Accents of Persuasion. NY: Norton, 1966…

    • 1356 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    At the beginning of chapter two we see how Bronte presents Jane as being a lower class and status than her cousin John, which would have been very common at the time, where females were seen as being less important than men. “Miss Eyre, to strike a young gentleman, your benefactress’s son! Your master.…

    • 867 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Jane's quest for love, value, and belonging continues at the Lowood Institution. It's an institution for girls that are orphans, abandoned children, or they have no one to ward with. Once she settled into her new surroundings at Lowood she began to look around for potential friends and acquaintances. The first person she ran into was an older girl, Helen Burns. Helen is a clumsy girl that's constantly doing something that the teachers there see worthy of punishment. However she endures her miserable punishment with a passive dignity that Jane cannot understand. Jane reacts differently when she takes punishment that is like Helen's. When she drops a writing slate on the floor and breaks it in front of Mr. Brocklehurst, the director of Lowood, had her sit on a stool and he verbally abuses her in front of the entire school body, calling her a liar and…

    • 1516 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Watershed Of Jane Eyre

    • 490 Words
    • 2 Pages

    From her short experience with Helen, Jane’s roommate, Jane fell in admiration of how Helen responds to unfair treatment of Mrs. Scatcherd. Like Jane’s situation with her and the Reeds, Helen was able to remain calm and collected--even during her passing of tuberculosis. Jane later matured eight years of discontentment of Lowood, which leads to her job as a governess. She later met Mr. Rochester, whom she later married much later in the story. If it weren't for Jane’s determination to be in the school, she wouldn't have accumulated her talents of being able to play the piano not learn French. She later was able to impress…

    • 490 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jane Eyre is a novel that represents critique of Victorian age assumptions about social classes and gender issues. In the nineteenth-century there was a belief that women and men belong in "separate spheres," each with its own responsibilities. The women were expected to devote her self to the repetitive tasks of domestic labor and to minister to the needs of others while the men work and brought money.…

    • 567 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Religion In Jane Eyre

    • 977 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Throughout the novel Jane Eyre, the main character, Jane, not only struggles to find herself and her purpose, but also attempts to find her own outlook of religion. On her journey, she meets three drastically different variations of Christian faith. Although she does not accept any religion of those that she encounters, these characters eventually lead her to the discovery of her own outlook on God. The first character she comes across is Mr. Brocklehurst, the owner of Lowood and a harsh and hypocritical Christian. She immediately rejects Mr. Brocklehurst’s religious views as his abuse of power fueled by his beliefs becomes apparent. During her stay at Lowood, Jane meets Helen Burns, a Christ-like character devoted to her faith. Helen’s…

    • 977 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays