Maturity In Jane Eyre

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Jane Eyre is structured in chunks relating to location. As Jane moves onto another location with new characters, her maturity moves on too. In the beginning of the novel, when set at Gateshead, Jane is a girl who feels isolated and hated by the Reed family. She has trouble controlling her anger when put into difficult situations. At Lowood school. She learns to handle her anger, mainly because of the advice given to her by her friend, Helen Burns. By the time Jane is living at Thornfield, readers see a young, mature woman who accepts herself (to some extent), rather than how she is perceived by others. This is evident in her relationship with Mr Rochester. Despite seeing this maturity, we as readers notice that Jane is still discovering herself.…show more content…
The Reed family play a big role in how we first perceive Jane. The Reeds show us how Jane is a social outcast and her response to them demonstrates her heated temper and her refusal to accept that she is a part of them. We are told this on page 19, where Jane says; ‘If they did not love me, in fact, as little did I love them.’ The dismissive tone shows her bitterness towards the Reed family, yet the comas suggests that Jane pauses to think about whether she really hates them or not. This is foreshadowing the future where Jane shows remorse to Mrs Reed when she goes back to visit. The Reed family is essential to our understanding of Jane in the beginning of the novel because if it wasn’t for them and Jane’s time at Gateshead, we would not have understood where she developed her supernatural beliefs (red room), and her low self esteem. Although each character within that family play a different role in Jane’s development, the family as a whole essentially is an agent to the rest of the…show more content…
She is sent to Lowood School, where we expect Jane’s short temper to continue to be an issue. However we see the side of Jane who is desperate to conform, yet doesn’t understand how she can do this. Helen Burns, although her time in the novel is short, she offers Jane advice which allows Jane to quell her passionate nature (to some extent). Helen sets an example to Jane of an ideal Christian practice. An example of where Helen set an example is where she was singled out by one of the teachers in a lesson. Where Jane would have protested her innocence, Helen simply said; ‘It is far better to endure patiently a smart which nobody feels but yourself, than to commit a hasty action.’ (Page 66). However, Helen’s faith is inward looking- this is shown by her tendency to daydream and she looks forward to death: ‘I live in calm, looking to the end’. (Page 70). Helen’s conformity can be viewed by readers as surrendering to life. Helen is there to contrast to Jane and show readers later on in the book in which ways Jane has been influenced by Helen and which ways she has stayed true to

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