Jane Eyre

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Adèle Varens – Jane’s pupil, daughter of Rochester’s old mistress, Celene

Richard Mason – Bertha’s brother, exposes the secret marriage

Blanche Ingram – socialite after Rochester’s money, opposite of Jane

Adèle

Blanche Ingram

Slide 19

Charlotte’s Gothic Influence

Jane Eyre displays some characteristics of the gothic novel:

Imprisoned women

A heroine who faces danger

Supernatural interventions at crucial moments in the plot

A romantic reconciliation

Slide 20

Jane Eyre’s Romantic Heritage

The Romantic Movement

Came into play in at the end of the 18th Century.

Championed for the rights of the individual over the demands of society.

Believed that humans were inherently good

Valued imagination over reason

Inspired by nature

Slide 21

Introduction

Jane Eyre is an orphan in 1800s England.

Jane’s parents died of typhus when she was a baby.

Mrs. Reed, her aunt, has agreed to raise her, but she and her three children treat Jane cruelly.

Yet, Mrs. Reed expects Jane to be thankful.

Slide 22

Jane Eyre: Introduction

When Jane tries to stand up for herself, her aunt is furious.

She calls Jane an ungrateful child and sends her away to a boarding school called Lowood.

Slide 23

Jane Eyre: Introduction

At Lowood the girls . . .

sleep two to a bed,

get up before dawn,

bathe in ice-cold water,

get burnt porridge for breakfast,

and are taught to suffer in silence.

Slide 24

Typhus

Jane Eyre’s Lowood suffers an outbreak of typhus, a disease that

is spread by fleas, ticks, and lice

causes headaches, chills, rashes, and fevers that last up to three weeks

Both tuberculosis and typhus are diseases associated with crowded, unsanitary conditions.

The threat of catching one of these diseases is a major concern for the characters in Jane Eyre.

Slide 25

Life at Lowood

The superintendent of

Lowood School is Mr. Brocklehurst.

Jane immediately makes friend with a girl called Helen Burns.

She also admires her head teacher Miss. Temple.

As a consequence of bad conditions, typhus breaks out. Many girls die, including Helen, Jane’s best friend

Jane stays at Lowood eight years as a pupil and then two years as a teacher.

Slide 26