Summary:
Jane wakes in her own bedroom, in the care of Mr Lloyd and Bessie. Bessie shows that she does not approve of Mrs Reeds treatment of Jane. Jane and Mr Lloyd talk of her life at Gateshead;
He suggests Jane should be sent away to school in the hope that she may find happiness. Jane is very excited and optimistic at the idea of going to school and leaving Gateshead. Jane overhears a conversation between Miss Abbot and Bessie, she finds out that her mother was a member of the Reed family, and they disapproved of her husband –Jane’s father. After Jane was born both of her parents died from illness. Leaving her orphaned with her uncle Reed to bring her up.
Themes: New themes of hope, excitement and optimism are introduced as the prospect of Jane leaving Gateshead to go to school.
Characters: Mr Lloyd is brought in, he is the family ‘doctor/pharmacist’, he is the man that suggests Jane should be sent away to school – in hope of bringing her some happiness.
Response: I began to feel ‘happy’ for Jane as she has the opportunity to begin a new phase of her life, which is due to be optimistic, as if she goes to school she will be leaving Gateshead, in search of a happier life.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
READING JOURNAL - Jane Eyre - Chapter 2
Summary:
Bessie and Miss Abbott take Jane to the ‘red-room’.
Jane is locked in the ‘red-room’, she starts to think about her dead Uncle Reed and how he brought her to Gateshead when her parents died…his own dying wish was that his wife promise to raise Jane as one of their own. Jane then begins to think her uncle’s ghost is in the room with her, she thinks he is going to take revenge on his wife for breaking her promise by treating Jane as an outsider. Because she is scared at the thought of a ghost in the room she screams, her aunt ignores her and dismisses the fact something is wrong she believes that Jane is trying to get out of being in trouble and is trying to escape her punishment. Jane then faints.
Themes: Social class – she is treated badly even though she comes from a good family, she has been orphaned so is poor, she is treated as a servant from the Reeds, especially by John Reed. Key themes of Depression, isolation, confinement, segregation, melancholy, despair are increased due to Jane being locked in the ‘red-room’ and fainting
Places: The setting for this chapter is still in Gateshead, but the focus is in the ‘red-room’, where Jane is locked in.
Bessie and Miss Abbott take Jane to the ‘red-room’.
Jane is locked in the ‘red-room’, she starts to think about her dead Uncle Reed and how he brought her to Gateshead when her parents died…his own dying wish was that his wife promise to raise Jane as one of their own. Jane then begins to think her uncle’s ghost is in the room with her, she thinks he is going to take revenge on his wife for breaking her promise by treating Jane as an outsider. Because she is scared at the thought of a ghost in the room she screams, her aunt ignores her and dismisses the fact something is wrong she believes that Jane is trying to get out of being in trouble and is trying to escape her punishment. Jane then faints.
Themes: Social class – she is treated badly even though she comes from a good family, she has been orphaned so is poor, she is treated as a servant from the Reeds, especially by John Reed. Key themes of Depression, isolation, confinement, segregation, melancholy, despair are increased due to Jane being locked in the ‘red-room’ and fainting
Places: The setting for this chapter is still in Gateshead, but the focus is in the ‘red-room’, where Jane is locked in.
READING JOURNAL - Jane Eyre - Chapter 1
Summary:
Begins in the home of the Reed family. Jane Eyre is in the drawing room reading Bewick’s History of British Birds – I think she tries to escape what is going on around her through reading and looking at picture books. Jane isn’t allowed to be around and play with her cousins Eiza, Georgiana, and John (the Reed children). John bullies Jane for no reason other than that she is an orphan. He taunts Jane and throws a book at her; she starts to lose her patience and a fight occurs between them. Mrs. Reed, Jane's aunt, blames Jane and sends her to the “red-room” as punishment. The “red-room” is where her Uncle Reed died. A negative scene has already been set; this can be seen in the 1st sentence ‘there was no possibility of taking a walk that day’ also the words ‘leafless shrubbery’ ‘cold winter’ ‘sombre’ ‘rain so penetrating’ give a negative notion. Jane seems miserable, lonely, sad etc.
Themes: Misery of Jane’s exclusion from her aunt her her cousins. Depression, isolation, confinement, segregation, melancholy, despair. Escapism through picture books.
Characters:
Jane: Jane Eyre is the main character and main narrative voice. She is isolated from the Reed family, she is seen as an outsider because she was orphaned. She seems rather independent and ‘older’ for her actual age. She is only living there because it was her dying Uncle Reeds last wish.
Mrs Reed: Mrs Reed appears to resent Jane, she treats Jane terribly compared to her own children. For example, when the fight occurred between Jane and her cousin John, Mrs Reed blamed and punished Jane when it was more so Johns fault.
John Reed: A bully and seems very stuck-up and spoilt.
Reed sisters: Eliza and Georgina also seem spoilt, but they do not seem to bully and taunt Jane as their brother does. Not much is really said about them.
Bessie: Jane's maid kind-of-thing, Bessie is presently shown as an unkind character. However, she has not had much role to play yet, so has just been introduced into the story.
Motifs: Red= red is mentioned loads in this chapter i.e. ‘red moreen curtain’ ‘scarlet drapery’ – Red suggests warning and danger signs, could possibly indicate the warning of the ‘red-room’ and punishment, suffering, anger, fear, injustice, hatred.
Places: The setting for this chapter is Gateshead, it is the family home of the Reeds. It is November, and seems to be imagined as drab, dreary and depressing as you would expect Jane is feeling.
Narrative voice: Jane is the narrator; she talks in 1st person so it encourages the reader to empathise with her character more. This is because it shows how she thinks and what she may be feeling from herself. It makes the story more personal to the readers.
Response: As a reader, I began to feel empathetic towards Jane. I feel sorry for Jane because she is lonely, isolated and not accepted by the Reeds. I am an open-minded reader, however, I found this book hard to get into at first, and it wasn’t until the second time I read chapters 1-4 that I began to actually take the story in.
Begins in the home of the Reed family. Jane Eyre is in the drawing room reading Bewick’s History of British Birds – I think she tries to escape what is going on around her through reading and looking at picture books. Jane isn’t allowed to be around and play with her cousins Eiza, Georgiana, and John (the Reed children). John bullies Jane for no reason other than that she is an orphan. He taunts Jane and throws a book at her; she starts to lose her patience and a fight occurs between them. Mrs. Reed, Jane's aunt, blames Jane and sends her to the “red-room” as punishment. The “red-room” is where her Uncle Reed died. A negative scene has already been set; this can be seen in the 1st sentence ‘there was no possibility of taking a walk that day’ also the words ‘leafless shrubbery’ ‘cold winter’ ‘sombre’ ‘rain so penetrating’ give a negative notion. Jane seems miserable, lonely, sad etc.
Themes: Misery of Jane’s exclusion from her aunt her her cousins. Depression, isolation, confinement, segregation, melancholy, despair. Escapism through picture books.
Characters:
Jane: Jane Eyre is the main character and main narrative voice. She is isolated from the Reed family, she is seen as an outsider because she was orphaned. She seems rather independent and ‘older’ for her actual age. She is only living there because it was her dying Uncle Reeds last wish.
Mrs Reed: Mrs Reed appears to resent Jane, she treats Jane terribly compared to her own children. For example, when the fight occurred between Jane and her cousin John, Mrs Reed blamed and punished Jane when it was more so Johns fault.
John Reed: A bully and seems very stuck-up and spoilt.
Reed sisters: Eliza and Georgina also seem spoilt, but they do not seem to bully and taunt Jane as their brother does. Not much is really said about them.
Bessie: Jane's maid kind-of-thing, Bessie is presently shown as an unkind character. However, she has not had much role to play yet, so has just been introduced into the story.
Motifs: Red= red is mentioned loads in this chapter i.e. ‘red moreen curtain’ ‘scarlet drapery’ – Red suggests warning and danger signs, could possibly indicate the warning of the ‘red-room’ and punishment, suffering, anger, fear, injustice, hatred.
Places: The setting for this chapter is Gateshead, it is the family home of the Reeds. It is November, and seems to be imagined as drab, dreary and depressing as you would expect Jane is feeling.
Narrative voice: Jane is the narrator; she talks in 1st person so it encourages the reader to empathise with her character more. This is because it shows how she thinks and what she may be feeling from herself. It makes the story more personal to the readers.
Response: As a reader, I began to feel empathetic towards Jane. I feel sorry for Jane because she is lonely, isolated and not accepted by the Reeds. I am an open-minded reader, however, I found this book hard to get into at first, and it wasn’t until the second time I read chapters 1-4 that I began to actually take the story in.
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