Quote:
Chapter 6:
“If people were always kind and obedient to those who are cruel and unjust, the wicked people would have it all their own way: they would never feel afraid, and so they would never alter, but would grow worse and worse. When we are struck at without reason, we should strike back again very hard; I’m sure we should- so hard as to teach the person who struck us to never do it again.” (Bronte 119)
Comment:
This quote stood out to me as it displays Jane’s anger from the horrible treatment that she has received by her by her Aunt and the continued humiliation by Mr. Brocklehurst. This to her is not right and she thinks that it is okay to think this way because even though she is young wicked people should be punished for their actions. Children have just as much a right to react and speak their minds when unnecessary punishment is placed upon them. I believe that Jane Eyre is very ahead of her time in that she doesn’t think that she’s just a child and that punishment is supposed to help her become a better person later on. Why during this time period were children silenced so much and thought of only being able to fit into one mold. Why can’t Jane become her own person? Why is Mr. Brocklehurst and her Aunt afraid of this?
Question:
Are Jane Eyres beliefs of children having the ability to strike back or rather speak up just too radical for the time in which she was in her adolescence? While some of her teachers at Lowood do not believe her to be a wicked child would they share in the views she expressed in the quote above?
One thought on “Jane Eyre QCQ”
I am of the opinion that people like Ms. Temple at Lowood would have been open to listening to her. Most of the people who would have agreed with her would probably have been younger women though, as these at the time were the group most affected. Additionally, this quote makes me wonder how Charlotte Bronte was treated as a child.
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