Jane Eyre _ 12/2 - 12/6
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Brontë
Jane is a young orphan living with her aunt, Mrs. Reed, and her cousins John, Eliza and Georgiana at their home in Gateshead Hall. Jane's cousins and aunt live richly with good clothes and food, but Jane is treated less than a servant, is blamed for misfortunes around the house, and is often punished by being locked in the Red Room overnights. This punishment is especially severe for Jane as a child because the Red Room was her uncle's bedroom, and he died in the bed in the room. Jane is afraid of spending nights there as she believes that his ghost is displeased with her actions and is out to get her. Although she is afraid, Jane's strong imagination helps her turn some situations into a nicer, more fanciful situation.
"...I had to cross in front of the looking-glass; my fascinated glance involuntarily explored the depth it revealed. All looked colder and darker in that visionary hollow than in reality: and the strange little figure there gazing at me, with a white face and arms specking in the gloom, the glittering eyes of fear moving where all else was still, had the effect of a real spirit: I thought it like on of the tiny phantoms, half fairy, half imp..." (Jane Eyre, page eleven).
Jane was able to make herself less afraid than she was by imagining what her reflection looked like in the dark mirror in the room. Though she was alone and locked in a dark room, she was trying to make the best of her situation through imagination.
Jane is a young orphan living with her aunt, Mrs. Reed, and her cousins John, Eliza and Georgiana at their home in Gateshead Hall. Jane's cousins and aunt live richly with good clothes and food, but Jane is treated less than a servant, is blamed for misfortunes around the house, and is often punished by being locked in the Red Room overnights. This punishment is especially severe for Jane as a child because the Red Room was her uncle's bedroom, and he died in the bed in the room. Jane is afraid of spending nights there as she believes that his ghost is displeased with her actions and is out to get her. Although she is afraid, Jane's strong imagination helps her turn some situations into a nicer, more fanciful situation.
"...I had to cross in front of the looking-glass; my fascinated glance involuntarily explored the depth it revealed. All looked colder and darker in that visionary hollow than in reality: and the strange little figure there gazing at me, with a white face and arms specking in the gloom, the glittering eyes of fear moving where all else was still, had the effect of a real spirit: I thought it like on of the tiny phantoms, half fairy, half imp..." (Jane Eyre, page eleven).
Jane was able to make herself less afraid than she was by imagining what her reflection looked like in the dark mirror in the room. Though she was alone and locked in a dark room, she was trying to make the best of her situation through imagination.
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