Critical Analysis and Revision Notes for Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
‘Inside and Outside: “Jane Eyre” and Marginalization Through Labeling’ by
John G. Peters
(PETERS, JOHN G. “INSIDE AND OUTSIDE: ‘JANE EYRE’ AND
MARGINALIZATION THROUGH LABELING.” Studies in the Novel, vol. 28,
no. 1, 1996, pp. 57–75. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/29533113.
Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.)
https://www.jstor.org/stable/29533113?seq=4
● “Commentators have universally recognized that many of Bronte’s
contemporaries were uncomfortable with Jane Eyre. Many have also
noted that Jane is a social outsider in the novel. However, none has
argued that these phenomena are simply different manifestations of the
same problem. The novel’s characters systematically marginalise Jane
and her ideas, as do many of Bronte’s contemporaries”. Jane is not only
ostracised by the elite society which she exists on the outskirts of, but
by the very “romantic reader” that she attempts to appeal to.
● “Jane subverts established cultural norms, and so, in order to minimize
her influence on society, they [characters and negative reviewers]
attempt to transform Jane into the other by excluding her from society
and labeling her as something other than human”- this is clearly seen in
how the townsfolk shun Jane when she becomes a beggar after fleeing
Thornfield. Their perception of humanity is entwined with wealth and
social status, leading Jane to be dismissed from the community.
● Jane’s ideas (perhaps representative of an emerging class willing to
challenge social status and gender roles) threaten those that oppress
her, leading them to exclude her from communal life.
, ○ For example, Jane’s unwillingness to conform to the ideal of the
“perfect child” leads to isolation from the rest of her family at
Gateshead- “Eliza, John, and Georgiana were now clustered
around their mama… Me, she had dispensed from joining the
group… until she heard from Bessie, and could discover by her
own observation that I was endeavouring in good earnest to
acquire a more sociable and child-like disposition, a more
attractive and sprightly manner… she really must exclude me
from privileges intended only for contented, happy little children.”
Jane is isolated from childhood, denied the warmth of a loving
family.
○ Jane finds some solace at Lowood and Marsh End, primarily
because she is surrounded by other social outcasts. Elsewhere,
she is rejected.
● Jane’s childhood trauma is reflected in her perpetual state of an
outsider- “[S]ince my illness she [Mrs. Reed] had drawn a more marked
line of separation than ever between me and her own children;
appointing me to a small closet to sleep in by myself, condemning me to
take my meals alone, and pass all my time in the nursery while my
cousins were constantly in the drawing-room". By Mrs Reed, Jane is
treated like a servant. However, she finds little comfort with Bessie or
Abbot either ("No; you are less than a servant, for you do nothing for
your keep"- Abbot to Jane).
● At Lowood, Brocklehurst attempts to further Jane’s isolation, showing
the exclusionary attitude of an elitist Church. He describes Jane as “a
little castaway; not a member of the true flock, but evidently an
interloper and an alien”.
○ However, Jane finds solace in learning, particularly under the care
of Miss Temple.
● When Jane flees Thornfield, her isolation stems not only from the fact
that she is not upper-class, but from the fact that she doesn’t seem to fit
‘Inside and Outside: “Jane Eyre” and Marginalization Through Labeling’ by
John G. Peters
(PETERS, JOHN G. “INSIDE AND OUTSIDE: ‘JANE EYRE’ AND
MARGINALIZATION THROUGH LABELING.” Studies in the Novel, vol. 28,
no. 1, 1996, pp. 57–75. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/29533113.
Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.)
https://www.jstor.org/stable/29533113?seq=4
● “Commentators have universally recognized that many of Bronte’s
contemporaries were uncomfortable with Jane Eyre. Many have also
noted that Jane is a social outsider in the novel. However, none has
argued that these phenomena are simply different manifestations of the
same problem. The novel’s characters systematically marginalise Jane
and her ideas, as do many of Bronte’s contemporaries”. Jane is not only
ostracised by the elite society which she exists on the outskirts of, but
by the very “romantic reader” that she attempts to appeal to.
● “Jane subverts established cultural norms, and so, in order to minimize
her influence on society, they [characters and negative reviewers]
attempt to transform Jane into the other by excluding her from society
and labeling her as something other than human”- this is clearly seen in
how the townsfolk shun Jane when she becomes a beggar after fleeing
Thornfield. Their perception of humanity is entwined with wealth and
social status, leading Jane to be dismissed from the community.
● Jane’s ideas (perhaps representative of an emerging class willing to
challenge social status and gender roles) threaten those that oppress
her, leading them to exclude her from communal life.
, ○ For example, Jane’s unwillingness to conform to the ideal of the
“perfect child” leads to isolation from the rest of her family at
Gateshead- “Eliza, John, and Georgiana were now clustered
around their mama… Me, she had dispensed from joining the
group… until she heard from Bessie, and could discover by her
own observation that I was endeavouring in good earnest to
acquire a more sociable and child-like disposition, a more
attractive and sprightly manner… she really must exclude me
from privileges intended only for contented, happy little children.”
Jane is isolated from childhood, denied the warmth of a loving
family.
○ Jane finds some solace at Lowood and Marsh End, primarily
because she is surrounded by other social outcasts. Elsewhere,
she is rejected.
● Jane’s childhood trauma is reflected in her perpetual state of an
outsider- “[S]ince my illness she [Mrs. Reed] had drawn a more marked
line of separation than ever between me and her own children;
appointing me to a small closet to sleep in by myself, condemning me to
take my meals alone, and pass all my time in the nursery while my
cousins were constantly in the drawing-room". By Mrs Reed, Jane is
treated like a servant. However, she finds little comfort with Bessie or
Abbot either ("No; you are less than a servant, for you do nothing for
your keep"- Abbot to Jane).
● At Lowood, Brocklehurst attempts to further Jane’s isolation, showing
the exclusionary attitude of an elitist Church. He describes Jane as “a
little castaway; not a member of the true flock, but evidently an
interloper and an alien”.
○ However, Jane finds solace in learning, particularly under the care
of Miss Temple.
● When Jane flees Thornfield, her isolation stems not only from the fact
that she is not upper-class, but from the fact that she doesn’t seem to fit
