 |
Students' Webpage |
Jane Eyre
by Ángel Alberto Potenciano Pascual (2008-09, 5ºA)
Orphanage as an inseparable partner. Suffering as an unpleasant fellow traveller. Injustice as a tireless shadow which follows her steps. Lack of understanding as a heavy burden over her shoulders. Austerity and privation as two cold chains which tie her hands up. Affection as an unachievable horizon. Love as an indecipherable enigma. Just four lines are enough to sum up Jane's life in Gateshead, Lowood and Thornfield, three different scenarios in Jane's life with a characteristic in common: Jane's incapability to reach happiness.
In Gateshead, in spite of the fact that she is taken in by her aunt's wealthy family, she is treated as a second-class citizen. Not only does she have to endure her aunt's unfair treatment but also her cousin's ill-treatment. Although receiving general rejection, there is a little puff of affection at home which is represented by Bessie.
Thanks to her stay at Lowood, Jane learns how much she can receive from her current family, when she comes to the conclusion that Lowood is a charity school. There, Mr Brockleburst, cruel, inhuman, hypocrite and tyrannical, subjects the orphans to harsh conditions and privations in all senses. Having assumed she belongs to an inferior class, she doesn't leave aside her pride and her sense of justice and dignity. This time kindness is represented by Helen Burns and Miss Temple. But much as she tries to maintain herself close to those figures, both disappear from Jane's life. Death an Love steal those beloved beings from Jane's hands.
It is in Thornfield that Jane begins her career as a governess and at the same time, both Love and Passion enter in her life after meeting the owner of the house, Mr Rochester. There is no resisting his attraction. Happiness seems to be close to her. Love seems to be the right medicine for all her suffering. But both Life and Mr. Rochester hide a terrible and painful surprise for her. One more time, happiness must wait for another moment. Despite having suffered an unhappy love affair, Jane's personality improves a lot, gaining endurance and strength.
In Moor Land, Jane can feel for the first time in her life, she is treated as an equal, she doesn't feel that she belongs to a poor class. Not only does she enjoy teaching at school but she becomes very popular and well-regarded in the neighbourhood. There, she has got the opportunity of meeting two different points of view about life: on the one hand, the carefree Miss Oliver's way of living. On the other hand, the coldness of St. John's. And who knows, maybe in that house, love is waiting her…………