How Does Bronte Use Direct Characterization In Jane Eyre
This excerpt from Jane Eyre reveals Jane’s character in contrast to her cousins Georgiana and John Reed. While her cousins were spoiled and went unpunished, Jane was considered a pain no matter what she did. After John throws a book at her, Jane has a violent outbreak, which Mrs. Reed determines to be her sole responsibility and sends her to the red room to be punished. Brontë establishes these characters early on in the novel with parallelism and imagery; this preliminary characterization is seen later in the character’s actions and their growth.
By utilizing imagery, Brontë depicts Jane and her cousins through both physical descriptions and their actions. Georgiana is the spoiled child, but because of “her beauty, her pink cheeks and golden
curls,” her faults were allowed. Similarly, John was a violent child who “twisted the necks of pigeons, killed the little pea-chicks,” but Mrs. Reed still turned a blind eye and his faults were also dismissed. However, Jane was “naughty and tiresome, sullen and sneaking” and “strove to fulfil every duty” but was still punished and blamed for the faults of others, such as when John instigated the violence but Jane was the one punished. Brontë’s imagery of the three children implies the striking differences in their behaviors and appearances, and emphasizes Jane’s. While developing Jane’s character, this excerpt also allows the reader to empathize with Jane and invokes an emotional response to her unfair treatment. The imagery provides characterization of the three children, guiding the reader’s interpretation to view the Reeds as rude, inconsiderate individuals and Jane as the victim of their actions.
Parallelism gives emphasis to certain ideas or actions that describe the individual characters. Georgiana’s description “a spoiled temper, a very acrid spite, a captious and insolent carriage” with words with negative connotations stresses her spoiled nature and malice. John is described with action verbs such as “twisted… killed…stripped…broke” which reiterates his inclination for violence that reoccurs throughout the novel. Brontë writes through Jane’s point of view, which reveals her cruel treatment and role as a scapegoat. “I dared…I strove…I was termed… from morning to noon and noon to night.” The parallelism serves to highlight the difference between Jane and her cousins and further develops the characters and setting. The repeated structure and examples of the characters, facilitates characterization and clearly defines each character for the reader.
This passage from chapter two reveals Georgina, John and Jane’s defining characteristics. Brontë establishes the characters and setting during Jane’s childhood through literary elements of parallelism and imagery.
By utilizing imagery, Brontë depicts Jane and her cousins through both physical descriptions and their actions. Georgiana is the spoiled child, but because of “her beauty, her pink cheeks and golden
curls,” her faults were allowed. Similarly, John was a violent child who “twisted the necks of pigeons, killed the little pea-chicks,” but Mrs. Reed still turned a blind eye and his faults were also dismissed. However, Jane was “naughty and tiresome, sullen and sneaking” and “strove to fulfil every duty” but was still punished and blamed for the faults of others, such as when John instigated the violence but Jane was the one punished. Brontë’s imagery of the three children implies the striking differences in their behaviors and appearances, and emphasizes Jane’s. While developing Jane’s character, this excerpt also allows the reader to empathize with Jane and invokes an emotional response to her unfair treatment. The imagery provides characterization of the three children, guiding the reader’s interpretation to view the Reeds as rude, inconsiderate individuals and Jane as the victim of their actions.
Parallelism gives emphasis to certain ideas or actions that describe the individual characters. Georgiana’s description “a spoiled temper, a very acrid spite, a captious and insolent carriage” with words with negative connotations stresses her spoiled nature and malice. John is described with action verbs such as “twisted… killed…stripped…broke” which reiterates his inclination for violence that reoccurs throughout the novel. Brontë writes through Jane’s point of view, which reveals her cruel treatment and role as a scapegoat. “I dared…I strove…I was termed… from morning to noon and noon to night.” The parallelism serves to highlight the difference between Jane and her cousins and further develops the characters and setting. The repeated structure and examples of the characters, facilitates characterization and clearly defines each character for the reader.
This passage from chapter two reveals Georgina, John and Jane’s defining characteristics. Brontë establishes the characters and setting during Jane’s childhood through literary elements of parallelism and imagery.