Can't bury these tales: Canterbury Tales and Jane Eyre

Question 6

     A school designed to raise up young girls with strong values of morality and modesty should not be governed by ways of hypocrisy. However, this is Lowood.

     Lowood was established to raise up poor, orphaned girls based on evangelical ideas which have been distorted to the point of being absurd! When Mr. Brocklehurst, the man in charge, visits the school he immediately begins revealing his unpleasant character (as a nice way to put it). 

     Mr. Brocklehurst states, "my plan in bringing up these girls is, not to accustom them to habits of luxury and indulgence, but to render them hardy, patient, self-denying" (Bronte).  While these intentions seem innocent enough he goes about them in a horrible manor. In focusing on plain perfection, he criticizes a young girl for having curly hair, saying she is sinning by conforming to society, "Why, in defiance of every precept and principle of this house, does she conform to the world so openly" (Bronte). However, this girl's hair is naturally curly. Proving his ridiculousness, he goes on to explain how it is still unacceptable because she should not conform to nature either. This proves to be ironic though because if she were to alter her naturally curly hair, she would be conforming to his ideas, making his a hypocrite. 

     

     This idea of hypocrisy is also seen when Mr. Brocklehurst's family enters the room. They are ordained in expensive clothing, displaying the most modern fashions and are looked up to by the teachers of Lowood. They are obviously wealthy compared to the girls of Lowood, whose clothes are rationed out each week. If any of the girls there were to dress like that they would be punished for such a sin. 

     The double standards that are set reveal the gap between the lower and higher classes of the time. For these poor, lower class girls, they are expected to be plain and modest to be referred to as a respectable Christian women; however, the women of the upper class are considered to be worthy of more respect for actions that the lower classes are condemned for. As for the society they are a part of, this reveals how ideas of good morals are taught but not commonly practiced. 

     The society is heavily shaped around Christian beliefs, Mr. Brocklehurst even claims that he is serving God, " I have a Master to serve whose kingdom is not of this world" (Bronte). He uses religious justifications in order to force his ideas of perfectionism onto the girls of Lowood. In the case of Jane Eyre, lying is a sin; however, I do not believe that young girls need to be punished by isolation and physical pain in order to learn a lesson. Brocklehurst tells the teachers that Jane is a heathen and that she should not be interacted with; although, if salvation is possible it is their job to force it upon her, "punish her body to save her soul" (Bronte). 

     The example of Jane's treatment at Lowood shows how society believes that cruel punishment is acceptable if it helps to enforce the values of society (usually set by the upper class). She explains how the world she lives in is so concerned with erasing all the little imperfections of people but she counters that idea by exclaiming that imperfections make the individual, "Such is the imperfect nature of man!Such spots are there on the disc of the clearest planet; and eyes like Miss Scatcherd's can only see those minute defects, and are blind to the full brightness of the orb" (Bronte). 

P.S. - I found that little excerpt really interesting, some of its ridiculousness, like having curly hair being a sin, reminded me of The Crucible and how insane the Salem witch trials were.