Jane Eyre and Social Commentary

Zoe Millbern, 10/5/2014

The story of Jane Eyre in Chapter 7 speaks of her first few weeks at the school were she had been sent. It tells of the awful conditions forced upon the students in the dead of winter, where they were to be subjected to little food and warmth and scant freedoms. A variety of literary devices are used to provide social commentary during this explanation, and the line between how those of a certain gender and class are treated in comparison to those lording over then is quite clear. These girls are openly alienated by the others in their society, more so because of their class as they are looked down upon even by the females in the higher levels of society. Just as Chauncer's Canterbury Tales are full of social commentary, so is Jane Eyre,  and the author's description of each character helps to clarify her thoughts on the matter. 

The first instance of such actions are presented in how the teachers treat the students, and the characterization of the teachers themselves. The teachers themselves are dressed warmly and generally are too dejected to try to cheer the students up on their treks between the school and the church, though one would attempt to encourage them. They generally understand the unfairness of the situation the students are in, but are almost powerless to change it. While Miss Temple was amused by Mr. Brocklehurst's request to have the girls turn around, the difference in her standing and her boss's was such that she attempted to cover her reaction, and later the author uses a great deal of imagery to describe the distaste that the teacher holds for his demands, saying that "her face...assuming also the coldness and fixity of [marble]... settled gradually into petrified severity" (Bronte). 

The chapter also comments on the impossible standards given to the lower class girls and not to those of a higher position. When they pass out due to exhaustion, the "remedy" is to make them stand in the middle of the room until the lesson was finished, and if they failed at that they would be propped up and continue to stand. Mr. Brocklehurst creates a false sympathy and caring manner when he asks that the students' stockings be better cared for, but this illusion does not last long as he demands that the girls be limited and help to one clean pair of tuckers. He then demands that any spoiled food should not be replaced by more appealing food, but that they should learn "fortitude under temporary privation", despite the fact that they are barely fed anyway, claiming their bodies are fed, but their soul is starved. He also says that even if one's hair was to curl naturally, it should be more modest and without vanity, and, therefore, cut off entirely along with any braid for much the same reason. These harsh judgments are passed on to those well beneath him with little regard for their identity as human beings. The biggest point of social commentary concerned with these actions is their complete disregard for his own family. It is almost ironic that he would hold these standards to these young girls as a measure of their worth and moral and spiritual cleanliness, but not to those in his own family. These women are introduced as "ladies" and directed to a place of honor, though in comparison to the students, they are clad in splendid silks, velvet, and fur, as well as all manner of fashionable, warm adornment and elaborated curled hair. In other words, the higher class appears to be so much more honorable in spirit and proximity to God that they are not held to the strict standards of those beneath them. 

A theme throughout the selection is that those in the higher social class are stuck up, demanding, and generally ridiculous individuals with no humility or regard for others. Mr. Brocklehurst is characterized as an exceedingly arrogant and commanding individual, as he goes about pronouncing sentences and is referred to as a "Judge". He is very full of himself, putting himself in a place of power in front of the fireplace as he "majestically surveyed the whole school". He feigns surprise and shock when confronted with something he doesn't approve of, and the "black marble clergyman" uses plenty of arrogant phrases such as "'My dear children'" to appear a fatherly and generous advocate for their well-being. These instances as well as his demand that the girls turn around and his study of their reverse that showcase his slimy nature and awful abuse of power. He even hoists Jane up to his eye level to proclaim her impurity while flaunting the extensive "plumage" of his own decoration after just finishing his contemptful spiel on their overly vain braids. Upon hearing Mr. Brocklehurst proclaim that Jane Eyre is a "liar" the ladies who accompanied him "produce[d]their pocket-handkerchiefs and appl[ied] them to their optics, while the elderly lady swayed herself to and for, and the two younger ones whispered 'how shocking!'", which is a ridiculous manner in which to be affected by such a claim, and the narrator seems to be poking fun at their response. Generally the selection seems to paint the higher class females in a pitifully weak and useless character and those of the lower in a more intelligent and stronger light.