Reading Journal - Jane Eyre chapter 1-4

Characters -

Jane: Forced to live with her Aunt and cousins who constantly mistreat her. Feels very lonely with very few people she can talk to. The opening chapter describes her life as dull, cold and overall negative.

John, Eliza, Georgina: The Children of Mrs Reed and Janes cousins. John follows in Mrs Reeds way of treating Jane. He is violent and bossy. Georgina is described as beautiful and perfect in many ways. She is often used as an example to Jane.

Bessie: One of the few people at gateshead who shows compassion for Jane.

Chapter 1

Chapter one begins by describing and setting the scene for Janes life as bleak and cold. We then see Johns abusive behaviour towards jane, he bosses her about and commands her to do as he wants, 'Say "what do you want Master Reed;"'. For the first time, Jane shouts at John and describes him as, "like a murderer". For this, John throws a book at her and Mrs Reed locks her in the 'red room'.

Quite a dull start. The description at the beginning is very negative, "the cold winter wind had brought with it, clouds so sombre, rain so penetrating".
The narrator of the story is Jane herself.

Chapter 2

Jane is locked in the red room. Mr Reed who had recently died, died in the red room. A light then appears on the ceiling and Jane believes it to be a ghost haunting the room, she then screams and Bessie and Mrs Abbott come.

The description in the chapter is again quite negative. The theme of death and fear also feature in chapter two, with the ghost incident. "My heart beat thick, my head grew hot; a sound filled my ears,". I think the short sentences used here make Jane seem like she is panicking and very frightened.

Chapter 3

Jane wakes up in her own room, with Bessie and a doctor, Mr Lloyd. Bessie nurse Jane baack to health and shows her compassion for Jane. Jane then explains exactly how she feels about gateshead to Mr Lloyd, who suggests she should go to school.

Things look abit brighter for Jane in this chapter, she feels alot more comforted. "I felt so sheltered and befriended while he sat in the chair near my pillow". She describes how she feels comfortable around Mr Lloyd, and how he treats her well. Bessies actions towards Jane show someone does care for her.

Chapter 4

Mrs Reed calls Jane to speak with her and meet Mr Brocklehurst, from Lowood school. Mrs Reed means to send Jane to school and Mr Brocklehurst asks her a series of questions. When he leaves, Jane has an arguement with Mrs Reed and feels very good afterwoods as she believes she came out the victor.