Chapter 1 Flashcards
How does Jane show how out of place she feels with her cousins and how aware she is of it?
“Humbled by the consciousness of my inferiority to Eliza, John and Georgiana Reed.”
How is John Reed described? What does this show about him?
“Large and stout for his age”
“thick lineaments in a spacious visage, heavy limbs and large extremities.”
“He gorged himself habitually and the table”
It shows how indulged he is and spoiled. It shows how he lacks temperance and class.
How can we tell the attitude John has towards Jane? What is Jane’s reaction?
“He bullied and punished me; not two or three times in the week, nor once or twice in a day, but continually: every nerve I had feared him, and every morsel of flesh on my bones shrank when he came near.”
She is experiencing a constant agony with John. This is causing her to have a physical reaction which is her nerves and muscles. It depicts how on edge she is all the time and we can only imagine the psychological trauma it has had on her.
What is Mrs Reed’s reaction to John’s behaviour towards Jane?
“Mrs Reed was blind and death on the subject.”
Lets John get away with whatever he wants, even mistreating Jane. This emphasises how the men were always favoured over the women even if they were clearly in the wrong.
How does Jane usually react to John’s bullying? Why does she act this way?
“Habitually obedient to John, I came up to his chair: he spent some three minutes in thrusting out his tongue at me as far as he could without damaging the roots”
Jane is submissive to John but because she scared. She doesn’t want to provoke him so she does as he says even though she’s still suffering. It shows the way in which the patriarchy functions and what it expected of women.
In this chapter, how does John hurt Jane?
“He struck suddenly and strongly”
John hits Jane without proper warning or reason. Just because he can.
What does John call Jane?
“you rat!”
How does John discriminate against Jane?
“you are a dependent, mamma says; you have no money; your father left you none; you ought to beg, and not to live here with gentlemen’s children like us, and eat the same meals we do,” - over something she cannot control. He implies it is sort of her fault because of who she is.
What does John also do, apart from hitting Jane?
“The volume was flung, it hit me, and I fell, striking my head against the door and cutting it”
How can we see that Jane is sensitive and has had enough of John?
"”Wicked and cruel boy!” I said, “You are like a murderer””
Jane cracks and decides to verbally retaliate against John. It shows she doesn’t care about the consequences because she has been suffering enough.
How can we tell that Jane still isn’t in control of her actions when she’s dealing with intense emotions? What is a freudian perspective of this?
“I don’t very well know what I did with my hands, but he called me “rat! rat!””
It is implied she struck John, It shows that suffering can cause us to do things we aren’t aware of.
Freudian Perspective: the Id took over and Jane went into a kind of survival mode. She acted without proper reasoning which inevitably led to the consequence of being in the red room.
What is the reaction from the rest of the characters to Jane hitting John? What does this suggest about society?
“Dear! dear! what a fury to fly at Master John!”
Jane is criticised, not John. It didn’t matter why she did what she did or didn’t do, she wasn’t submissive. Yet John can hit her and mock her all the time and no one says anything. Because he is the “Master” and everyone must act in accordance with what he wants.
What is the punishment given to Jane for defying the rules? What is the symbolism behind this?
“Take her away to the red room”
Red: passion, anger, blood, fury, fire
