Miss Temple “Jane Eyre” Empowerment and Redemption

Introduction

Jane, new to this school, thinks of Mr. Brocklehurst as the main man. She feels as if his opinions matter most to everyone at Lowood. After Mr. Brocklehurst yells and humiliates Jane, Jane feels as if no one will take her side, nor will anyone pity her. Once she expresses how she feels to Helen, she’s told that Mr. Brocklehurst actually isn’t as important as she thinks him to be. Mr. Brocklehurst doesn’t really have a big impact on teachers and students, as stated, “Teachers and Pupils may look coldly on you for a day or two, but friendly feelings are concealed in their hearts” (Bronte 71).

This is important because while reading the book, readers would assume that Mr. Brocklehurst makes a huge impact at Lowood when in reality, his opinions and statements to teachers and pupils don’t really matter.

Body

Jane’s Misconception of Authority

Helen feels that Jane cares a little too much about what others think and feel. She cares too much for endearment. Helen believes there is much more love in heaven with God. This is important for readers because it symbolizes that Helen is obsessed and wants spiritual love and pleasure through death.

Miss Temple’s Compassion and Support

In this part, Jane and Helen are brought into Miss. Temple’s room. Miss. Temple assures Jane that she is there for her and that no matter what others say or think, as long as Jane is on her best behavior, she will satisfy Miss. Temple. This is a pretty important part of Chapter 8 mainly because readers know that Mr. Brocklehurst is a hypocrite and cruel, and Jane has an adult on her side who is there to care for her and help her instead of judging and humiliating her.
Jane realizes how important it is for her to tell the whole truth. By telling Miss. Temple the whole truth about what really went down in Gateshead, Miss. Temple was able to figure out a solution that would “publicly clear [Jane] from her imputation” (Bronte 75).

In this part of chapter 8, Miss. Temple shows her caring and generous side. She treats Jane and Helen to toast and a piece of cake. She showed gratification. Along with that, she cares for Helen by checking up on her and asking about her cough and if she is feeling better. From this, readers can infer that Miss. Temple is one of a kind and actually cares for her students at Lowood, unlike Mr. Brocklehurst and Miss. Scatcherd.

This part clearly shows that at Lowood they are very strict. But many can agree that the punishments that little girls, who are minors, go through can be considered somewhat inhumane and cruel. By humiliating them in front of teachers and their own peers by making them stand in a corner and making them hold a sign which defines them as a person because of one wrong thing they didn’t intentionally do, it shows that they are unforgiving and don’t let little things slide when in reality they aren’t a big deal. Here, Helen forgot to fold her clothes and neatly place them in her drawer, so Ms. Scatcherherd punished her by making her stand in the corner with a sign that said, Slattern.

Conclusion

This part of chapter 8 talks about the effect of Jane telling the truth to MS. Temple. When Miss. Temple talked to Mr. Lloyd, she was cleared from every imputation, and teachers accepted her, and she was able to take rigorous classes, and till the end of Chapter 8, Jane lived happily at Lowood. This is important because this is a turning point in the book, from disliking Lowood and getting humiliated and punished to shaking hands and clearing things up with all the teachers.

References

1. Brontë, Charlotte. Jane Eyre.Smith, Elder & Co., 1847

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