O’Hara 2QSQ #4
PART 1: PREPARING FOR DISCUSSION
SOURCE IDEAS:
“All John Reed’s violent tyrannies, all his sisters’ proud indifference, all his mother’s aversions, all the servents’ partiality, turned up in my disturbed mind like a dark deposit in a turbid well. Why was I always suffering, always brow-beaten, always accused, for ever condemned? Why could I never please? Why was it useless to try to win anyone’s favour?” (Brontë 72).
“…this is a sad, a melancholy occasion; for it becomes my duty to warn you, that this girl, who might be one of God’s own lambs, is a little castaway: not a member of the true flock, but evidently am interloper and an alien. You must be on your guard against her; you must shun her example: if necessary, avoid her company, exclude her from your sports, and shut her out from your converse” (Brontë 129).
SYNTHESIZING COMMENT/ANALYSIS:
I found these two passages interesting as they can connect with the idea of how children could be seen as monstrous and also recognize the effect of Brontë’s choice of first-person narrative from the child themselves on how these outside forces of neglect and abuse affect her view of the world. Adhering to some of the characteristics of a monster from Cohen and Six & Tompson, we see themes surrounding neglect, being shunned from normative society, and even this idea of hierarchy and categorical confusion within the monster. However, the fact that these monstrous traits and reactions now relate to children feels quite different from our discussions of monsters within Frankenstein. Children within Shelley’s work were depicted with this angelic/purity, especially Victor’s youngest sibling, William. Then look to Brontë’s Jane Eyre, where we see Jane become aware of her differences and this almost uncontrollable effect she seems to have on those around her, adhering to some of our discussions of monsters. She feels isolated from the comforts of her society, with no companions or parental figures to love and guide her. Even within her home, she is repeatedly told that she does not have access to any of it. In this first quote, we see her grapple with ideas not so far off from the Creature as she cannot seem to understand why she invokes
such repulsion. Then, following Mr. Brocklehurst’s speech, where he publicly shuns Jane from her peers and any hopes of being accepted within her environment, it solidifies this connection of her being pushed into the ‘other’ within her world.
QUESTION:
Knowing a bit about Victorian gender roles and social hierarchy, I’m wondering to what extent we can bring these aspects of gender and class into themes of monsters. Being an orphan, Jane already doesn’t fit into the well-structured categories of Victorian families and social hierarchies — she is an outsider or a variable society now has to deal with. As a young girl, she continues to face even more pressure from society to adhere to those expectations — we see her being told to be more useful and pleasant, etc. Nonetheless, she is outspoken, resists these strict categories, and is an orphan. On top of these traits, perhaps we could connect them to the idea that monsters are dangerous because they are unpredictable; they do not fall into our well-ordered society — they defy classification.
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