Jane Eyre is a 10 year-old orphan .Her parents died from tuberculosis, and Jane now lives with her Aunt, and her three cousins, Eliza, John and Georgiana Reed, they all live at Gateshead Hall, in the Victorian Era, orphans like Jane were ill-treated.
At the beginning of the novel Jane's Aunt, Mrs Reed, clearly shows that she dislikes Jane. Jane says, "Me she had dispensed from joining the group". In this part of the novel Mrs Reed and her children are sitting 'perfectly happy' by the fireside. This indicates that Mrs Reed does not want her children to mix with Jane, and that Mrs Reed does not like Jane. When Jane tries to ask her aunt what she had done to deserve an exclusion, "what does Bessie say I have done?", Mrs Reed was being insincere and quickly says, "I don't like cavillers or questioners", and tells Jane to seat somewhere else, so basically Mrs Reed just wants Jane to be taken out of the picture, and Mrs Reed thinks that Jane is being rude, and should not question her 'elders'.
English: Title page, first edition, en:Jane Eyre.
English: North Lees Hall, Hathersage. Charlotte Br...
English: North Lees Hall and out buildings Otherwi...Mrs Reed is a very cold hearted women, she has no sign of love for Jane whatsoever. Mrs Reed thinks Jane is very rude, not 'child-like' and always 'picking faults' Jane is being constantly left out by the Reed family just because she is an orphan. Jane lacks social status; she has no money and depends on the Reed family to survive. Jane is made to feel inferior because she is an orphan and poor; Jane is never treated with respect and has very poor relation with the Reed family. Jane says that she is "humbled by the consciousness of my physical inferiority to Eliza, John and Georgiana Reed." This sentence shows that Jane feels small and weak, compared...