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[After this incident, Mrs. Reed writes a letter to Mr. Brocklehurst who is running a school, Lowood. He visits Gateshead. Jane is sent to Lowood with him.]
At Lowood
[The driver wakes up Jane. She is let off at the gates of Lowood. She meets Miss. Miller and Miss. Temple.]
Miss. Miller: Jane Eyre?
Jane: Yes madam.
Miss. Miller: This way. [They cross the stage where Miss. Temple is waiting.]
[Jane enters a dark stone building. All are quiet. She neither sees or hears any other student.]
Miss. Temple: This child is very young to be sent alone. She had better be put to bed soon. She looks tired. Are you tired?
Jane: A little madam.
Miss. Temple: And hungry too, no doubt. Let her have some supper before she goes to bed, Miss. Miller.[To Jane] Is this the first time you have left your parents to come to school, my little girl?
Miss. Temple: And hungry too, no doubt. Let her have some supper before she goes to bed, Miss. Miller.[To Jane] Is this the first time you have left your parents to come to school, my little girl?
Jane: My parents are dead.
Miss. Temple: Oh, I see. Can you read and write?
Jane: Yes madam.
Miss. Temple: And sew? Do you sew?
Jane: A little.
Miss. Temple: [Touches her cheeks gently] I hope you shall be a good girl, Jane Eyre.
Jane: Yes madam.
Miss. Temple: Oh, I see. Can you read and write?
Jane: Yes madam.
Miss. Temple: And sew? Do you sew?
Jane: A little.
Miss. Temple: [Touches her cheeks gently] I hope you shall be a good girl, Jane Eyre.
Jane: Yes madam.
[Miss. Miller and Jane exit. The next day, Miss. Miller and Jane enter a wide long room. There are many girls of age ten to twenty. All are uniformly dressed. The room is noisy.]
Miss. Miller: Silence. [The girls quieten immediately.] Go to the wash. [When the girls get there, they hesitate.] What is the matter? Time to wash.
Girl: Miss. Miller.
Miss. Miller: What is it?
Girl: The water is frozen again.
Miss. Miller: Very well, monitors. Remove the basins.
Miss. Miller: What is it?
Girl: The water is frozen again.
Miss. Miller: Very well, monitors. Remove the basins.
[Miss. Temple enters.]
Miss Miller: The new girl. Where shall I put her Miss. Temple?
Miss. Temple: Perhaps the fourth form.
Miss. Miller: But she is so little.
Miss. Temple: She can read and write. I think she will do well there.
Miss. Miller: Yes, Miss. Temple.
Explanation:
Jane finally escapes from the prison of her aunt's house with the help of a kind doctor Lloyd. She is admitted to Lowood. Her aunt agrees to it as it only meant that she could get rid of Jane from her home. She also admits her to a very strict school. She is sent off with the driver. When she reaches the school, she is met at the gates by Miss Miller, who works as a teacher there. She is taken to Miss Temple, who is the superintendent of the school. The atmosphere there is eerie and not that of a school. Miss Temple looks at Jane and remarks that she is too young to be sent alone with the driver. It indicates that Jane's aunt had just wanted to get rid of her and was the least bothered about her safety. Miss Temple asks Miss Miller to take care of Jane as she must be tired and hungry. Jane was supposed to be staying at Lowood and study. So she had to get used to the ways of customs of the school.
*Victorian age teacher and student
Miss Temple asks her general questions that might be asked by everyone who would enrol themselves in a boarding school. When she asks Jane if she had any experience of leaving her parents behind and going to a boarding, Jane clearly states that she is an orphan. She is then questioned if she could read and write. She also asks her an important question that nearly all women were supposed to know. She asks if Jane can sew. During the Victorian era, women were only supposed to attend balls, learn piano and sewing. They were considered as people with less intellectual freedom.
Sewing
Miss Temple, having seen a group of former students, orders them to get a wash. The real situation of the school is evident when the students raise an issue that the water has frozen because of the chillness in the weather and hence are not able to use it. She calmly states that they can probably remove the basin and take a direct shower so that the water does not get stored in the basin giving it time to freeze. Jane is also put in the fourth form in spite of her age, only because she can read and write. This also shows that it was not a regular school which followed the norms for enrolling kids in classes.
Frozen water due to chillness
Meaning of difficult words:
| S.No | Words | Meaning |
1 | Sew | To stitch two pieces of cloth using needle and thread |
2 | Frozen | Very cold that it turns into ice |
3 | Superintendent | A person who oversees everything |
4 | Monitor | A student who helps with the class activities |
5 | Enroll | To make a person part of something |
Reference:
State Council of Educational Research and Training (2019). Term-3 English Standard-7. Jane Eyre- Charlotte Bronte (pp. 136-154). Published by the Tamil Nadu Textbook and Educational Services Corporation.
*Julia700702 / Shutterstock.com
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