“I am glad you are no relation of mine. I will never call you aunt again as long as I live. I will never come to visit you when I am grown up; and if any one asks me how I liked you, and how you treated me, I will say the very thought of you makes me sick, and that you treated me with miserable cruelty. . . . You think I have no feelings, and that I can do without one bit of love or kindness; but I cannot live so: and you have no pity. I shall remember how you thrust me back . . . into the red-room. . . . And that punishment you made me suffer because your wicked boy struck me—knocked me down for nothing. I will tell anybody who asks me questions this exact tale.” -Jane Eyre, Chapter 4
This is eerily similar to when Victor Frankenstein’s monster finally confronted him after reading his journal. Jane’s pure hatred of her aunt reveals a dark side of her that seems like it is foreshadowing the creation of this story’s monster. Jane has many instances in her life where she is treated unjustly by authority figures, in this case Mrs. Reed. But she also has figures such as Ms. Temple and Bessie who support her and see how she is treated unfairly. She leads a life where someone else is always in charge and telling her what to do. However, she usually has people who help her realize that she is being treated unfairly, which could explain her rebellion. However, why does she keep putting herself in positions of servitude if she has pre-inclined issues trusting authority? Mrs. Reed seems to be creating a monster with her awful treatment, but does that make Mrs. Reed the monster? It seems odd that the abused child would be the monster.
Question for this Passage: Is Mrs. Reed the monster or the Creator? If she is the Creator, what makes Jane monstrous besides the fact that she is different?
