Reread the following passages and complete the task that follows:
“And, ma’am,” he continued, “the laundress tells me some of the girls have two clean tuckers in the week: it is too much; the rules limit them to one.”
“Julia Severn, ma’am! And why has she, or any other, curled hair? Why, in defiance of every precept and principle of this house, does she conform to the world so openly—here in an evangelical, charitable establishment—as to wear her hair one mass of curls?”
“Naturally! Yes, but we are not to conform to nature; I wish these girls to be the children of Grace: and why that abundance? I have again and again intimated that I desire the hair to be arranged closely, modestly, plainly. Miss Temple, that girl’s hair must be cut off entirely; I will send a barber to-morrow.”
“(T)hree other visitors, ladies, now entered the room. They ought to have come a little sooner to have heard his lecture on dress, for they were splendidly attired in velvet, silk, and furs. The two younger of the trio (fine girls of sixteen and seventeen) had grey beaver hats, then in fashion, shaded with ostrich plumes, and from under the brim of this graceful head-dress fell a profusion of light tresses, elaborately curled; the elder lady was enveloped in a costly velvet shawl, trimmed with ermine, and she wore a false front of French curls.”
Analyze the author’s use of irony in describing Mr. Brocklehurst’s family in the second passage. How does the author contrast this description with Mr. Brocklehurst’s lecture to Miss Temple to provide social commentary on perceptions of class during this time?
Charlotte Bronte and Geoffrey Chaucer both share an amazing talent of characterization. They both are able to create such descriptive characters while also letting their characters reflect on who they are and what they believe.
Chaucer, who used the stories told in his work, The Canterbury Tales, allowed the reader to focus on social classes and values in society by just looking at a short story. It's rather remarkable isn't it? Bronte, who only needed 46 lines from her work, Jane Eyre, allowed the reader to see how ironic and satirical the society's values were.
In Bronte's work, she begins the narrative by providing a little background information for the reader to truly grasp what was going on in this unfamiliar time period. After this apparently "evil" man comes into what seems like the students' classroom, the tension rises between Mr. Brocklehurst and Jane. The author is inclined to feel anxious for this little girl, as she is destined to get all of her hair cut off, which happens to be any girl's nightmare no matter what time period you are from. As soon as the author accepts that this little girl must have her curls cut off for being too curly, Mr. Brocklehurst's family comes in, of course, with curly hair and divine clothing. At this point, the reader has a new disgust for the Mr. Brocklehurst for being completely corrupt and hypocritical about something so simple as curly hair. Mr. Brocklehurst is obviously a man with a mission, seeing that the young girls cannot use more than one tucker in a week, must look uniform, and mustn't eat more than enough to barely survive.
By including the irony in her work, Bronte really showed how the social classes were very important. Jane seemed to be of little social class, therefore, she was denied the luxury of being an individual. Since Mr. Brocklehurst and his family were of apparent wealth or at least of comfortable luxury, they were able to stand out and were able to have the ironic curls when nobody else could. This in-your-face kind of entrance the Bronte included truly got her point across about how society was corrupt and hypocritical.
At the end, both Bronte and Chaucer used their stories to tell the reader indirectly what was truly going on, and more importantly, how they felt about it and how they wanted the reader to feel.
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