Chapter 5

Within chapter five, Bronte paints vivid images of exactly what it was like to be in a poorer classed school during the Victorian era, and it Jane's experiences at Lowood Institute that help define the novel into a 'conditions of England' work. Jane describes walking through Lowood 'compartment by compartment, from passage to passage' this monotonous description could be synonymous with a prison, as if the bedrooms she passes could be cells (this is furthered later in the chapter when she describes the garden as an 'enclosure' with 'walls so high to exclude every glimpse of prospect' to reinforce the idea that she is trapped here) immediately her description of Lowood is negative- giving the distinct impression that this was not a nice place to be. She describes walking through 'dreary silence[s]' and when finally seeing some of the pupils there is only a 'hum', i infer from this that the residence are not having a fun time at Lowood- the atmosphere is dreadfully depressing. The room she walks into has only 'two candles' lighting the room and they all sit on benches showing the  meagre rations and discomfort here.  Jane describes Lowood 'institution' as a place very much governed and run through vigorous discipline ('discipline prevailed') she describes girls sat 'motionless and erect' on the benches as if they were regiments. All of this comes from Charlotte Bronte's own short experience of schooling and gives a representation of what exactly these school were like in the Victorian Era.

From a Post Colonialist perspective we could argue that Jane herself is discriminatory to other races: she describes a "strange, foreign looking lady" apart from the other teachers before revealing that she is only French. She then goes on to describe her as 'the dark one' 'the foreigner harsh and grotesque' we could argue that Jane is unfairly picking out that she is foreign as one of her bad traits, she also only mentions her in negative terms "the dark one" particularly harsher description than that of any other teacher at the school. As she is foreign Jane thinks suspiciously of the character "do you like the black one?" simply because she is not English; this is reflective of the Victorian thinking of the time.

Mrs Temples gives the pupils bread and cheese to make up for the 'burnt porridge' which opposes Mr Brocklehurst harsh rationing of food, Mrs Temple believes in generosity while Mr Brocklehurst's wants the school to be regimented and believes luxury ties with vanity, so the children would be better off in the eyes of god through living in these harsh conditions. Furthermore, while Mr Brocklehurts follows religion as a way of ruling and commanding his pupils, Helen Burns represents his opposite, a stoic, she believes in 'turning the cheek' and striving to accept the punishments given to her. She believes in finding the good in everyone. Helen Burns is the model Christian while Brocklehurst could be seen as a religious dictator.

From a Psychological perspective we could argue that Mrs Temple's name derives from Jane idolising, and placing the character on a pedestal. To Jane, Mrs Temple offers comfort that she has never received in her early childhood so naturally she places her as an idol. A Temple a reference to God, Mrs Temple offers divine comfort and kindness as well as being a 'godlike' idol. Temple's first name is 'Maria' which was also Jane's mother’s name. Bronte would have given Miss Temple this name to pursue the idea that she is a mother like figure for Jane.