Can't Bury These Tales: Canterbury Tales & Jane Eyre


Canterbury Tales & Jane Eyre

5. 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? 

Directly prior to the quoted passage, Mr. Brocklehurst gives a lecture to Miss Temple concerning the proper conduct that should be maintained by girls.  He discribed curly or plaited hair as being sinful and any taste of luxury as being unecessary.  He tells Ms. Temple, "You are aware that my plan in bringing up these girls is, not to accustom them to habits of luxury and indulgence, but to render them hardy, patient, self-denying".  Mr. Brocklehurst makes it very clear that he will not allow any sort of treatment that goes beyond the bare minimum for survival, in both his words and actions.

After his message to Ms. Temple and the girls, his family walks in.  Each member was dressed elaborately in the latest fashion and with indulgent appearences.  After demanding the girls cut off their curly hair, his daughters walk in with "light tresses, elaborately curled".  After speaking of needing little luxury, the Brocklehurst girls wear clothing "in velvet, silk, and furs".  Mr.  Brocklehurst's hipocracy contributes to an ironic nature of the situation.  The situation is ironic because of the obvious contrast between what the Mr. Brocklehurst says and what actions he takes. The author drives the irony of the situation even more by stating in the text, "they ought to have come a little sooner to have heard his lecture on dress".  This is done to make very clear to the audience that Mr. Brocklehurst does not follow his own preachings.

The depiction of Mr. Brocklehurst's hipocracy serves a purpose that goes farther than character or plot development.  It is to, instead, comment on the double standards of socialites concerning personal conduct in compliance with religious precedents.  The author is telling the readers that wealthy individuals had no reluctance to abandon Christian ideals in favor of comfort.  Despite this obvious preference, the upper class individuals continue to preach the behavior that they do not practice.  In other words, the author is revealing the hiprocratic nature of Christian, upper class individuals through the use of irony as a medium for social commentary. 


Comments

  1. ANANovember 12, 2017 at 5:59 PM

    The contrast between how he allows his family to dress vs. how he made girls dress. He is enjoying wealth and comfort of abundant food but starves the girls of exactly that. He does not practice what he preaches at all. He does the exact opposite. The girls cutting their hair and conforming to his regulations symbolizes the idea of loss of identity. I like how you moved the focus from the corruption of religious powers to the idea that the upper class is often abandoning of the Christain ideals they so galantly preach. It was a good social commentary because of the irony the author included. I really like how you kept on simplifying your conclusions. It helped structure your blog really well:)

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownNovember 13, 2017 at 12:11 PM

    I like how you analyzed the hypocrisy of Mr. Brocklehurst. Are there things that we may be hypocritical about?

    ReplyDelete

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