Canterbury Tales and Jane Eyre

Question 5

Irony is very prevalent in the paragraphs that have been pulled. The first three are about Mr. Brocklehurst's opinions on how the girls should dress and the things hat they are allowed to receive while at the school. Mr. Brocklehurst specifies that the girls shouldn't have curly hair and should be arranged very modestly and plainly. He also says that they should only receive one set of clean tuckers in a week. The overall message is that the girls don't need luxuries and should get only what they need and not have any qualities that make them stick out.

This is in drastic contrast with the fourth paragraph. This paragraph is a description of Mr. Brocklehurst's wife and two daughters. The three women are dressed in very expensive fabrics with large hats that have large feathery decorations and their hair is elaborately curled in a french style. This is ironic because Mr. Brocklehurst is preaching about how none of the girls need these things and shouldn't have them at all and his own family enters looking the exact opposite of the image that the school girls must uphold. The use of this irony helps to characterize Mr. Brocklehurst and his family as superior and almost haughty for not thinking of anyone who is ranked below them. Mr. Brocklehurst has no qualms with telling the girls to do one things and not following those rules himself, and this paints him as being authoritative and power hungry.

By showing this irony and the contrast between the family and the school girls, the author sheds a light on the difference between the social classes during this time. Mr. Brocklehurst and his family are ranked much higher than any of the girls at the school and are treated differently because of it. The girls have certain expectations that they are expected to uphold, but Mr. Brocklehurst and his family don't have to abide by the same rules because they hold a higher position in society. Because he holds this higher position, Mr. Brocklehurst has the power to enforce rules upon the girls that he and his family don't have to follow. The appearance of Mr. Brocklehurst's family is not questioned in any way so that just shows that the class differences are an accepted part of this society.