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Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte, was a compelling novel depicting the struggle of Jane’s life in the Victorian times. Jane’s parents died soon after her birth and she was put into the care of Mr. and Mrs. Reed, her uncle and aunt. Mr. Reed died and Jane was left with her three cousins Eliza, Georgiana, and John, along with Mrs. Reed, a cruel, unfair woman. The family tormented Jane, but finally she was sent away to school. Including the school, Jane lives and experiences life in five completely different settings. Dominance was the principal obstacle at each of the places: Gateshead Hall, Lowood Institution, Thornfield Manor, Moor House, and Ferndean Manor. Gateshead Hall, where Jane resided with her evil aunt and cousins, was the first of her five homes. Jane experienced dominance from her cousin John. Mrs. Reed was biased and believed John was always the victim. John was dominant in both a physical and mental manner. An example of John’s mental dominance over Jane was when John summoned Jane while she was in the window seat. She approached him and asked, “What do you want?” He answered in a tone as if he were better than Jane, “Say, ‘what do you want, Master Reed”(p. 3). Jane was actually a good child and her reaction as written was “Habitually obedient to John, I came up to his chair”(p. 4). This just added fuel to John’s fire and made him feel as if he had even more power over Jane, but she knew either way she would most likely be struck by him. She was right. He hit her, and then, soon after “the volume was flung, it hit me, and I fell, striking my head against the door and cutting it”. In the past, John must have been able to manipulate Mrs. Reed, Bessie (the nurse), and Bessie’s maid, Abbot, into punishing Jane because as soon as the three entered the room, they immediately placed blame on her. Mrs. Reed ordered Jane to be locked in the red-room, and as a result, John was most likely satisfied. Jane had finally had it with her aunt. She gathered up her courage and told her aunt exactly what she thought of the way she was being treated. “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,” said Jane (p. 30).
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