Jane Eyre

Chapter one
 The Novel opens at Gateshead Hall, the stately home of Mrs. Reed
and her three children: Eliza, John, and Georgiana. While the three
siblings and their mother sit comfortably by the fire, ten-year-old
Jane Eyre, the protagonist and narrator of the story, is made to sit at a
distance. Jane is the poor, orphaned niece of Mrs. Reed’s late husband,
and—as her relations and the servants frequently remind her—it is only
Mrs. Reed’s charity that keeps Jane from the poorhouse.
 Banished from the company of her aunt and cousins, Jane grabs a
book, Bewick’s History of British Birds, and retreats to an adjoining room
to read. She is interrupted, however, by the entrance of her fourteen-year-
old cousin, John Reed, who berates her for reading “his” books and
cruelly reminds her of her lowly status in the household. He proceeds to
hit her before throwing the book at her head, causing her to bleed.
 Unable to stand his abuse any longer, Jane yells at John and they
begin to fight. Mrs. Reed walks in on their scuffle and, blaming Jane,
orders the maids to lock her up in the red-room.
1- Why did Jane feel miserable?
- Because she was an isolated, powerless ten-year-old orphan, she was living with
an aunt and cousins who disliked her.

2- How did John Reed Treat Jane and Why?

-John hated Jane. He bullied and punished her all the time and she lived in terrible
fear of him.
- Because John believed he was really important as he is the heir to Reed fortune
and Mrs. Reeds would see no fault in her dear boy.
3- Why was Jane put in the Red Room? How did she spend her time in the
room?
- Because she fought John back, when he attacked her.
- Jane spent terrible time in the red room she was alone and thought bitterly of the
people whom she lived with.
a. She was trying think of a reason why did they always accuse, scold and hate her.
b. She spent the whole afternoon asking herself why she had to suffer, why life was
so unfair to her!
c. In the evening, she started to think that the Reeds might be right as she was
wicked.
4- How do both servants look upon Jane?
- Both Miss Abbot and Bessie scolded Jane and saw Jane as an ungrateful
wicked little kid.