Therefore, Bronte portrays both the marginal outside and imprisoned inside. Jane Eyre shows the condition of an orphan with regard to the home as she has no home and no sense of belonging (Tabosa, 2008, p. 348). Jane is forced to fight a cruel guardian. From the first pages of the novel, Jane is found parentless left in the care of her cruel aunt, Mrs. Reed. She is a lonely and outsider without a sense of belonging and longing for family connections. While living at Gateshead Hall, she is constantly reminded that she is not part of the Reed's dysfunctional family because she is an orphan. At this stage, the reader is desperate to see Jane achieve a strong family relation and a sense of belonging (Butler, 2011, p. 93). .
Moreover, she is excluded from all the activities of Mrs. Reed's family. According to Mrs. Reed, Jane was to be differentiated until she "was endeavoring in good earnest to acquire a more sociable and childlike disposition, a more attractive and sprightly manner " something lighter, franker, more natural " (Bronte, 2006, p. 9). As if Jane were a trouble, because the word "lighter" suggests that Jane is a burden to Reed's family. This could be linked to the Victorian and 19th century orphan hood. According to Laura Peters, the orphan was identified in Victorian culture as one who was "bereft of protection, advantages, benefits, or happiness previously enjoyed."(Peters, 2000, p. 1). This means the life of orphan was vulnerable and miserable. Moreover, they were regarded as dangerous threats because they were homeless and outsiders. As if it was their fault and there was a divine reason behind their orphan hood. That is why being orphan makes Jane an outsider from Reeds family as well as the larger society.
The unfair treatment makes a dividing line between Mrs. Reed's family and Jane, particularly when children are gathered around "Mamma" figure in the painting room and Jane hears their mother calling the children "darlings" while Jane is excluded.