Imagine being a poor orphan girl in a society where men dominate everything. Females are expected to tolerate their verbal abuse. Women are beneath them, and are supposed to be "seen and not heard-. How would one react in that situation? Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte, is a novel about such a girl. She faces three men in her lifetime: Mr. John Reed, Mr. Brocklehurst, and Mr. Rochester. Males greatly influence Jane's life through the many experiences she has with them. Jane Eyre must either verbally battle or "obey- each one. .
Jane endures many beatings, as well as emotional scaring, during her ten years at Gateshead. John Reed orders Jane around, expecting her to obey every time. John says to Jane, upon finding her by herself, "Say, What do you want, Master Reed?' I want you to come here - (8). John Reed expects Jane to refer to him as "Master Reed- in order to assert his dominance over her. He also says that to her while she is alone, reading "Bewick's History of British Birds-; demonstrating, Jane is not allowed any form of peace or pleasure for herself. She is "beneath him-. Additionally, John Reed also beats Jane frequently. "He bullied and punished me; not two or three times in the week, nor once or twice in the day, but continually - (9). Battery to a younger, physically weaker female, from a male, shows John's need to be the "master-. John Reed uses force to degrade Jane, and to show he is superior to her. He also intends to hurt Jane, both emotionally and physically, to show his lack of affection. John's emotional and physical abuse causes Jane to become "habitually obedient- (9). She also becomes terrified of him. Jane says, " every nerve I had feared him, and every morsel of flesh on my bones shrank when he came near."" (9). John bullies Jane into fearing him more than any other .
person she lives with at Gateshead. He regards her as inferior, because she does not "earn her keep-.