"Daughters were regarded as a burden on the family, and sons as assets of the family."(Singh 3) This quote reflects the lifestyle of woman living in Victorian England. In Victorian England, women were treated based on their wealth and their appearances. Charlotte Bronte depicts a women struggling with society in Jane Eyre. Jane has to live with her Aunt Mrs. Reed because her father died and she promised to take care of Jane. Jane is treated as an outsider and an inferior compared to the other children in the house. At the house it's a battle between the poor child and the Reed's that are rich. She learns important values about life from her experiences at the Reed's. Jane is having a lot of problems with the Reed's and is then sent to Lowood, which is an all girls" school. At Lowood, Jane is taught to be poor and how to be useful to the rich.
At her Aunt's house even if she didn't do anything she would be the one that would get into trouble. This is because she was the poor child with no parents and the other children were the rich kids with all the power. When John attacked Jane, Jane was the one who took all the blame and was punished. She became a scapegoat for the other children in the house because if they did something wrong they could just blame Jane. Mrs. Reed children are taught how to live rich; Jane was taught how to be a servant. Before she is sent to the red room the servants tell her " they will have a great deal of money and you will have none: it is your place to be humble, and to try to make yourself agreeable to them."(Bronte 13) So at the beginning she is told that she will live the life of someone poor. She is told that she will be a failure compared to the rich and that she should just accept that fact. " Had Jane been of their socio-economic status, the Reeds would have complacently accommodated her." (Singh 60) The Reeds alienate Jane because she is poor they don't even give her chance to show them the real Jane.