I have chosen to write on the best question, as indicated by the lettering and giant arrow pointing to this question. Jane Eyre, in this chapter of Charlotte Bronte, is very clever with how she uses the characters to mimic certain facets of the society that she lives in. This is also known as providing social commentary, which she does very effectively in this chapter. This is highlighted by different uses of irony along with the characterization of certain women in this passage.
First, the introduction of Mr. Brocklehurst certainly added a whole new dimension to the main idea of this chapter. With only reading the first couple of the paragraphs, a reader could just assume that Eyre was just commenting on how women have it tough in the world. She did this with simple analogies, saying this such as "How we longed for the light and heat of a blazing fire when we got back!" (Erye 7), which is simple enough to understand in her context. This was all changes when Mr. Brocklehurst was introduced into the chapter, and even more so when the three visitors arrived. The author here used irony to not only point out how women are mistreated with no actual justification, but how the upper classes are refrained from having to follow the same rules as everyone else. This is evident when first Mr. Brocklehurst is ranting at Miss Temple and all of the girls about how they are not properly following the established rules that have given to them. This is ironic because of the justification that he gives for putting these girls in such harsh conditions, it says ""I have a Master to serve whose kingdom is not of this world: my mission is to mortify in these girls the lusts of the flesh;..." (Eyre 7). He states that his reasoning behind this is based off of religion which has nothing to do with the constraints that he is putting on these girls. Shortly after, three lady visitors enter the room who definitely do not fit the bill when looking at the requirements Mr. Brocklehurst has just laid out for everyone else. The only difference about these women were that they were of the higher class and instead of being lectured and alienated, they were "conducted to seats of honour at the top of the room" (Eyre 7) not to mention "It seems they had come in the carriage..." (Eyre). This is ironic because Mr. Brocklehurst was just in the middle of a rant of not being over zealous and making sure all of the girls were modest, but these rules don't apply to these girls because their social class.
Jane Eyre also characterized certain women in this chapter to highlight an important message that she thinks her society needs to hear. When looking at the character of Miss Temple, the women who was one of the women in charge to keep the girls in line, it is important to look at the reactions that she had to the long lecture that Mr. Brocklehurst had. It was obvious to see that a lot of the requests that he was making were ridiculous, Eyre showed this by saying "Miss Temple passed her handkerchief over her lips, as if to smooth away the involuntary smile that curled them; she gave the order, however, and when the first class could take in what was required of them, they obeyed" (Eyre 7). Miss Temple has the intellectual ability to make the realization that these demands were of the utmost idiocy, but yet also had the intelligence to know that she could not show her true feelings toward them. This is hinting at the idea that society for women during Jane's was a very difficult situation that had to be handled carefully. Women were smart enough to know that the way they were being treated was not to the equal standard of men but they still did not have the right to actually speak out about it. One of the most telling part about that quote is the fact at the end where she states, "they obeyed". Meaning despite all that was said previously, they still continued to follow the commands that were made by Mr. Brocklehurst, or men as a whole.
