Jane Eyre And Hard Times Essay

Everyone knows the frequent descriptions of Victorian England, the depressing streets, cluttered with poverty stricken families and thick clouds of smog. Even Peter Bailey, author of Leisure and Class in Victorian England, agrees that,“The early historians of England as an urban industrial society have left us with an overall picture of popular recreation which is cramped and joyless…”. While this may not have been true in all parts of Victorian England, the schools were no exception. Middle and lower class schools were places of strict rules and harsh punishments for students. Two stories that create an accurate picture of Victorian schools are Hard Times, by Charles Dickens, and Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontё. Hard Times is a story about

While the two girls discussed the way that Miss Scatcherd treated Helen, Jane brought up another teacher that Helen has to learn from. This teacher, Miss Temple, had a way of teaching that always kept Helen interested and, unlike Miss Scatcherd, held her attention for long periods of time. The appreciation that Helen has for Miss Temple can be felt with this line,“Miss Temple is full of goodness; it pains her to be severe to anyone, even the worst in the school…”(1034). This quote demonstrates that Miss Temple’s teaching strategy has a much better effect on Helen than Miss Scatcherd’s method has. While Helen kind of disses herself right after this quote, Brett Harrison agrees that it is a cute scene in his essay, The Real ‘Miss Temple’,“In this self-deprecating manner Helen Burns underlines the virtues of Miss Temple…”. While Helen goes on about how she can’t stay focused in Miss Scatcherd’s class, she doesn’t realize that she admits exactly what is wrong with Miss Scatcherd’s way of teaching. The reason that Miss Temple gets much more attention from Helen is because her teaching was different than most of the other teachers in the Victorian era. This proves that Victorian school children were not taught information well because of the harsh treatment from the