Jane Eyre - Chapter 1

Difficult Words:  

• Caviller – An annoying person who complains. 
• Vignette – A picture/illustration.  Here, referring to the pictures in the book Jane is reading.
• Bilious – I really wanted this to mean super fat…but alas, it means sickly.  Whatever.

 

Audra’s Slang Summary:

So, there’s this girl. Her name is Jane.  And basically, Jane’s life really sucks. She’s an orphan, and being raised by her aunt – who is only related to her by marriage, and who follows whole-heartedly in the footsteps of the evil stepmother in any given fairy tale one might read.  Jane has three cousins, one of which is a boy who likes to do things like throw really heavy books at Jane, and Mrs. Reed (the evil stepmother aunt lady person) doesn’t care.  So, basically, Jane has it worse than Cinderella, because Jane has THREE step-sibling-like, crazy-mean bully-cousins who treat her like dirt. 

Here’s the best part, though.  Jane is catty.  Until now, apparently, she has kept it inside her brilliant little brain – but we get the chance to meet her at just the right moment: When John (the worst of her cousins) throws that book at her, she compares him to the Roman Emperors….and to slave-drivers….and to murderers.  Ya, for real.  This girl is 10. Excited to hear about her future?  You should be. Catty-ness only gets better, ya know.  Anyway. When John gets really mad that she stands up for herself, and runs at her like a charging animal, she totally stands her ground.  And makes him scream for his mommy.  Unfortunately, mommy hears him….and Jane gets punished….for John attacking her.  Lovely.

Interesting Stuff, Inspired by the Book:

 

So, Beckwick’s History of British Birds is a real book! If you’re feeling super studious, here’s a link to the whole thing!  (And my source for the pics below.)

I think it’s interesting that there are several seemingly random, somewhat disturbing pictures in a book solely dedicated to British Birds.  It now makes sense to me why Jane doesn’t think (or, at least, talk) about the pictures of the intended subject of the book….the creepy pictures are much more intriguing, even if they are rather terrifying.