Golden2particularly present in the Victorian era. The Victorian era is both the time period thatJane Eyreis set in, as well as the time period during which Charlotte Brontё was writing. Both of thesefactors impact Jane heavily and affect the course of Jane’s life in meaningful ways.In her early life, Jane is either fated to conform to the demands of the patriarchal societyshe was raised in, or reject society through adhering to her own inner rebellion. At Gateshead,despite the matriarchal figure of Mrs. Reed and the influence of Bessie, the figures of authorityin Gateshead were patriarchal forces that attempt to subdue Jane. John Reed, the cruel tyrant ofJane’s childhood, exhibits a “personal sense of entitlement which is… an inherent result of hismasculine access to opportunity” (Lauren Owsley 58).When Jane refuses to stand for John’sabuse and defends herself, she is immediately sent to the confinement of the red room, whichSandra M. Gilbert refers to as a “patriarchal death chamber” (476). It is in this room that the deadMr. Reed seems to still hold authority over, as “a sense of dreary consecration [guards] it fromfrequent intrusion,” as if the ghost of the former patriarch still ‘guards’ it as his own territory
