Adele's Role in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre

In the novel Jane Eyre, Adèle's role is more important than simply being the initial reason that Jane Eyre comes to Thornfield. Adèle's character seems so simple that most critics of Jane Eyre have almost completely ignored her significance in the novel. Although Adèle lacks a certain complexity portrayed in characters such as Jane Eyre, Rochester, and Bertha, a more critical approach will reveal that she does have more significance within Jane's narrative than what immediately appears on the surface.

Childhood and school-life are two aspects of Victorian life that are continually discussed as a minor topic within the novel. Mary Ward raises the question about why "in the early scenes of childhood and school-life...the conventional solution, the conventional softening, the conventional prettiness or quaintness...never comes" (55). Ward goes on to explain her point using examples like "Jane, the little helpless child, is never comforted" and "Mrs. Reid, the cruel aunt, is never sorry for her cruelties" (55). Ward uses these examples to show how, in these early scenes and in Jane's childhood, conventional or traditional patterns found in the lives of most Victorian children (such as the Reed children) are not found in Jane's life.