Jane Eyre undergoes immense oppression throughout her whole life. From the time she is growing up with her aunt as what is effectively her jailer, to the horrible treatment she receives from her cousins, to then being sent away to a boarding school at Lowood where expressing her voice is damn near impossible, Jane undergoes all of these hardships to then eventually break free of her figurative chains and take her life into her own hands and move out of all these places that have kept her from truly living her life. From Lorde’s reading we learn how important it is for women to transform their silence into language and action. Lorde asks the reader “What are the tyrannies you swallow day by day and at, tempt to make your own, until you will sicken and die of them, still in silence?”
When Jane first arrives at Lowood, she isn’t treated fairly and everyday is a subtle reminder of her seemingly insignificant place in this world. Mr. Brocklehurst, who is the supervisor of Lowood comes to make a visit to the school with her wife and children during the beginning of Jane’s time at the school. He informs the teachers and pupils of the school how “treacherous and ungrateful” Jane is and how she should be treated as a liar and a cheat. Jane stands there as Mr. Brocklehurst says all these horrific things about her, unable to speak or defend herself because of the patriarchal society she is in.
It is not until Ms. Temple, the head teacher at Lowood, comes to find Jane, that she is lifted out of the immense despair that she is feeling. Ms. Temple allows for Jane to tell her story herself, and after Ms. Temple verifies that Jane’s side is in fact the truth, Jane’s name is cleared. Had Jane not been vocal and shared that all Mr. Brocklehurst said is lies specifically pointed to make her appear terrible in front of all the pupils and teachers at Lowood, she would have remained in an very hostile environment. She realized the tyrannies that she was facing from Mr. Brocklehurst and her former family and decided to break free of them by expressing her voice like Locke urges us all to do.