screen versions of Jane Eyre

[Quinn Cousins]

My favorite book of all time is Jane Eyre, and this book also contains some of the most famous "punishment scenes" in all boarding-school literature. Remember how Jane is made by Mr Brocklehurst to stand on a high stool while he accuses her of being a liar, then sentences her to remain standing on that stool for another half hour, and that no one is to speak to her for the rest of the day?

The best scene in the book is when Helen Burns is switched by Miss Scatcherd for having dirty fingernails. Here is how Jane describes it:

Miss Smith put into my hands a border of muslin two yards long, together with needle, thimble, &c., and sent me to sit in a quiet corner of the schoolroom, with directions to hem the same. At that hour most of the others were sewing likewise; but one class still stood round Miss Scatcherd's chair reading, and as all was quiet, the subject of their lessons could be heard, together with the manner in which each girl acquitted herself, and the animadversions or commendations of Miss Scatcherd on the performance. It was English history: among the readers I observed my acquaintance of the verandah: at the commencement of the lesson, her place had been at the top of the class, but for some error of pronunciation, or some inattention to stops, she was suddenly sent to the very bottom. Even in that obscure position, Miss Scatcherd continued to make her an object of constant notice: she was continually addressing to her such phrases as the following:--

"Burns" (such it seems was her name: the girls here were all called by their surnames, as boys are elsewhere), "Burns, you are standing on the side of your shoe; turn your toes out immediately." "Burns, you poke your chin most unpleasantly; draw it in." "Burns, I insist on your holding your head up; I will not have you before me in that attitude," &c. &c.

A chapter having been read through twice, the books were closed and the girls examined. The lesson had comprised part of the reign of Charles I., and there were sundry questions about tonnage and poundage and ship- money, which most of them appeared unable to answer; still, every little difficulty was solved instantly when it reached Burns: her memory seemed to have retained the substance of the whole lesson, and she was ready with answers on every point. I kept expecting that Miss Scatcherd would praise her attention; but, instead of that, she suddenly cried out--

"You dirty, disagreeable girl! you have never cleaned your nails this morning!"

Burns made no answer: I wondered at her silence. "Why," thought I, "does she not explain that she could neither clean her nails nor wash her face, as the water was frozen?"

My attention was now called off by Miss Smith desiring me to hold a skein of thread: while she was winding it, she talked to me from time to time, asking whether I had ever been at school before, whether I could mark, stitch, knit, &c.; till she dismissed me, I could not pursue my observations on Miss Scatcherd's movements. When I returned to my seat, that lady was just delivering an order of which I did not catch the import; but Burns immediately left the class, and going into the small inner room where the books were kept, returned in half a minute, carrying in her hand a bundle of twigs tied together at one end. This ominous tool she presented to Miss Scatcherd with a respectful curtesy; then she quietly, and without being told, unloosed her pinafore, and the teacher instantly and sharply inflicted on her neck a dozen strokes with the bunch of twigs. Not a tear rose to Burns' eye; and, while I paused from my sewing, because my fingers quivered at this spectacle with a sentiment of unavailing and impotent anger, not a feature of her pensive face altered its ordinary expression.

"Hardened girl!" exclaimed Miss Scatcherd; "nothing can correct you of your slatternly habits: carry the rod away."

Burns obeyed: I looked at her narrowly as she emerged from the book-closet; she was just putting back her handkerchief into her pocket, and the trace of a tear glistened on her thin cheek.

There have been any number of film versions of Jane Eyre, most of them now available on DVD, and the boarding school punishments are treated differently in each.

My favorite is the 1973 miniseries, in which Helen is played by a young Tina Heath. Helen's switching is extremely realistic and almost exactly as described in the book. Having once (in Sixth Grade) been smacked three or four times across the back of my neck with a nun's heavy wooden ruler, I can vouch for how sensitive the back of the neck is and I can only imagine how painful must have been Helen's dozen strokes from a bundle of switchy twigs. Tina Heath portrays Helen as a tall girl with hair tied back and neck exposed as she fights to maintain her composure while Miss Scatcherd punishes her in the middle of the schoolroom.

In the 1983 miniseries, in which Helen is played by the lovely young Colette Barker, Miss Scatcherd does not switch Helen's neck but instead strikes her several blows of the "instrument of correction" (a rod) across her outstretched palms. Each crack rings out loud and clear, and Colette Barker takes her punishment stoically but does wince in a slightly angry manner with each crack of the rod.

The 1996 feature film directed by Franco Zeffirelli is one of the less faithful adaptations of the book, but the schoolgirl discipline is quite interesting. Both Helen (Leanne Rowe) and Jane are depicted as more defiant than in the book, and in one scene (which is in no way true to the book) Mr Brocklehurst decides that Helen's hair is too long and must be cut off to mortify her flesh. In this scene, Jane befriends Helen by standing beside her and submitting her own hair to be cut along with Helen's. In this version also, just as in the 1983 miniseries, Helen's palms are punished (though here with the birch rather than the rod).

There are other versions of Jane Eyre as well, but these are probably the three best in depicting realistic boarding-school punishment. We also, in various versions, see Jane standing on the "stool of shame" (in the 1970 George C Scott version, accompanied by Helen) and Jane or Helen being required to wear a placard hanging about her neck and setting forth her offense ("liar" for Jane or "slattern" for Helen).