In the beginning, Jane Eyre is depicted as a young, orphaned girl who is mistreated and neglected by her aunt and cousins.
Give a few quotes from Jane Eyre that supports this view
1. "Aunt Reed had sought me out ostensibly to tender aid, and I had put my hand on her breast and tried to say 'Forgive!' but she would not have any prayers, and still less forgiveness. In an undertone she gave some directions to Hannah. Ere long, with the servant's aid, I contrived to mount a staircase; my dripping clothes were removed; soon, I was enveloped in a warm dressing-gown; and sitting down in a large easy-chair opposite Mrs. Reed's own chair, I had a view of the whole front of the mansion" (Chapter 1).
2. "Go out of the room; return to the nursery," was her mandate. My look or something else must have struck her as offensive, for she spoke with extreme though suppressed irritation. I got up, I went to the door; I came back again; I walked to the window, across the room, then close up to her" (Chapter 1).
3. "I was a precocious actress in her eyes; she sincerely looked on me as a compound of virulent passions, mean spirit, and dangerous duplicity" (Chapter 1).
4. "You have no business to take our books; you are a dependent, mama says; you have no money" (Chapter 2).
5. "I resisted all the way: a new thing for me, and a circumstance which greatly strengthened the bad opinion Bessie and Miss Abbot were disposed to entertain of me" (Chapter 3).
6. "'What a dreadful noise! it went quite through me!' exclaimed Abbot" (Chapter 4).
These quotes illustrate the mistreatment and neglect Jane Eyre experiences at the hands of her aunt and cousins, portraying her as a young orphaned girl living in an oppressive environment.