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How does the scene in the red room exemplify the theme of the loss of innocence in Jane Eyre?

After Jane is confined in the red room of the Reed house, she senses the recurring memory of the trauma she experienced whenever her individual self-expression or independence is challenged or threatened.


When Jane is unjustly treated and thrown into this room where her uncle died, she is certainly traumatized. After she spends a terrifying night, Miss Abbot draws Jane's attention to her lowly status, informing her that her cousins will inherit money, so her place



"...is to be humble, and to try to make yourself agreeable to them [or] Missus will send you away."(Ch. 2)



This declaration of her inferiority profoundly affects Jane. While she is at Lowood School, Jane finds herself singled out and humiliated in a similar fashion. This experience triggers the memory of the red room as, again, Jane suffers from lack of self-worth and loss. Further, on the night that she wonders if she must leave Thornfield because she cannot bring herself to live with him as a mistress, Jane dreams of Gateshead and the red room:



I was transported in thought to the scenes of childhood:  I dreamed I lay in the red room at Gateshead; that the night was dark, and my mind impressed with strange fears....(Ch. 27)



At the end of this dream, Jane sees her mother, who urges her to leave Thornfield. She departs early that morning.


In Jane Eyre dreams are a recurring motif. Certainly, Jane's dreams of the red room have a profound affect upon her decision-making as they forewarn her of troubles. 

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