Nobility vs. Humility

Throughout this book I have begun to realize that Bronte is poking fun at the higher class. One will note that Jane describes Miss Ingram as "too inferior to excite the feeling," (215). Another observation I made was the fact that almost all the upper class people, Mr. Mason, the Ingrams, Mrs. Reed, Mr. Rochester, etc., have an appearance similar to that of cavemen; sloping foreheads, heavy set eyebrows, bodies like "pillars." Jane even hints that Lord Ingram has no "vigour of brain," (202). All of these descriptions and appearances help to show the inferiority of the upper-class.
One will note that on page 201, a very drastic change in tense takes place. It changes from past to present tense. I will remind you that this part of the book is when Jane has been called down to the sitting room observes the party from her own corner. At this point in the book, the style of writing also seems to take on a more playwright fashion. It is as if Jane and the reader are the audience and the nobility are the actors. Throughout this passage, Jane puts the "actors" in an almost humorous light. It is as if we are supposed to laugh at the scene and, perhaps, poke fun at the actors. Jane is the intelligent one, staying away from the gossip and chatter. She realizes that everyone is not what they appear on the outside. No one in front of her, especially the Ingrams, are as intelligent as her, and the reader understands this. All of the elite are dummies, with the exception, perhaps, of Mr. Rochester.