Jane Eyre

Character Analysis: Jane Eyre In Charlotte Bronte’s classic, Jane Eyre, the protagonist spends the younger years of her life at Gateshead, the home of her unloving aunt and cousins. As the story progresses, Jane makes her way to Lowood, where she finds people who truly love her. Thornsfield is Jane’s next destination. At Thornsfield, she meets Mr. Rochester, whom she later falls in love with, and complications start to rise when she finds out he is married. Jane Eyre’s character is rational, strong-willed, independent, and dignified. Throughout the story, Jane Eyre is consistent with her rationality. “And if God had gifted me with some beauty, and much wealth, I should have made it as hard for you to leave me, as it is now for me to leave you. I am not talking to you now through the medium of custom, conventionalities, nor even of mortal flesh…and we stood at God’s feet, equal—as we are” (Bronte 294). Jane tells Mr. Rochester that she is not beneath him, nor superior, but his equal. In Jane’s time, women were considered inferior to men, and were supposed to be obedient and reserved. However, Jane exhibits her thoughts to Mr. Rochester and is not reluctant to defy him. In another part of the classic, Jane is quoted, “I know I should think well of myself; but that is not enough; if others don’t love me, I would rather die than live…” (Bronte 75). Jane Eyre grew up receiving little care and affection from the people around her. She longed so much for affection and love that it didn’t matter how poorly she was treated. Jane Eyre craved affection and kindness so much that she would have died for it. Jane Eyre reveals that she is strong-willed and independent in the later stages of the classic. “I am no bird; and no net ensnares me; I am a free human being, with an independent will; which I now exert to leave you” (294). In this quote, Jane tells Mr. Rochester that she is a free woman, not a bird who is trapped within a cage. She decides to leave him on her own