Jane Eyre Sacrifice

When Jane arrives at Thornfield, she is immediately branded as inferior by Mr. Rochester, who boasts about his many travels and experiences which he claims Jane will never have the pleasure of knowing due to her inferior class. In chapter 24, he refers to her as merely a “plain and Quakerish governess,” highlighting her inferiority. When surrounded by a higher class society, Jane is treated as a servant, without intelligence or value. Blanche Ingram, a member of Mr. Rochester’s party, openly exclaims before Jane that “there are thousands of reasons why liaisons between governesses and tutors should never be tolerated a moment in any well-regulated household,” (p. 206) representing the views of many higher class members of society who treat lower classes as if they were universally inferior.
Rochester explains to Jane that he felt uncomfortable with his attachment to her partially due to her social inferiority, as marrying below one’s status was very uncommon and looked down upon in the Victorian