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- Jane Eyre: the characters
Jane Eyre: the characters
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Jane narrates her own story. Each person she meets tests her sense of who she is.
Jane
Passionate, honest and independent, though poor and plain.
She demands equality with Rochester: "Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless?"
She insists: "I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will."
She demands equality with Rochester: "Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless?"
She insists: "I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will."
Rochester and St John
Rochester: moody, sarcastic and passionate, with a dark secret. He tells Jane he feels as if he had "a string somewhere under my left ribs" tied to her.
St John Rivers: cold, controlled and devout. His offer of marriage is about duty, not love.
St John Rivers: cold, controlled and devout. His offer of marriage is about duty, not love.
Others
Mrs Reed: cruel aunt who rejects Jane.
Mr Brocklehurst: hypocritical clergyman who starves the Lowood girls while his own family lives in luxury.
Helen Burns: patient and forgiving: "Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity."
Bertha Mason: Rochester's wife, locked in the attic, presented as violent and mad.
Mr Brocklehurst: hypocritical clergyman who starves the Lowood girls while his own family lives in luxury.
Helen Burns: patient and forgiving: "Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity."
Bertha Mason: Rochester's wife, locked in the attic, presented as violent and mad.
Analyse "I am no bird; and no net ensnares me".
- Birds in nets or cages suggest trapped women.
- Jane rejects that image of herself.
- She claims a free, independent will, unusual for a Victorian heroine.
Answer: Jane refuses to be trapped, asserting her independence and equality.
Jane: passionate, independent. Rochester: moody, passionate, secretive. St John: cold duty. Mrs Reed: cruel. Brocklehurst: hypocrite. Helen: patient faith. Bertha: the hidden wife.
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