She hurries back to Thornfield but it has been burnt down by Bertha who has also died in the fire. Mr. Rochester is blind and has lost one of his hands, he and Jane rebuild their relationship and marry as she now has a fortune too. He partially regains his eyesight after two years and sees their son born.
The story of Jane Eyre is very much about the status of women in the Victorian era, the rules at this time act as barriers in Jane’s life and affect her in many situations, for example, it is not acceptable for her to marry Mr. Rochester because she is a poor plain governess and he is rich and has a higher social status. Bronte has to find a way around this so they can marry, she makes it so that Jane inherits a lot of money so they are then of the same status and free marry if they wish. Charlotte Bronte has given Jane her personality traits because they are the opposite of the way women were supposed to be. Jane’s feisty personality and plain appearance go against this and cause her misfortune. Women had to be beautiful and she wasn’t so she never felt like a real woman because she was “not at all handsome”.
Her character develops and changes throughout the novel because at times she is trying to behave and do as she is supposed and expected to, but at others she is going against all she has been taught and going with her instincts. She has a lot of self-dignity and doesn’t like to be undermined but because she is a woman or a young child that is what happens. The fact that Charlotte Bronte had to make out that the novel was an autobiography edited by a male, just to get published is an excellent example of how women lacked status of any kind and if like Jane and Charlotte they were that determined then they would get what they wanted, in Jane’s case happiness and freedom and in Charlotte’s the career she wanted.
Jane is constantly looking for freedom and doesn’t want a routine lifestyle, she has a feisty and independent character, which is not acceptable of women in that time, and so people such as Mrs. Reed misinterpret her as being rude or evil. She knows what she believes in and what she wants, although at points in the story, for example when she is falling in love with Mr. Rochester she doubts him and herself. Jane is courageous and makes her own decisions on impulse often like when she ran from Thornfield with not much money and no place to go.
Charlotte Bronte uses Jane Eyre to convey her own opinions and views on the way women are treated. During those times they were isolated and stuck with not much control over their lives. Her and Jane are both plain and because they are not beautiful it is harder for them to get a husband, and in Charlotte’s case she had no money to offer for a marriage dowry. She sees her, Jane and other women as trapped. This may be why she introduced Bertha Mason who is crazy, locked on the third floor of Thornfield Hall because she believes that women are trapped and maybe going crazy with frustration because of it, Bertha Mason is an interpretation of women’s feelings as she has been locked away with no freedom and she can’t do anything about it as she is a woman.
Charlotte Bronte likes Jane and Jane is may be a reflection of her own character, she presents Jane in a favourable way so the reader feels sorry for her at some points because she doesn’t deserve her misfortune’s “my rest might have been blissful enough, only a sad heart broke it”, Jane talks about her heart a lot because it is constantly being wounded. Bronte makes Jane sound very intelligent, intellectual and thoughtful when she is recording her thoughts.
The novel is written in first person, in a quite similar way to a diary or autobiography. This way you get to know all Jane’s thoughts and feelings and begin to understand her and sympathise with her and it’s almost as if she is talking directly to the reader so it feels personal. It purports to be a true story, it actually isn’t but readers may feel they can relate more if it’s true, in a way parts are true in Charlotte Bronte’s life, like Lowood School. Charlotte was also sent away to a school, which was as harsh as Lowood. In which two of her sisters died, just as in the novel, Jane lost two people, her friend Helen and the teacher Miss Temple, Helen died of consumption and Miss Temple got married and left and Jane lost them both. This is probably a reflection of Charlotte’s own experience.
Mr. Rochester treats Jane as more of an equal and was prepared to marry her despite their money differences, he doesn’t always understand her though, for example just before they get married he tries to give her lots of jewellery and dress her up in bright expensive clothing, “I will attire my Jane in satin and lace” but she doesn’t want their relationship to change or him to treat her in any different ways “And then you won’t know me”. She doesn’t want to be his possession to dress up or loose her individuality. She knows she has always been plain and sees that no matter what she is dressed in, it will not suit her or make her beautiful so she prefers to just wear her usual black or grey dresses and be herself.
The Reeds all saw Jane as below them because they felt they were doing her a favour that she didn’t deserve, Jane dislikes the Reeds because they show her no love and see her as a burden when she tries her best to please them or at least stay out of the way and not aggravate them. They constantly remind her that if they were to disown her she would have nowhere to go “you are under obligations to Mrs. Reed: she keeps you: if she were to turn you off you would have to go to the poor house” They act as though she is ungrateful to them when she is not, and Mrs. Reed believes that Jane will be a bad influence on her own children.
When Jane returns later when Mrs. Reed is ill her cousins Georgina and Eliza are a bit more welcoming but not a lot, they are all very different people who don’t have much in common. Mrs. Reed is still as nasty even when Jane offers forgiveness she is still cold towards her, but Mrs. Reed does still tell her about having a relation trying to contact her so maybe somewhere she does have some feeling for Jane, but it could of also have been a guilty conscience.
The Riverses are nice to Jane and they take her in and become her friends, they’re grateful to her for the share of her inheritance, Jane loves them because she has always thought she had no relations and that made her feel empty, so when she discovers that they are her cousins she is overjoyed. St John Rivers likes Jane too, but has not much respect for her, Jane likes him but she does not love him as she loves Mr. Rochester. Mr. Rochester is passionate and St John is the opposite so she cannot bring herself to marry him as he would always be second best to Mr. Rochester. Jane talks about Mr. Rochester’s eyes being flashing and passionate whilst St John’s are cold as ice. She needs real love where she can feel free yet have emotional support at the same time. St John doesn’t offer that because they don’t really love each other. Their marriage would just be a convenient arrangement, she doesn’t want that, she wants love and passion.
Charlotte Bronte presents parts of herself in the character Jane Eyre and uses the novel to express these parts, she often uses language in a way that makes the reader feel sorry for Jane as she uses very explicit words such as “miserable”. But in the end she presents a feisty independent brave girl looking for freedom and happiness in a sexist society with many difficulties but Jane was determined those and although there were lots of dead ends along the way she finally got past all them and achieved happiness.
