jane eyre social class

• Say, "What do you want, Master Reed"


  • jane, as an orphan and dependent, is expected to use this respectful term, reinforcing John’s superiority over her.
  • Jane is forced into a submissive role despite being morally and intellectually stronger than John.
  • At this point, Jane speaks cautiously to avoid conflict. However, as the novel progresses, she asserts her equality, particularly in her relationship with Rochester
• “My mission is to mortify in these girls the lusts of the flesh." -mr brocklehurst


  • Class-Based Hypocrisy – Mr. Brocklehurst preaches self-denial and humility for the poor girls at Lowood, yet his own wife and daughters dress in luxurious clothes.
  • The poor are expected to be meek and obedient, reinforcing class divisions.
  • Brocklehurst uses religious language to justify the mistreatment of the Lowood girls. This reflects how Victorian institutions often used religion to control and suppress the lower class, keeping them in a state of subjugation while the wealthy maintained power.
• “Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong! I have as much soul as you, – and full as much heart!” -jane to rochester


  -challenges the idea that class determines a persons value(social hierarchies)

  -turning point for janes independence and identiy, although shes in love she refuses to be diminished or treated as inferior

  • jane is radical by defying victorian expectation
• “You should hear mama on the chapter of governesses: ; half of them detestable and the rest ridiculous, and all incubi – were they not, mama?” (Blanche, Ch. 17)


  -blache expresses blatant distain towards governesses

  -this moment is humiliating and alienating for jane

  -"mama" implies this attitude is passed down generationally

  • ironically blanche behaves with less dignity and grace than jane reinforcing Brontë’s theme that virtue and worth aren't defined by class.
• “I am an independent woman now.” -jane 


  -jane is an atypical woman by rejecting the expectation to rely on males for stability (proto-feminist)

  • jane previously left rochester as she refused to be his mistresss, and felt unequal, she now returns on equal footing-he is physically weakened, and she is financially strong.