Themes

• Jane longs for a loving family
• People who act as surrogate mothers to Jane

  • Bessie, a servant at Gateshead

  Miss Temple, her teacher

  Mrs. Fairfax
• At school, Jane wishes Helen Burns that she would have the "real affection from someone she loves"
• When Jane leaves Thornfield, she has no one to turn to

  St. John calls this "A most singular position"
• When Jane discovers she's related to St. John, Diana and Mary

  She's overjoyed and mentions her "craving... for fraternal and sisterly love"
• At the end of the novel, Jane and Mr. Rochester are still happy after ten years, and have a son. Adele is Jane's friend, and they still see the Rivers sisters
• Bronte contrasts the Rivers siblings with the Reed family


  They're all Jane's cousins, and from respectable families, but they're opposites in character. When the Reed family replace the Reeds in Jane's life, it shows how Jane's life is getting better, and she ends up with her own family
• The Eyres are related to the Reed and the Rivers families, but they're estranged - the Reeds don't approve of the Eyres, and the Rivers and Eyre families have had a disagreement over money
• The Reeds are a dysfunctional family - John "gambles dreadfully" and Eliza vows she will never see Georgiana again after their mother's death, saying "I wash my hands of you"
• St. John loves his family

  But he loves God more. He is prepared to abandon his sisters and go to India to work as a missionary
• Adele was abandoned by her mother, and her father is unknown. This makes Jane determined to look after her- she understands what it's like to have no parents
• Mr. Rochester's family ruined his life by pushing him to marry Bertha
• Some people say Jane Eyre is as much about religion as it is about love
• Most of the characters in the novel are religious - in a hypocritical way. They're underfed and live in cold, unsanitary conditions
• Mr. Brocklehurst claims his school is run on Christian principles, but he uses religion to justify the bad treatment of the students, which just makes him sound cruel and heartless
• Helen Burns


  Patiently waits to go to Heaven, and doesn't retaliate when anyone hurts her - it's all part of God's plan. Jane admires her faith, and learns from her
• Helen Burns acts as a foil to Jane


  Her acceptance and endurance is a sharp contrast to Jane's passion
• St. John wants to serve God completely


  He believes he must sacrifice himself to God by going to India, even though he will probably suffer there. He tries to persuade Jane to do the same
• Jane admires St. John's dedication

  But she realises he's rejected human emotions in order to give his whole self to God. She also feels that he hasn't found "that peace of God" she saw in Helen
• Jane's religious journey


  As a child, she tries to avoid hell, but as she grows up, her faith in God develops and she tries hard to live in a good and moral way
• Jane almost goes to India with St. John

  It looks like she's prepared to sacrifice her life and happiness for God. However, she then rejects this ultimate sacrifice and tries to find a way of life that combines personal happiness with devotion to God
• Helen Burns: '"the Bible bids us return good for evil"'
• Jane is torn between what she believes to be right and what society believes is right, and being happy
• Mr. Rochester's actions seem immoral


  He doesn't tell Jane about Bertha and lies by blaming strange events on Grace Poole

  He leads Jane into a bigamous marriage, which would have been illegal and immoral
• After the marriage is stopped, Mr. Rochester wants Jane to be his mistress and live abroad


  Even though he's already shown great remorse for having had other mistresses abroad
• At the end of the novel, Mr. Rochester admits he was wrong


  He says that if Jane had become his mistress, he would have "sullied my innocent flower"
• Jane


  Has strong opinions about what's right and wrong, and tries to live by these principles. Eventually, she manages to balance this with her own happiness
• As an adult, Jane forgives Aunt Reed

  Even though she made her suffer
• Jane forgives Mr. Rochester's lies

  However, she "must leave him decidedly, instantly, entirely" because she can't live in sin
• Jane doesn't think it's right to marry St. John


  Because she doesn't love him, even though this would have been more socially acceptable than travelling with him as a single woman
• Mr. Rochester is physically hurt to pay for his sins


  He looks to God for forgiveness, and is rewarded with Jane's return and with the sight in one of his eyes
• The happy ending is a reward for Jane's patience and for her doing the right thing

  There are hints that if she'd stayed with Mr. Rochester, their relationship would have failed like his other relationships with mistresses
• Diana and Mary are respectable characters who support Jane, and they both marry for love
• St. John is likely to die in India, but Jane is confident that he will receive his "sure reward" from God for his sacrifice


  St. John himself is happy to be going to God
• There are all sorts of secrets being kept in Jane Eyre - Mr. Rochester's can be downright devious
• Jane describes the attic corridor at Thornfield as being "like a corridor in some Bluebeard's castle"


  This foreshadows future events in the novel
• After the fire in Mr. Rochester's bedroom, Jane overhears a servant asking "Doesn't she know?"


  Jane knows there's a secret at Thornfield, but she doesn't ask questions about it
• The cover-up involving Grace Poole doesn't seem to add up
• The games Mr. Rochester plays with his guests follow the theme of deception


  He plays a game of charades in which he and Blanche pretend to get married
• Mr. Rochester doesn't tell Jane who he is when they first meet


  He asks her who she is, and says "Do you know Mr. Rochester?"