Male characters

• “You have no business to take our books; you are a dependant, mama says; you have no money; your father left you none; you ought to beg” —> John Reed: uses his position as sole male heir to harass jane. pointing out he effectively owns everything at Gateshead, as he will inherit it all in a few years
• (talking about John Reed) --> "He bullied and punished me... every nerve I had feared him, and every morsel of flesh on my bones shrunk when he came near"

  "the servants did not like to offend their young master... and Mrs Reed was blind and deaf on the subject: she never saw him strike or heard him abuse me."
• "You are like a murderer- you are like a slave-driver- you are like the Roman emperors" (to John Reed) --> Jane is reacting to John who has just attacked her

  
  

  Jane responds to John's behaviour by comparing him to figures who embody cruelty, oppression and injustice

  By standing up to John, Jane shows her intolerance of injustice (even though she will be punished) --> refusal to accept injustice is a fundamental aspect of Jane's character

  Bronte illustrates the way that people with power can behave unjustly to those without power (power imbalances)
• "He is a good and a great man, but he forgets, pitilessly, the feelings and claims of little people, in pursuing his own large views." (about St John)

  "good and great man" --> dedicated to his (missionary) work

  Despite his admirable qualities, he exhibits a lack of empathy and compassion

  "In pursuing his own large views" --> His ambitions and goals take precedence. Sees Jane primarily as a tool for his own ambitions, pressuring her to marry him; willing to sacrifice her happiness and autonomy to fulfill his own mission --> male domination; women's needs are subordinated to men's
• St John --> is outwardly virtuous and noble, but his disregard for the feelings and autonomy of those around him underscores the pervasive nature of patriarchal power dynamics

  St John's religious zeal is stronger than his compassion for the feelings of others
• "What a great nose! And what a mouth! And what large prominent teeth!" --> His prominent physical features could represent the imposing nature of authority

  -evokes imagery of the predator: holds attributes of the Big Bad Wolf, illustrates Jane's youth and reflects the influence of Bessie's stories on Jane (depicts him as scary to Jane)
• "You shall see what sort of a being I was tricked into espousing, and judge whether or not I had a right to break the compact"


  -Rochester pities himself as he was forced into a marriage he did not want by his father

  -is angry and self-pitying: uses the verb "cheated" to illustrate how Rochester believes he was tricked into marriage and cheated out of happiness

  -refers to Bertha as a "being": less than human