Love vs Autonomy a quest to be loved, to be

valued1, while remaining herself

when she finds it (Rochester’s proposal) she refuses it for fear of losing her integrity in favour of emotional gratification

at Moor House: economically independent, but she’s offered a loveless partnership

events at Moor House: tests of Jane’s autonomy, until she’ll prove her self-sufficiency to herself and will be able to engage in a completely symmetrical relationship with Rochester

Religion three main religious figures:

Brocklehurst

Helen Burns

St.John Rivers

each representing a model she refuses

Brocklehurst: Evangelicalism

full of false rhetoric; inflicts privations and humiliations on the girls while living in luxury

Helen Burns

recognizes the holiness of her behaviour, but also knows it is too passive to be adopted by herself

St.John Rivers

sacrifice, but also ambition, glory, self-importance

urges Jane to sacrifice her emotional fulfilment in favour of moral duty

by adopting that model she would be disloyal to herself

Religion as a personal choice

she refuses those models of religion but not Christianity and morality

several examples in which she relies on God for help and comfort

finally she finds her own way: a religion not hateful and oppressive like Brocklehurst’s, nor self-effacing and ambitious like Helen’s and St.John’s

a help to keep immoderate passions under control; a spur in worldly efforts and achievements

Social Class criticism of Victorian social hierarchy

exploration of the complex social position of governesses

contrast between her refined manners and her low social standing

tension reaches its climax in Jane’s relationship with Rochester: equal intellectually, but not socially1

however, she never really questions the organization of society

Gender Relations constant fight against patriarchal domination, against

the idea of the inferiority of women, embodied by three different figures: Brocklehurst, Rochester, St.John

each of them tries to dominate her

in her quest for independence she escapes Brocklehurst, rejects St.John, comes to Rochester only after they can marry as equals

she will not depend on him either emotionally or financially

articulates what at the time was felt as a radically feminist philosophy (Chapter 12)1