J.E. # 9: Conquering Heroine

Thank God for Bertha Mason!

Had Betha not been locked in the attic Jane would have married Rochester a poor, obscure orphan and would forever be the dependant little woman he and the world wished her to be. The discovery of his sins force Jane to leave Thornfield and all its hidden horrors. In leaving she finds family, fortune, and the confidence which comes from recieving the pure love she knew herself deserving of.

Had Bertha not set fire to her husband's home killing herself and greatly disfiguring her spouse, we would not have the absolutely irresistable ending we are left with in which Jane returns to her fallen knight to rescue him from the pain his sins have brought on him. He becomes dependent on our little Jane as she would have been on him if Brontë had not the forethought to hide a lunatic in the attic.

J.E. #8: Elf or Imp

Throughout the novel, Jane is described as something otherworldly allowing her to escape the binds her world places on women.

Perhaps in that world she was something mystical, something incomprehensible, something that to Rochester could only be described in a world not his own--a world where women were different. Rochester certainly had not encountered a woman like Jane before in his experiences with countless mistresses. He had not met with someone who had learned to value and respect herself for something special which came from within, something that surpassed vanity and radiated quietly with an otherworldly glow.

Jane is an elf because she is not like the women of her time. Even as a child she sees herself as "a strang little figure... like one of the tiny phantoms, half fairy, half imp, Bessie's evening stories represented" because even she cannot understand what she is, though she knows she does not belong in this world--a world where women can be regarded as property.

Jane's ability to be a creature of another world, or of another life, in a world where she is so clearly contrasting to the ideals around her aid Brontë in her illustration that Jane is an important individual defined not merely by marriage. In this way she defies the general guidelines of the marriage plot.

J.E. #7: Inherent Worth

it is my spirit that addresses your spirit; just as if both had passed through the grave, and we stood at God's feet, equal — as we are!

(Jane to Mr. Rochester-Ch. 23)

Jane's actions reflect her belief in her own value--an inherent value that is not supported by most of her aquantiances or by the society surrounding her which could find value only in women of wealth, status, and beauty.

Beginning with her rebellion against John Reed, we see that Jane cannot believe herself inferior to her afluent relatives. The reader is struck by this child's strength as her convictions are opposed by everyone around her who tell her that as a poor and weak orphan she has no right to be loved or respected.

After Bertha Mason is revealed, Jane exhibits incredible courage and moral strength in leaving Rochester--perhaps her only hope for stability. Regardless of being without friend or finance, Jane leaves Thornfield and willingly enters into poverty rather than to "stay and become nothing" to the man she loves when she inherently knows she is worthy of more. What evidence has she that she is worthy of love and respect from a man like Rochester with wealth, power, and status? Regardless of her shortcomings, Jane asserts that she has "as much soul ... and full as much heart"--it is by these standards she judges herself and finds herself worthy of respect.

This knowledge of her own self worth dispite the consistent emotional abuse she undergoes throughout the life Brontë illustruates reflects the value the author intends women of intellect to see in themselves despite the constant mental and physical abuse they will doubtless encounter in her world. Brontë endeavors to show that women of morality not only have worth but will be rewarded for realizing and defending this value.