Jane Eyre – Key Moments and Quotes
Argument/fight with John Reid
1. “bad animal” and “she’s like a mad cat”
Metaphor shows that her wildness is not expected of her.
It also shows how the Reid’s treat and view her.
2. “wicked and cruel boy”
She is talking back to JR, the master of the house. He’s powerful, and male, so this is
shocking in context.
These make it clear to the reader from the start that Jane is strong willed, and immediately
shows that she doesn’t conform to societal standards. This would be shocking in Victorian
times.
The Red Room
This is the first time we get to really see J’s thought processes. She is told to reflect on her
actions, but she doesn’t regret them at all. From this, the reader knows how strong-willed
she is, and how confident she is in her actions, or at least in her idea of right and wrong.
It also shows the power of her imagination (the visions and ghosts), and how, although she
is strong willed, still a nine-year-old child.
Jane uses lots of rhetorical questions and repetition to get across her confusion and
frustration as to why she could never seem to do anything right.
1. Mrs Reed says that Jane is ‘less than a servant’.
This shows us how dependants were viewed.
2. Bessie also says that Jane is ‘a troublesome, careless child’
3. “I was like nobody here” and “a strange child [Mrs Reid] could not love”
This could be in terms of class divide, temperament, and character.
It gives us a sense that Jane doesn’t belong and gives us the impression that she
longs to fit in, or to have friends/family that she loves and who love her.
4. This theme is furthered throughout the book. She doesn’t fit in with all of R’s friends,
like Blanche Ingram
5. “I heard the wind beating continuously…and the wind howling”
The pathetic fallacy used here gives the reader a sense of J’s
confusion/frustration/anger.
6. “I was oppressed, suffocated”
This can be taken as literal or could be to do with J’s thought/emotions being too
strong for her to manage.
It could also be linked to Victorian society and how, even from a young age, girls
were expected to be obedient and quiet.
Mr Brocklehurst comes to take Jane to Lowood
1. “you have a wicked heart” p43
J doesn’t fit in, and her standing up for what she believes in is seen as wrong.
, “wicked” – in a very Christian society, this could have been seen as incredibly
insulting.
2. “I wish her to be brought up in a manner suiting her prospects”
There is a class divide between J and her aunt and cousins. This was particularly
evident in the 1800s, and poorer people didn’t have the same opportunities and
education as wealthier people.
3. “I am glad you are no relation of mine”
Jane’s still very young and she hasn’t yet learnt how to control her emotions.
This is also one of the only times in the entire book that we see Jane really intend to
hurt someone with her words. Even when she’s angry at R, or refusing to marry St. J,
she never properly tries to hurt them.
4. “you think I have no feelings, and that I can do without one bit of love or kindness;
but I cannot live so”
She says something very similar to R under the oak tree, when R says that he loves
her, but she thinks that he’s going to marry Blanche.
5. “do you know where the wicked go after death?”
Mr B is trying to scare J into becoming a better Christian. It is particularly strong
because Mr B has just accused J of having a “wicked heart”.
Lowood
1. “I was no Helen Burns”
In a moment of fear, J thinks of someone she admires and looks up to – Helen Burns.
This shows how much Helen means to J.
It also highlights the fact that Helen is everything that J is expected to be. She is
calm, reserved, and a good Christian.
2. “disease had become an inhabitant of Lowood, and death its frequent visitor”
3. “[Miss Temple’s] friendship and society had been my continual solace”
4. “she had stood me in the stead of a mother”
5. When J leaves Lowood, she “appeared a disciplined and subdued character”
Helen Burns Dies
1. “by dying young, I shall escape great sufferings”
2. “she seemed dearer to me than ever, and I felt as if I could not let her go”
Helen is the first person to show J kindness and friendship, so this greatly affects J.
This is in the past tense, so J is looking back on it. Shows that no matter how much
she’s changed and grown up, she still remembers/thinks about Helen, indicating just
how important she was to her.
3. “love your enemies”
As Helen is so important to J, this would probably have stuck with her throughout
life, and it may have even subconsciously influenced J’s decision to visit a dying Mrs
Reid, who she had sworn to never see again.
Jane and Rochester meet for the First Time
