Jane Eyre Themes
What themes are there in 'Jane Eyre'? ️️- Family - Religion - Social position - Gender inequality - Fire and ice - Gothic elements - Internal vs. external beauty - Marriage - Social class - The search for identity - The treatment of children
Family ️️The main quest in J...
What themes are there in 'Jane Eyre'? ✔️✔️- Family
- Religion
- Social position
- Gender inequality
- Fire and ice
- Gothic elements
- Internal vs. external beauty
- Marriage
- Social class
- The search for identity
- The treatment of children
Family ✔️✔️The main quest in Jane Eyre is Jane's search for family, for a sense of belonging and love.
However, this search is constantly tempered by Jane's need for independence. She begins the novel as
an unloved orphan who is almost obsessed with finding love as a way to establish her own identity and
achieve happiness. Although she does not receive any parental love from Mrs Reed, Jane finds surrogate
maternal figures throughout the rest of the novel. Bessie, Miss Temple, and even Mrs Fairfax care for
Jane and give her the love and guidance that she needs, and she returns the favour by caring for Adele
and the students at her school. Still, Jane does not feel as though she has found her true family until she
falls in love with Mr Rochester at Thornfield; he becomes more of a kindred spirit to her than any of her
biological relatives could be. However, she is unable to accept Mr Rochester's first proposal because she
realised that their marriage - one based on unequal social standing - would compromise her autonomy.
Jane similarly denies St John's marriage proposal, as it would be one of duty, not of passion. Only when
she gains financial and emotional autonomy, after having received her inheritance and familial love from
her cousins, can Jane accept Rochester's offer. In fact, the blinded Rochester is more dependent on her
(at least until he regains his sight). Within her marriage to Rochester, Jane finally feels completely
liberated, bringing her dual quests for family and independence to a satisfying conclusion.
Religion ✔️✔️Jane receives three different models of Christianity throughout the novel, all of which
she rejects either partly or completely before finding her own way. Mr Brocklehurst's Evangelicalism is
full of hypocrisy: he spouts off on the benefits of privation and humility while he indulges in a life of
luxury and emotionally abuses the students at Lowood. Also at Lowood, Helen Burns' Christianity of
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