Jane Eyre By Charlotte Brontë: Character Analysis

In the novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, there are many changes for almost all characters, two of the biggest being how Mr. Rochester and Jane change over the course of the story; Mr. Rochester is changed tremendously by Jane and Jane by him. At the beginning of her relationship with Rochester, Jane begins to open up emotionally to him, but shortly after, closes down again because he breaks her heart. By the end, however, she opens up her heart again and they live out their lives very peacefully. Rochester is a closed-up hermit at first, similar to Jane’s closed heart, but then he evolves into a loving and caring husband to Jane. Mr. Rochester gets damaged in both emotional and physical ways when Jane and he break up, but he is resolved

In the beginning of the novel when Jane is a child she is very subdued and distant, but then she opens up and becomes vulnerable because of Mr. Rochester's influence. The reader has only seen the vulnerable side of Jane once before, when her dear friend Helen Burns passed. After Helen’s death Jane shows her first evidence of sadness. Jane learns that Helen is sick and wishes to see her. Jane starts showing her vulnerable side when she learns that Helen will die, “‘No, no, Helen!’ I stopped, distressed. While I tried to devour my tears...” (Brontë 97). She tries to prove that she is strong by hiding her feelings, even though getting stronger by releasing her emotions is what she should be doing. She does not show much more evidence of emotion until much after, when she meets Mr. Rochester. When she has known Mr. Rochester for some time, she starts to open up to him. When Jane and Rochester finally reveal their feelings for each other the tree in back of Thornfield Hall, they show sides of themselves that the reader has never seen. Jane narrates her thoughts and feelings of the event: “‘And so,’ thought I, ‘could I with you.’ I should have said so, perhaps, but a livid, vivid spark leapt