Jane Eyre Character Analysis Essay

In the novel Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte takes us on a journey through the life of Jane Eyre. Jane’s character in the novel stays very consistent in terms of her personality. In the beginning of the story when she lived at Gateshead, her personality was very shy and independent. In her years at Gateshead, Jane had to live with her nasty cousins and aunt. This is why she became independent and shy. She was often shunned by her cousins forcing her to believe that she was no one, “ I was a discord in Gateshead Hall; I was like nobody there; I had nothing in harmony with Mrs. Reed or her children, or her chosen vassalage,”(Bronte 10). As she starts to get older, her personality stays the same. When Mr. Rochester asks Jane to marry her, she is kind of taken back. She feels that if she accepts his offer, she would become restricted in her freedom because she would have to listen to Mr. Rochester. “Still I

did not answer, and still I writhed myself from his grasp: for I was still incredulous,”(Bronte 272). This quote shows that Jane was very hesitant in answering Mr. Rochester because she wasn’t sure about what the future would hold.
Another main character from Jane Eyre, would be Mr. Rochester. Mr. Rochester character is very serious, but also romantic. He is the master of Thornfield Hall, the place where Jane is a governess. Jane agrees to marry him, not because of his looks, but because of his good heart. This is evident when Jane says, “ I had often been unwilling to look at my master, because I feared he could not be pleased at my look: but I was sure I might lift my face to his now, and not cool his affection by its expression,”(Bronte 276). What this quote shows is how good hearted Mr. Rochester is. Jane is finally able to look straight into his face now knowing that he loves her passionately. Although his personality is very charming, his decision making skills are very poor. The decision to marry Jane was made by the love he had for her, but Mr. Rochester was hiding a secret behind her back. As it turns out Mr. Rochester was already married to Bertha Mason, an insane women who he had married before he came to England. “I would remind you of your lady’s existence, sir, which the law recognizes, if you do not,”(Bronte 312). The decision to marry Jane, while still being married to Bertha caused Jane to run away from Thornfield. This shows that Mr. Rochester decision making skills were very poor.
The most interesting incidents in the story would be when Jane runs away because she finds out that Mr.

Rochester was already married and when she returns back to Thornfield a couple of years later. It was interesting to find out that Mr. Rochester was already married to Bertha Mason, and was keeping her locked up at Thornfield, “ In a room without a window, there burnt a fire, guarded by a high and strong fender, and a lamp suspended from the ceiling by a chain,”(Bronte 316). Because Mr. Rochester’s first wife was insane, he had locked her up in a dark room so that no one knew about her existence. This was interesting to me because it changed the whole plot of the story. Jane and Mr. Rochester were so closed to getting married, when all of a sudden an unexpected event happens that ruins everything. I found it especially interesting when Jane comes back to Thornfield, to find it in ashes. Bertha had actually set Thornfield on fire, destroying the house as well as killing herself, “I looked with timorous joy towards a stately house; I saw a blackened ruin,”(Bronte

462).
The section of the story that I liked the most is when Jane decides to go see her dying aunt. I found this section of the story to be aspiring on Jane’s part because this was the aunt who basically tortured her during her childhood and now she is going to say her last goodbyes to her. Jane even said when she left Gateshead as a child, “ I will never call you aunt again as long as I live. I will never come to see you when I am grown up,”(Bronte 34). The fact that Jane said this when she was younger, shows the growth in her personality and her forgiveness of others. This section of the novel shows that people can change and learn to forgive as time goes on.