Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre is the eponymous narrator of Charlotte Brontë’s novel. She often breaks the narrative’s fourth wall, speaking to the reader as though to a close friend or confidant. Writing as an adult looking back on her coming of age, Jane begins her autobiographical account at age 10, when the orphaned girl has to live with her abusive Aunt Reed, and follows her life through to adulthood and marriage to the wealthy but troubled Edward Rochester.

Jane is an unusual female character in the Victorian novel: Specifically described as unattractive, strong-willed, and intelligent, she is an orphan who refuses to accept her subordinate place. Instead, she speaks up for herself and her right to pursue personal happiness and against the mistreatment and prejudice of others. As a child, Jane defends herself against her Aunt Reed’s unjust punishment and the cruelty and neglect of her boarding school headmaster, Mr. Brocklehurst; as an adult, she pushes back against the controlling love and boundary-breaking morals of Mr. Rochester and the harsh self-abnegating religious values of St. John Rivers.

In a Victorian society that prizes women’s beauty and sexual purity over their intellectual achievements, Jane manages to find a romantic partner who values her as a physical, intellectual, and financial equal.