Themes

Social Class and Hierarchy

The opening chapter of the novel clearly highlights the differences in the treatment of children born into wealth and those born into poorer families, or as orphans. Jane’s cousin John is surprised when Jane retorts to his bullying because to him orphans and dependents do not respond; they are expected to quietly tolerate and endure his torture, which he is entitled to commit. This is a metaphor for the class divide in the Victorian England that Bronte belonged to. Bronte reflects these seemingly insurmountable lines of class divide in the fiction she writes.

A character’s agency is determined by the class they belong to. Social networking takes place in one’s own class, and any mixing with another class is mostly transactional. Matrimonial alliances are determined by keeping class in mind. Rochester’s marriage to Bertha was carried out so that he would inherit her father’s wealth. Jane is confident that Blanche would be successful in seducing Rochester and becoming his wife because of their class parity. It is no coincidence that she writes the infamous letter to her uncle before their wedding day in the hope of acquiring a fortune that would make her financially more qualified to be Rochester’s wife. Jane’s return from Rivers’ household at the end of the novel marks the time she has spent in repentance, doing good for poor children. However, more importantly, her agency is also equally determined by the money that she has inherited from her uncle, thus making her of the same class as Rochester and therefore more equal to him.

Newly educated and employed women like Jane posed challenges to older, strict class divisions. They were independent and agential women who were able to transcend class divides and make their own wages. Therefore, progressive thinking, women’s employment, and modern education for women were changing the ways in which class hierarchies were established and monitored.

Female Friendship

Jane is orphaned as a young girl and denied a domestic, familial situation conducive to nurture and security. In fact, as we meet Jane in the Reed’s household, she is nostalgic about the deceased Mr. Reed who had been kind toward her. In the face of torture from Mrs. Reed and her children, Jane just about saves herself.

Jane’s lonely existence changes in a great manner when she meets Helen Burns at Lowood School. Helen is intelligent, devoted to God, and is extremely caring of Jane. Helen, like a guide, introduces her to the workings of Lowood School. After the incident of humiliation at school involving Mr. Brocklehurst, in which Jane is reminded of the nightmarish life she has left behind, it is Helen who reassures her that she would never believe those lies and part with Jane. At this juncture, Jane experiences her first glimpse of companionship and emotional security. Helen and her tolerant and humble behavior represent an alternative way of existence for her; this also reinforces Jane’s faith in spirituality and religiosity. Mrs. Temple and her kindness toward the two girls also positively affects Jane. Their secret tea and cake parties in a world where there is not much luxury to go around is another instance of friendship.

With the Rivers sisters, Jane once again regains family. Though Helen and Mrs. Temple played very important nurturing roles in Jane’s life, she had not yet experienced familial love from anyone. Initially, the Rivers sisters and Jane are friends without knowing that they are related by blood, but still manage to share camaraderie. Once they become aware that they are family, Diana supports Jane in her decision to marry Rochester and reject her brother, St. Johns. The last chapter is testimony to their lasting family bonds and to the warmth of female friendships. Bessie and Mrs. Fairfax also show kindness to Jane at important junctures.

The Gothic and the Supernatural

Gothic elements in a novel are usually evoked by dilapidated settings; the plot is generally not set in the cityscape, features “wild” characters and instances that are supernatural and symbolic.

Thornfield manor and its secrets on the third floor create the gothic setting in this novel. The animalistic groans that come from the third floor further add to the mysterious quality of the place. The wounds sustained by Mr. Mason are described as ones possibly made by a wild animal. Bertha’s reveal is an important moment in the narrative, and she is described as lunatic and wild. These qualities are also associated with her Creole ethnicity, thereby pointing to the Victorian mistrust of foreigners.

Mysterious incidents like the fire in Rochester’s room add to the supernatural elements in the novel. Jane is increasingly curious on account of these happenings, and when she is told that Grace Poole is the source of these mysterious actions, she senses something amiss.

The splitting of the chestnut tree by lightning, the tree under which Rochester proposes to Jane for the first time, is a supernatural element that conveys impending doom. One of the positive ways in which the supernatural element is foregrounded is when Jane is able to hear Rochester’s cry of helpless desperation, and Rochester is able to hear her response in turn.