Jane Eyre Key Quotes
Characters Themes Quotes Analysis
Jane Eyre Love and Chapter 4 - ‘You think I have no feelings, and that I Repetition of direct address and personal pronoun + semantic
Relationship can do without one bit of love or kindness; but I field of feelings → Her relationship with Mrs Reed criticises her
cannot live so: and you have no pity’ cruelty throughout Jane’s childhood.
Chapter 22 - ‘wherever you are is my home - my Repetition of ‘home’ → admits she is happy to be back at
only home’ Thornfield. Presents their relationship as passionate. Sense of
belonging to Rochester, finally found her home and true love. Also
could link to her reliance on Rochester.
Chapter 23 - ‘The great horse-chestnut…had been Pathetic fallacy + symbolism of the impending doom of their
struck by lightning in the night, and half of it split relationship → difficulties and challenges in their marriage (Bertha)
away’
Chapter 34 - ‘Though I had no love, had much (St John Rivers) Jane’s rejection to St John’s proposal establishes
friendship for him’ her clear belief of the importance of true love in marriage
Chapter 37 - “All my heart is yours, sir; it belongs to Hyperbole → presents Jane and Rochester’s relationship as
you; and with you it would remain” intimate and inseparable after reuniting with each other, giving
closure to the ending as they have overcome the challenges and
difficulties that have been keeping them apart. Bronte makes a
distinction between her ‘heart’ and her thought and action which
reflects Jane’s mental independence and her strong sense of
morality contradicting her emotional preferences. Presents the
absolute and enduring nature of Jane’s love for Rochester
Chapter 38 - “I am my husband's life as fully as he Metaphor + hyperbole → in the final chapters, Jane married
is mine…: bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh.” Rochester after overcoming all the hardships and they depend on
each other equally. This gives a sense of closure to the novel as
Jane has finally attained the freedom, independence and equality
she has been searching for in relationships.
, Chapter 38 - ‘Reader, I married him’ Short sentence + direct address → marks their marriage and
gives a closure to their relationship. Jane asserts her independence
once again, telling us not that He married her, but also her own
independent free will, She married him. This contrasts with the
conventional ‘he married me’, making Jane the subject of the
sentence. This suggests a reversal of gender power dynamic in
their relationship, which might be caused by Rochester’s injuries as
it made him physically dependent on Jane - presents Bronte’s ideal
of an egalitarian marriage, with mutual respect and enjoyment of
each other’s company
Freedom Chapter 2 - ‘I was oppressed, suffocated; Violent verbs → reflects the way Jane was mistreated under the
endurance broke down’’ control of the Reeds, shows her lack of control and freedom over
her own life and she was so ‘oppressed’ that she almost felt like she
could not breath. As Jane recalls the night she spent in the
red-room, Bronte characterises Jane to be deeply scarred from her
experience as she describes herself as being 'oppressed' and
'suffocated', heightening the oppression that Jane feels in the novel.
Chapter 3 - ‘School would be a complete Metaphor → Jane’s strong desire to leave Gateshead and to start a
change…an entire separation from Gateshead, an new journey away from the Reeds as she thinks by joining the
entrance into a new life.’ school Lowood she will be able to gain freedom and independence
Chapter 10 - ‘I desired liberty; for liberty I gasped; Repetition of ‘liberty’ → emphasises Jane’s strong desire for
for liberty I uttered a prayer’ freedom and independence, creates contrast with the typical
Victorian women who is entrapped in hopelessness and have no
freedom → talking about her life at Lowood
Chapter 14 - ‘bird through the close-set bars of a Metaphor → Bronte uses this bird motif throughout the novel. This
cage…were it but free, it would soar cloud-high’ imagery creates a continued theme of freedom / restrictions
throughout the novel. (At the beginning of the novel, Jane chooses
to read a book about birds.) Rochester observes Jane, and he tells
her about his observations. This means that Rochester is interested
in her, since a master usually doesn't take much notice of his
servants.
Characters Themes Quotes Analysis
Jane Eyre Love and Chapter 4 - ‘You think I have no feelings, and that I Repetition of direct address and personal pronoun + semantic
Relationship can do without one bit of love or kindness; but I field of feelings → Her relationship with Mrs Reed criticises her
cannot live so: and you have no pity’ cruelty throughout Jane’s childhood.
Chapter 22 - ‘wherever you are is my home - my Repetition of ‘home’ → admits she is happy to be back at
only home’ Thornfield. Presents their relationship as passionate. Sense of
belonging to Rochester, finally found her home and true love. Also
could link to her reliance on Rochester.
Chapter 23 - ‘The great horse-chestnut…had been Pathetic fallacy + symbolism of the impending doom of their
struck by lightning in the night, and half of it split relationship → difficulties and challenges in their marriage (Bertha)
away’
Chapter 34 - ‘Though I had no love, had much (St John Rivers) Jane’s rejection to St John’s proposal establishes
friendship for him’ her clear belief of the importance of true love in marriage
Chapter 37 - “All my heart is yours, sir; it belongs to Hyperbole → presents Jane and Rochester’s relationship as
you; and with you it would remain” intimate and inseparable after reuniting with each other, giving
closure to the ending as they have overcome the challenges and
difficulties that have been keeping them apart. Bronte makes a
distinction between her ‘heart’ and her thought and action which
reflects Jane’s mental independence and her strong sense of
morality contradicting her emotional preferences. Presents the
absolute and enduring nature of Jane’s love for Rochester
Chapter 38 - “I am my husband's life as fully as he Metaphor + hyperbole → in the final chapters, Jane married
is mine…: bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh.” Rochester after overcoming all the hardships and they depend on
each other equally. This gives a sense of closure to the novel as
Jane has finally attained the freedom, independence and equality
she has been searching for in relationships.
, Chapter 38 - ‘Reader, I married him’ Short sentence + direct address → marks their marriage and
gives a closure to their relationship. Jane asserts her independence
once again, telling us not that He married her, but also her own
independent free will, She married him. This contrasts with the
conventional ‘he married me’, making Jane the subject of the
sentence. This suggests a reversal of gender power dynamic in
their relationship, which might be caused by Rochester’s injuries as
it made him physically dependent on Jane - presents Bronte’s ideal
of an egalitarian marriage, with mutual respect and enjoyment of
each other’s company
Freedom Chapter 2 - ‘I was oppressed, suffocated; Violent verbs → reflects the way Jane was mistreated under the
endurance broke down’’ control of the Reeds, shows her lack of control and freedom over
her own life and she was so ‘oppressed’ that she almost felt like she
could not breath. As Jane recalls the night she spent in the
red-room, Bronte characterises Jane to be deeply scarred from her
experience as she describes herself as being 'oppressed' and
'suffocated', heightening the oppression that Jane feels in the novel.
Chapter 3 - ‘School would be a complete Metaphor → Jane’s strong desire to leave Gateshead and to start a
change…an entire separation from Gateshead, an new journey away from the Reeds as she thinks by joining the
entrance into a new life.’ school Lowood she will be able to gain freedom and independence
Chapter 10 - ‘I desired liberty; for liberty I gasped; Repetition of ‘liberty’ → emphasises Jane’s strong desire for
for liberty I uttered a prayer’ freedom and independence, creates contrast with the typical
Victorian women who is entrapped in hopelessness and have no
freedom → talking about her life at Lowood
Chapter 14 - ‘bird through the close-set bars of a Metaphor → Bronte uses this bird motif throughout the novel. This
cage…were it but free, it would soar cloud-high’ imagery creates a continued theme of freedom / restrictions
throughout the novel. (At the beginning of the novel, Jane chooses
to read a book about birds.) Rochester observes Jane, and he tells
her about his observations. This means that Rochester is interested
in her, since a master usually doesn't take much notice of his
servants.
