Jane Eyre

Jane says 'I care for myself' when refusing Rochester after the impediment. In 1847, this was a radical statement. Is it still radical? What does the novel argue 'caring for yourself' requires?

Charlotte Brontë published Jane Eyre under the male pseudonym Currer Bell. If the novel had been published under her real name, would it have been received differently? Does knowing it was written by a woman change how you read it?

Bertha Mason is described in terms that modern readers recognize as racialized — 'dark,' 'purple face,' 'animal-like.' What does this language reveal about Brontë's assumptions, and how does Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea respond?

Helen Burns argues that you should forgive those who harm you. Jane disagrees. The novel presents both positions seriously. Which does the novel ultimately endorse, and how do you know?

Thornfield Hall is described as Gothic — dark, secret, full of locked rooms and mysterious sounds. How does Brontë use the Gothic tradition to externalize Jane's psychological state? What is the house a symbol of?

Rochester stages the Blanche Ingram pantomime to provoke Jane's jealousy. Jane responds by drawing two portraits of herself and Blanche for self-discipline. What does this difference in response reveal about their characters?

St. John Rivers is more frightening than Rochester in some ways, though he never threatens Jane physically. How does Brontë construct St. John as a form of danger, and how close does Jane come to submitting to him?

Jane says 'Reader, I married him.' Why is this grammatically radical for 1847? What does the active voice claim that passive constructions ('we were married') would not?

The novel begins with Jane trapped in the red room and ends with her free and wealthy. Is this a feminist ending or a conventional one? Does marrying Rochester represent independence or its compromise?

Fire appears in almost every section of the novel: the red room threat, Rochester's burning curtains, Bertha's final fire, and metaphors of passion throughout. What is fire doing in Jane Eyre?

Brontë based Lowood on a real school where two of her sisters died. How does knowing this change the way you read those chapters? What is the relationship between biographical fact and fictional technique here?

Jane insists on splitting her inheritance four ways with her newfound cousins. She reduces herself from £20,000 to £5,000. Is this generosity, self-destruction, or something else?

Mr. Brocklehurst preaches Christian humility while his family appears in silk and false hair. Brontë uses his hypocrisy to attack institutional religion. But does the novel attack religion itself?

Jane hears Rochester's voice calling her name across the moors just as she is about to commit to St. John. Did she really hear it? Does it matter whether it was real or psychic?

Adèle Varens is a French girl raised to perform femininity as survival. Jane is an English girl who refuses to perform anything. How does the contrast between them illuminate the novel's themes?

Rochester's blinding is read by some critics as punishment for his deception, by others as necessary equalization that makes Jane's marriage possible. Which reading does the text support, or does it resist both?

The governess in Victorian England occupied a liminal social position — too educated to be a servant, too employed to be a social equal. How does Jane's position as governess shape every relationship she has at Thornfield?

Compare Jane Eyre's marriage ending to the marriage ending in Pride and Prejudice. Both heroines marry men they love after overcoming obstacles. Are the endings making the same argument about women's choice?

The moors appear throughout as both danger and refuge. How does Brontë use landscape to externalize Jane's moral and psychological state?

Mrs. Reed cannot forgive Jane even on her deathbed. What does Brontë want us to understand about the psychology of class resentment in this scene?

If Bertha Mason had survived and been Jane's contemporary rather than Rochester's hidden wife — if Jane had met her as a patient in an asylum or a neighbor — what would Jane have done?

How does the novel treat physical appearance? Jane is repeatedly described as plain. Rochester is described as harsh-featured. Blanche Ingram is beautiful. Does beauty track with moral worth in Jane Eyre?

Rochester tells Jane she has bewitched him, that she is 'a dream' and 'an elf.' How does his language for Jane reveal his inability to see her as fully human, even when he loves her?

The novel ends with a brief note that St. John Rivers became a great missionary in India and died young in service of his calling. Is this a critique or a tribute? Is Brontë mourning him or endorsing his choice?

Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights were published in the same year by two sisters writing under male pseudonyms. Compare Catherine Earnshaw and Jane Eyre: both passionate women, one destroyed by passion, one preserved by principle. What does the difference tell you about the Brontë sisters' different moral visions?

Jane Eyre was accused on publication of being 'anti-Christian' because Jane prioritizes self-respect over submission. Does the novel attack Christianity, or does it attack a particular abuse of Christianity?

Jane makes her living by her own education and refuses to be financially dependent on Rochester before marriage. How does money function as a moral category in Jane Eyre?

The novel was published in 1847 but set in what appears to be the 1830s. How does the slight historical distance affect Brontë's critique? What could she say about the recent past that she couldn't say about 1847?

Wide Sargasso Sea (1966) retells Jane Eyre from Bertha Mason's perspective. Should students read Rhys alongside Brontë, or does inserting another author's interpretation into the reading of the original distort it?

Read Jane's refusal of Rochester aloud — 'I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless...' — and read St. John's proposal. Both are moments where Jane says no to a man she has feelings for. How do the scenes differ in emotional texture, and what does the difference reveal?