Jane Eyre

(Incomplete page)

(My page numbers are given for rough guidance)

One of the reasons that Jane is a heroine is her unswerving sense of self worth.  When Miss Abbot scolds her for having struck her ‘young master’, Jane retorts with disdain:

‘Master!  How is he my master?  Am I a servant?’ (44)

However, by the time she wishes to leave Lowood, she reluctantly accepts her position is not to be that of one among equals, praying ”grant me at least a new servitude’ (Ch 10 p117).  The young Jane’s independence is evident in many respects: one most obvious example is the way in which she . However, she has the greatest of ambitions and her vehemence is shown through Bronte’s use of the triple repetition of the word ‘Liberty’:

‘I desired liberty; for liberty I gasped; for liberty I uttered a prayer;’

She longs to ‘surmount’ the peaks on her metaphorical horizon (Ch10, p117) and wishes to experience all the emotional facets of life, which:

‘await those who had courage to go forth into [the world’s] expanse.’ (Ch10, p116)