Jane Eyre: Character Quotations (AQA GCSE English Literature)

Key word or phrase to memorise:  “master” and “servant”

What the quotation means: When Jane is restrained and taken to the red room, she tells the maid that John Reed is not her master and she is not his servant

Theme: Social class

• Jane’s fury at being treated unfairly by the Reed family conveys ideas about social class:

  • The maid’s suggestion that John is Jane’s “master” presents a social hierarchy 

  • Brontë depicts how Jane, a young orphaned girl, has little status 

• However, Jane’s challenge to the status quo gets her in trouble:

  • Her character raises ideas about compliance in an unjust society

Key word or phrase to memorise: “strike back” and “teach”

What the quotation means: Jane challenges Helen Burns’ advice on injustice, explaining that it is best to teach a lesson to someone who wrongs you in order to stop them doing it again

Theme: Justice and injustice

• Jane’s passionate nature is illustrated by her certainty about fairness and justice, such as in “very hard”, “so hard” and “never”

• Brontë creates a foil for Jane in Helen Burns:

  • Helen tries to teach Jane to “endure” injustice and be more forgiving

  • Jane’s philosophy to “strike back” to prevent being “struck” contrasts Helen’s sense of “Christian” tolerance

Key word or phrase to memorise: “full and free forgiveness”

What the quotation means: At Mrs Reed’s death-bed, Jane tells her that she forgives her entirely, and that she will find peace if she asks for God’s forgiveness

Theme: Personal growth

• Jane’s acceptance of Mrs Reed’s free will here presents her as more self-aware

• Her development is illustrated by her compassion to Mrs Reed, her enemy:

  • The alliterative “full and free forgiveness” stresses her open-heartedness 

Key word or phrase to memorise: “tenacious of life” and “such a place”

What the quotation means: Mr Rochester expresses surprise that Jane has survived Lowood for so long, and suggests that she must be determined to live as being at Lowood for even half the time that she had would damage anyone’s wellbeing

Theme: Justice and injustice

• Rochester’s dramatic reply to Jane conveys his surprise that she survived Lowood:

  • His remark, “such a place”, highlights the terrible conditions in the school

  • It also indicates that the upper classes are aware of these injustices

• Rochester praises Jane’s strong disposition:

  • The phrase “tenacious of life” implies she has had to fight to survive 

  • He suggests a kind of trauma is marked on her face

ey word or phrase to memorise: “as stainless” and “unpolluted memory”

What the quotation means: Edward tells Jane that he envies her innocence, and that she has so little regrets

Theme: Personal growth

• Brontë creates a mystery surrounding Mr Rochester by hinting at a secret in his past:

  • This builds suspense and foreshadows the story of Bertha

• Rochester’s vague hints to a previous, evil act are associated with dirt:

  • The simile compares sin with a stain

  • He describes her past as “unpolluted” to contrast his tainted conscience with Jane’s “clean” one

Key word or phrase to memorise: “idiots and maniacs through three generations”

What the quotation means: When Rochester is forced to admit he is married, he insists he has a reason for hiding her away and keeping his marriage a secret

Theme: Love and romance

• When Rochester is exposed, he tries to persuade the church that he was tricked

• Rochester’s desperation is conveyed in these lines:

  • He extends his discrediting of Bertha’s character to her family 

  • Ironically, Rochester is erratic and frenzied himself as he says this

  • His remark about her “Creole” family implies discriminatory attitudes

Key word or phrase to memorise: “not worthy of notice” 

What the quotation means: Mrs Reed tells her son, John, that he and his sisters should avoid Jane’s bad influence

Theme: Social class

• Mrs Reed’s prejudicial attitude to Jane is the main area of conflict for Jane as a child:

  • Jane, as an “abandoned” child, is perceived as inferior to Mrs Reed’s own children

• Brontë highlights how Jane’s low status isolates her in the Reed family

Key word or phrase to memorise: “fury” and “the worst of anybody” 

What the quotation means: On her death-bed, Mrs Reed explains to Jane that she felt attacked and betrayed, and that Jane’s anger could not be forgotten

heme: Justice and injustice

• Brontë offers Mrs Reed’s perspective on the conflicted relationship she has with Jane:

  • Mrs Reed believes that she is a victim of injustice

  • She describes Jane as aggressively “turning” on her, implying betrayal 

• Brontë illustrates a softer side to Mrs Reed who is hurt by Jane’s hatred and judgement:

  • She emphasises this with a superlative, the “worst of anybody”

ey word or phrase to memorise: “done you a wrong” and “regret” 

What the quotation means: Mrs Reed admits to Jane that she has mistreated her, and that she regrets her behaviour as it has betrayed her husband

Theme: Personal growth

• Brontë shows some development of Mrs Reed’s character:

  • However, her motives for telling Jane the truth are dubious

  • Her confession is as a result of her impending death rather than remorse

• Nevertheless, Mrs Reed’s acceptance of her own prejudice vindicates Jane 

Key word or phrase to memorise: “sight so sad” and “naughty child”

What the quotation means: Mr Brocklehurst tells Jane that a poorly-behaved child is the saddest thing he could see

Theme: Justice and injustice

 One of the key ideas in the novel is Jane’s behaviour as a rebellious child:

• Her attitude to injustice compels her  to speak up, but this is “naughty” 

• Mr Brocklehurst represents typical views about child-rearing in Victorian England:

  • His disappointment at her disobedience is stressed with sibilance in “sight so sad”

  • Jane explains this just before this line, “my little world held a contrary opinion: I was silent”

Key word or phrase to memorise: “hardy, patient, self-denying” 

What the quotation means: Mr Brocklehurst tells Miss Temple that missing a meal is a good lesson for the girls as it helps to build a modest, stoic character

Theme: Personal growth

 Mr Brocklehurst represents Brontë’s ideas about education in Victorian England:

• He is very religious

• He believes that children should learn to be humble and obedient

• Here, he says that suffering builds character:

  • Brocklehurst’s triplet highlights that tough forbearance is a desirable quality

Key word or phrase to memorise:  “Evil One”

What the quotation means: Mr Brocklehurst places Jane in front of the class and tells the children that, even though she is young, Jane is possessed by the devil

Theme: Justice and injustice

• Mr Brocklehurst isolates and humiliates Jane in front of the other children:

  • His use of hyperbolic religious language raises questions about Victorian morality  

  • He uses a rhetorical question to convey his horror at Jane’s evilness

  • His conclusive statement, “Yet such”, serves to exaggerate his disapproval