Jane: “‘This life … is hell! this very air–those are the sounds of the bottomless pit! I have a right to deliver myself from it if I can” (Vol. II, 90).

At this point, Jane has been torn apart by this decision, and everything around her is telling her that something just was not right.  After wrestling with the knowledge of Bertha, Jane worries herself sick over her love for Rochester.

How do the previous signs lead up to Jane’s struggle? What symbols or motifs foreshadowed it?

Jane: “I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself. I will keep the law given by God; sanctioned by man. I will hold to the principles received by me when I was sane, and not mad — as I am now” (vol. II, 102).

Soon after this, Jane makes the decision to leave Thornfield and Rochester.  I admire this statement so much because Jane is choosing herself and her needs over her infatuation.   She decides that she does not want to sacrifice her autonomy for the feeling of being loved and belonging to something.  Her recognition that she needs to get herself together and the realization that it would be so wrong to marry Rochester is so mature of her, I think.

How do you think Jane will fare outside Thornfield? Her entire life was lived at Lowood or at Thornfield; will she be all right in the “real world” or will she be an alien?

“As for me, I daily wished more to please him: but to do so, I felt daily more and more that I must disown half of my nature, stifle half my faculties, wrest my tastes from their original bent, force myself to the adoption of pursuits for which I had no natural vocation. He wanted to train me to an elevation I could never reach; it racked me hourly to aspire to the standard he uplifted. The thing was as impossible as to mould my irregular features to his correct and classic pattern” (Vol. II, 211).

In these next few chapters, John pursues Jane rather aggressively and coldly.  He is definitely a foil character to Rochester and makes Jane realize that she is established finally and can marry the man she loved initially.

How is St. John a foil to Rochester?  Do you see any personality flaws that are similar or different that Rochester’s?  Jane still struggles with finding a balance between being independent and her wish to marry and belong to another.  What symbols or motifs signify or add to that theme?

Rochester: “You are altogether a human being, Jane?  You are certain of that?”
Jane: “I conscientiously believe so, Mr. Rochester” (Vol. II, 263).

Rochester and Jane are now, in a unique sense, equals.  Jane has inherited a decent fortune, and Rochester is reduced to ruin both financially and physically.  This is certainly an interesting message to be sending the public during the time it was written, but I certainly don’t agree with it all the way.

What are some modern stories (in any medium) that portray an independent woman?  How do those women compare to Jane?  Is Jane a poor portrayal or a good one by today’s standards?  Why or why not?