The protagonist of the novel, Jane Eyre grows up feeling alienated and ostracized. Treated as an outcast by her cousins and Aunt Reed she, righteously, develops a desire to be out of their care. Her aunt, who wants to be rid of Jane, decides to send her off to school.

During an intense dispute with her Mrs. Reed, Jane states, “I am glad you are no relation of mine… You think I have no feelings, and that I can do without one bit of love or kindness; but I cannot live so.” (Chapter 4, pg 45) This reveals not only her need for love and equality, but also her sense of justice and perception of injustice. These characteristics are also evident throughout the remainder of the book, such as when she is looking for a relationship. Once she discovers Mr. Rochester's previous marriage to Bertha Mason, Jane decides against marrying him. She reasons that instead of being his wife, she would be made his mistress, thus losing her self respect. Later, Jane refuses to marry St. John Rivers due to the lack of love that there would be in the relationship. In the end of the novel, she finds a perfect balance of love, freedom, and equality in Mr. Rochester, therefore choosing to marry him.

Mrs. Reed

Mrs. Reed's undying hatred of Jane was caused by her deceased husband, who had cared for their niece more than their own children. When on his death bed, he made her swear to continue raising Jane. Although she keeps her promise, Mrs. Reed detests her niece, and treats her with hardly any respect whatsoever. Nine years after she sent Jane to school, Mrs. Reed's health deteriorates. Jane returns to Gateshead and attempts to reconcile with her unloving aunt. Despite her requests for forgiveness, Mrs. Reed ignores Jane's apologies, and continues resenting her niece until she perishes.

Mrs. Reed's grudge towards Jane reveals her jealousy; this envy is merely a result of her niece receiving better treatment than her own children. She is selfish and unjust because she cares more about herself and her own jealous feelings than of her mistreatment of Jane. Finally, her ability to mistreat Jane without any cross feelings exposes her pitiless and unsympathetic nature.

Bessie Lee

As the maid at Gateshead, Bessie is frequently required to take care of Jane, and is her main source of enjoyment as a child. She is nicer to Jane more often than any other resident at the mansion. At times, Bessie sings to her and tells her stories of fairies, which Jane always finds pleasure in. Once, she even criticizes Mrs. Reed for being too harsh on Jane, which shows that she has sympathy towards the mistreated girl. Because of Bessie's kindness, Jane appreciates her more than the other ruthless inhabitants of Gateshead.

Helen Burns- Helen Burns's character contrasts with Jane's right from the start. Although Jane is religious, Helen's faith is undying until the day of her death. She continuously acts the way she feels God would want her to, and both accepts and forgives whatever unkindness comes her way. It is her belief that God will reward the good, and punish the evil. At first, Helen feels Jane is naïve when the latter would disagree with what she said, or say that she, herself, is unable to be as forgiving. Throughout their friendship at Lowood, Helen teaches Jane much about religion, God, and His ways. Soon, however, Helen becomes ill and passes away, with Jane in her arms, saying “I have faith; I am going to God.”

Edward Rochester

Soon after meeting him, Jane falls in love with Mr. Rochester, her master, despite his higher social and economical class. Regardless of the unconventionality of the couple, Mr. Rochester returns this love. It was neither her appearance that he finds attractive, nor her wealth. He is fascinated by her mind, and how interesting an individual she is. Deeply in love with Jane, Rochester provides her with the opportunity to have a relationship filled with affection, devotion, and passion towards each other. However, he holds a well kept secret, which he conceals even from Jane. Early in his life, he married a young woman from a rich family out of pure greed. Bertha Mason, his wife, “Caught the germ of insanity,” according to Mr. Rochester, soon after their marriage. She had to be pent up in a third story apartment within Thornfield Hall, a mansion of his, for the remainder of her existence. Once this is revealed to Jane, she is forced to make a decision. She feels she would lose her self esteem and pride if she's made his mistress, so she chooses to leave him. After Bertha's death, almost a year later, Jane visits Mr. Rochester, and rebuilds their relationship. In spite of his blindness and amputated hand, their love towards one another has not tapered. Even though in the eighteen hundreds, the common belief was that men are superior to women, Jane now considers herself his equal. With Bertha dead, and there being no hindrance to a marriage, they wed, and live together, forever blissful.

Mr. Rochester's unorthodox love for Jane catches even her off guard. His love for a woman, who is physically plain, yet mentally deep, shows that he's not shallow. Furthermore, Jane not only works for him and is of lower class, but is also poor; therefore, in loving her and proposing to her, he proves that he isn't worried about what other people think of him. Moreover, Rochester is exceedingly caring of the ones he loves. One such example is when he discovers that Bertha had snuck into Jane's room at night; he shudders at the thought of what could have happened to her. Finally, caring for Bertha, despite her insane state, exemplifies his humane personality.

Blanche Ingram

Greedy and superficial, Blanche is a wealthy member of the upper class, who scorns Jane for looking plain and for her “dependant” status. She seems to love Mr. Rochester, but in reality, it is only his money she seeks. When Rochester spreads a rumor that his fortune is only one third of what is supposed, Miss Ingram instantly ceases to like him, consequently proving that it was out of pure greed that she wanted to wed him. Mr. Rochester had only been feigning his desire to marry her in order to make Jane jealous. This fails to work, however, because Jane believes that she is superior to Blanche; therefore, she doesn't see a reason to be jealous.

Bertha Mason

As a youth, Mr. Rochester's father and brother suggest that he marry Bertha Mason due to the large fortune which he would acquire. They don't tell him, though, that a history of insanity runs in her blood. Her mother, who Edward believes to be dead, is actually living in an insane asylum. Rochester and Bertha never become thoroughly familiar with each other before he makes the quick decision to marry her, mistaking the feelings he holds for her as true love. Bertha then turns mad soon after their wedding. Her insanity can be considered a consequence for his quick and greedy action of marrying her. He suffers the consequences for his greed, as his marriage is a terrible mistake; it affects not only his future happiness, but Jane's thoughts of him as well. Although Jane and Rochester eventually marry, it is because of Bertha's existence that Jane originally flees Thornfield Hall.

St. John Rivers

St John Rivers serves as a foil character to Edward Rochester. Mr. Rochester is emotional, and described as “fiery” by Jane, whereas St. John is distant, cold, ambitious, unemotional, and he doesn't reveal his feelings openly. Exceptionally religious, he is highly dedicated to his career as a minister in Morton; however, he still intends to leave for India to be a missionary as soon as possible. Like Mr. Rochester, he also proposes to Jane, his cousin. A marriage between him and Jane would give her the opportunity to make a larger difference in the world than she could make otherwise. However, this benefit comes with a downside- to wed him would mean to abandon love and passion. Jane can't give up this essential requirement of her heart, so she refuses his proposal.

Diana Rivers

 Diana's kind and selfless disposition accounts for the care she gives Jane while Jane is ill. Similar to Jane, Diana Rivers holds a career as a governess as well. They both are also very knowledgeable and interested in learning. Diana is Jane's cousin, but she additionally serves as Jane's role model. She is handsome, a good leader, and independent. According to the novel, Jane contemplates, “If in our trio there was a superior and a leader, it was Diana.” (Chapter 30, pg 406)

Mary Rivers

 Also holding a career as a private governess, Mary Rivers has much in common with her sister, Diana, and her cousin, Jane. The many traits shared between those three relatives make them inseparable. Thinking about Mary and her sister, Jane reflects, “Our natures dovetailed, mutual affection of the strongest kind was the result.” (Chapter 30, pg 406) Jane admires her, too, for being an independent woman, who is able to provide for herself; this further proves that women are equal to men.

A major theme in this work of literature is the gender obstacles for women of that time period. Bertha Mason, an important character of the novel, represents the confined wife of the nineteenth century, who's only job is thought to be in the kitchen. She symbolizes what would happen to a woman after being pent up for so long. Throughout the story, Jane must overcome this barrier. She must prove herself to be both equal to men, and also autonomous. She accomplishes this by running away from Thornfield and acquiring a job as a teacher of poor children. Once she confirms to herself her independence, she then marries Mr. Rochester, now confident that she is his equal.

Another theme in Jane Eyre is the barriers of social classes in the Victorian era. Even as a child, Jane is criticized for being poor, such as when John Reed states, “You are a dependent… You have no money… You ought to beg, and not live here with gentlemen's children like us…” (Chapter 1, pg 15) This quote shows that children as young as fourteen, like John, are already criticizing people of lower social status. Furthermore, Blanche Ingram openly detests Jane for her low position in society, as well. Moreover, the treatment Jane received when Hannah answered the door at Moor's End also suggests this theme. Seeing her as a beggar, Hannah presumed she was a bad person. After becoming acquainted with her, she apologized to Jane for her prejudice. By the end of this novel, Jane proves that her poverty does not make her an inferior person.

Many times throughout this work, Bronte even criticizes the upper castes through the personalities of the people in them. Miss Ingram's character is snobby, greedy, and unkind. She only wants to marry Mr. Rochester for his money, and therefore is portrayed as a nasty person. Jane's cousin, John Reed, was cruel and abusive to her as a child, and later developed gambling problems. Mrs. Reed is an unjust and heartless woman, who treated Jane with contempt. All three of these characters are in the upper class, and they are all used by Charlotte Bronte to express her opinion of that caste.

The red room, which Jane gets locked in as a child, symbolizes both imprisonment and also what a marriage to St. John Rivers would be like. When Jane is trapped inside the third story room of Gateshead, the very room that her Uncle Reed died in, she experiences emotional and physical imprisonment. Nobody listens to her cries or lets her out of the room; her terror builds up until she eventually faints. If she accepted St. John's proposal, and traveled with him to India, Jane would also be emotionally confined. She knew that if she married him, she must abandon love and passion forever. And yet, when speaking to her Diana Rivers about St. John, she states, “Yet, if forced to be his wife, I can imagine the possibility of conceiving an inevitable, strange, torturing kind of love for him, because he is so talented…” (Chapter 35, pg 481) And if she did develop this love for him, Jane continued, “He would not want me to love him; and if I showed the feeling, he would make me sensible that it was a superfluity, unrequired by him, unbecoming in me.” (Chapter 35, pg 481) Therefore, Jane feels that if she married him, she would have to conceal any love her heart felt forever; that is, if such feelings were felt at all. So, due to this imprisonment that she'd experience if she married St. John, Jane refuses his proposal.

Throughout her work, Bronte uses incredibly detailed descriptions to help her readers form a better picture of whatever is described. One such example is, “the stream descending the ravine, swelled with past spring rains, poured along plentiful and clear, catching golden gleams from the sun, and sapphire tints from the firmament.” (Chapter 34, pg 464)

However, she uses imagery not only to describe the environment, but also to describe people. Mr. Rochester is often described as being fiery. On the other hand, Charlotte Bronte frequently compares St. John Rivers to ice, not only in his actions, but also in his feelings and speech.

Charlotte Bronte treats Jane with a compassionate and hopeful tone. Whenever Jane is experiencing hardship and trial, this becomes more noticeable. Bronte begins to describe Jane's emotions in such situations to help the audience better understand the way she's feeling. This is not only during physical hardships, but during emotional suffering as well, such as when Jane flees from Thornfield Hall, while she is still in love with Rochester. Charlotte Bronte chooses this attitude towards Jane to influence the readers into viewing her through the same sympathetic perspective.

The same night that Mr. Rochester proposes to Jane for the first time, half of the great horse-chestnut tree splits away, due to a bolt of lightning. This is foreshadowing of Jane “splitting” away from Mr. Rochester. Additionally, Jane's dream, in which she sits atop the remnants of Thornfield Hall, foreshadows its future destruction. Charlotte Bronte uses these two instances of foreshadowing to add excitement and anticipation to her novel, making it much more interesting to read.

The use of first person narrative in the story allows the reader to feel a connection to Jane, to feel closer to her than anyone else in Gateshead Hall. This is because we are only told Jane's point of view on the events in the book, so we sympathize with her thoughts and feelings. The attention is completely focused on Jane and all of the events in Gateshead revolve around her. Because of the first person narrative, we become immediately familiar with Jane.

The language used to describe the weather reflects Jane's mood. When she is sitting in the drawing room, the weather outside seems to mirror her feelings with "ceaseless rain sweeping away before a long and lamentable blast." This highlights Jane's life, cold and sad like the "drear November day" and creates more sympathy for her.

It is not only the weather that reflects Jane's mood and thoughts, but also her imagination. When Jane is looking at the book, the images that are created in her head reflect how she feels, giving significance to "the rock standing up alone in a sea of billow and spray; to the broken boat stranded desolate coast; to the cold and ghastly moon glancing through bars of cloud at a wreck just sinking." These images are all very gloomy. The "rock" that Jane pictures could possibly be how she sees herself, as an object that stands alone, while hardships and troubles surround her. It shows how strong and independent she feels she has to be. This creates further sympathy for Jane, as it shows she is obviously miserable.

Mrs Reed is an obvious influence on Jane's attitude and circumstances as her behaviour towards Jane is unjust and cruel. She resents Jane and sees her as a burden, whom she would love to be rid of. Mrs Reed is described as a "cold composed opponent", with, "eyes devoid of ruth", so she takes absolutely no pity on Jane. Even when she is locked in the red-room and cries to get out, Mrs Reed only sees her as a "precocious actress". Not only does Mrs Reed treat Jane with injustice and cruelty, but she also physically maltreats her.

The difference in her treatment of her own children and Jane adds to the sense of injustice enforced upon her niece. Jane tries her hardest to please Mrs Reed, but she is shunned by the whole family. Mrs Reed's own children do not show her any respect and are absolutely spoiled. Brontë creates more sympathy to Jane in this situation because in any incident involving her with the Reed children, Jane is always in the wrong, in Mrs Reed's eyes. After the Red-Room incident, Mrs Reed separates Jane from her own children more than ever before so she is forced to eat alone, sleep alone and play by herself in the nursery. Mrs Reed defines Jane to her children as "not worthy of notice" and demands they stay away from her. This increases the sense of isolation that she feels, so our sympathy for Jane increases.

However, a number of times in the book Jane is shown to enjoy being alone, as in the first few pages she fears "nothing but interruption, and that came too soon." From a young age she has felt lonely because her parents died so early in her life and the fact that she has been mistreated since she arrived in Gateshead hasn't helped this situation. Jane is also used to living in poverty, because, even though her Aunt is rich and her cousins can have anything they want, Jane has been rejected, alienated and deprived of "privileges intended only for contented, happy, little children." She is entirely dependant on her Aunt, so she has no defense against this ill-treatment. Jane is often reminded of this dependency, and even though she is used to it, she still finds it "painful and crushing". She is treated like an animal, as she is called names, such as, "rat…little toad…mad cat". All of these things indicate how Jane is made to feel as though the members of the Reed family, and even the servants, are her superiors, and that she is a nonentity.

In Gateshead Hall, however, Jane's Aunt is not the only person who mistreats her and takes advantage of her dependency on the family. All of the Reed children treat Jane poorly, as though she is inferior to them despite the fact that she is really their equal.

John Reed is particularly nasty towards Jane, and bullies her the most of all the children. We are told that John does not only torment her "once or twice in a day, but continually." Charlotte Brontë portrays John as a physically unattractive boy who eats too much and tortures animals. He scares Jane, as he is not only bigger than her, but he is also four years older than she is. He has complete control over Jane, which he knows, and takes advantage of. She is forced to be obedient towards him, as every nerve she had "feared him, and every morsel of flesh on" her "bones shrank when he came near". He literally inspires terror in Jane. John Reed is not ignorant of the fact that he can make Jane do anything he wants, so using this power he has, he physically bullies her. In doing this he knowingly provokes her into reacting, so Jane is punished and he gets away with it all. This creates further sympathy towards Jane, as she is forced to pay for what he started.

The other Reed children, Georgiana and Eliza, are also a factor in Jane's unhappiness at Gateshead. Although they do not bully Jane was outwardly as John does, they support John and are always there to run for Mrs Reed when Jane steps out of line. Georgiana, who had a "spoiled temper, a very acrid spite, a captious and insolent carriage" was never punished for any of these faults. Most of the reasoning behind this is that she is a "beauty…with her long Curls and her blue eyes, and such a sweet colour,", whereas Jane is a "little toad". Eliza, although apparently not as beautiful as Georgiana, was "respected", despite being, "headstrong and selfish". Jane tries her hardest, but even though she does not appear at all inferior to any of the Reed children, she is definitely treated as thought she is.

The servants do not treat Jane as she deserves either. Abbot, Mrs Reed's maid, is unfeeling and cruel when she talks to Jane, as she tells her she is "less than a servant", which emphasizes how little everybody in the house thinks of her. When Jane cries to get out of the Red-Room, Abbot insists that she has done it on purpose, as a means of escaping her punishment.

Bessie, however, is much kinder to her than Abbot. She is sympathetic towards Jane, as a few times in the book she feels that Mrs Reed was "rather too hard" and that "Jane is to be pitied to." This shows that she feels some affection towards the poor little girl, and tries to persuade Mrs Reed to lighten her punishment when Jane is terrified after being locked away in the red-room. The day after this incident, when Jane is sick, Bessie does her best to comfort her by giving her a dessert on a special dish, that she knows Jane loves. One the other hand, Bessie is capricious, as she tends to change her mind frequently. Even though she shows love and affection for Jane, she refers to her as a "strange little thing" and agrees with Abbot that Georgiana is superior in all aspects to Jane. Bessie also makes Jane tidy up the nursery when Jane is forced to spend her time there in complete solitude. It is sad to note that, despite this, Bessie is the closest thing Jane ever has to a friend in Gateshead Hall, which makes the reader feel even more sympathy towards her.

One clear incident that stands out in Jane's years in Gateshead is the night she is locked in the red-room. This was a punishment after being provoked into attacking John Reed, which adds to the sense of injustice, as John Reed isn't punished at all. Jane has superstitious fears, so when going into the red-room she is terrified, as it was the room Mr Reed died in. These fears are intensified when Abbot insists that "God will punish her" and leaves with the final condemning words of, "Say your prayers, Miss Eyre, when you are by yourself; it if you don"t repent, something bad might be permitted to come down the chimney, and fetch you away.'

After these words are spoken and Jane has been locked in, she spends a few scared minutes glancing around the room. The adjectives used to describe the red-room create an atmosphere of foreboding, words such as, "chill…silent…solemn" all create tension as Jane sits alone in this haunted room. Paranoia and superstition soon set into Jane as she really believes she has seen a ghost and the intense fear that has instilled into her at this point to so overwhelming that she cries out, she was "desperate" to get out. Bessie and Abbot are the first to come to her, but, while Bessie is kind and understanding, Abbot accuses Jane of putting the while thing on. Mrs Reed is finally summoned, but does not listen to Jane, or even try to understand her, she thrusts Jane back into the room, but Jane is so emotional at this point that she has a fit. This incident makes the reader feel even more sympathy towards Jane. What happened that night in the red-room has affected her so much that she can still recall the "fearful pangs of mental suffering" she endured that night.

When Jane wakes up the next morning, she finds Mr Lloyd, the apothecary, at her bedside. The feeling of relief and "soothing conviction of protection and security" that Jane feels when she knows a stranger is present indicates just how desperate her situation at Gateshead is. The apothecary is very kind to Jane, in contrast to the way anybody, except Bessie at times, treats her. The fact that he was there made her feel "sheltered and befriended." The small acts of affection Jane shows to the apothecary, such as reaching out her hand to him, shows that she has the capacity to love, and that she is a human being with emotions who needs to be cared for and looked after.

Another thing that shows the capacity for love that Jane has is her attentiveness towards her doll that. The fact that she realizes that, "a human being must love something" shows how neglected and lonely a childhood she has been forced to live. It is sad that she is so alone in this world that, to be "comparatively happy" herself, she must also believe that this "miniature scarecrow" is equally happy. Another situation like this one is when Jane is trying to feed the bird, she hesitates in answering Bessie as she wanted it "to be secure of its bread." Jane has the ability to love and care for people, but because of the poor treatment she has received at Gateshead, this capability has not been able to grow and develop.

The ability to love is not Jane's only good point in her character. She is not the typical, pretty heroine, that was so often featured in novels at that time; she is completely ordinary, which allows the reader to identify with her. Jane knows she isn't perfect, she is aware of the fact that she needs to acquire a more sociable manner, and learn to control her passionate speeches. She is creative, has a great imagination and reads books to escape her less than perfect circumstance.

Jane also knows how to stand up for herself. After being deemed "unworthy" by Mrs Reed, she defends herself and finally challenges her aunt. This sudden outburst scares Mrs Reed, and when Jane brings up the promise she made to her husband on his deathbed, she tries to rationalize with her niece. Jane admits to Mrs Reed that she cannot live without "one bit of love or kindness", as her aunt seems to think she can, and she threatens to tell everyone about how cruelly she has been treated by her family in her childhood. Upon reflection of her aunt's treatment towards her, Jane thinks that she should possibly forgive her aunt, for she may not have realized at the time how her attitude towards her niece has affected her but Jane knows there is no point in apologizing as her aunt would only despise her more for it. This makes the reader sympathize even more with Jane, as we realize that she was made to feel guilty during her time at Gateshead.

When Mr Brocklehurst comes to interview Jane for school, Mrs Reed tries to prejudice Mr Brocklehurst against Jane as much as possible. Mrs Reed insists that Jane "has not quite the character and disposition" that she should wish, and brands her as being "deceitful". She realizes what her aunt is doing, "sowing aversion and unkindness along" her "future path; I saw myself transformed under Mr Brocklehurst"s eye into an artful, noxious child.' This doesn't present a promising future for her, as the description of Mr Brocklehurst is intimidating, and Mrs Reed has obviously chosen one of the worst schools she could possibly find for Jane. This makes the reader even more sympathetic towards her, as, even though she will finally escape the misery of Gateshead Hall, her new home does not seem to promise a better life.

In conclusion, the techniques and language Brontë uses creates a great deal of sympathy towards Jane. The use of descriptive language, the first person narrative and the attitudes towards Jane all build up the reader's sympathy for Jane. As the story trace her development through Gateshead Hall, the realization of how poorly she has been treated strengthens the connection the reader feels with her. Ultimately, the sympathy the reader feels for her comes from how Charlotte Brontë truly makes the reader care for Jane.