Examples Of Rebellion In Jane Eyre

“I served both for his prop and guide” This represents a reversal in the roles of Jane and Mr. Rochester’s marriage that rebels against the typical relationship in the Victorian era where the man would typically be the “prop” for a woman. This theme of rebellion is constant and seen as positive throughout Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre.
One way that Jane’s rebellion is positive is that she leaves her abusive household and goes to Lowood. In chapter IV Jane explodes after her mother calls her a deceitful child. Common Victorian etiquette was that people (women especially) should never speak loudly or angrily. Usually a child in an upper class house who broke that rule would meet corporal punishment, but in Jane’s case, her mother is intimidated “Mrs. Reed looked frightened (...) and even twisting her face as if she would cry.” The outburst also make Mrs. Reed want to send her to school faster, “I will indeed send her to school

Rochester’s bigamy scheme. In chapter XXVII Jane says “Sir, your wife is living: that fact acknowledged this morning by yourself. If I lived with you as you desire- I should then be your mistress: to say otherwise sophistical- is false.” Because of this Jane decides to leave the house without her master’s consent. In the Victorian era, women were never allowed to travel without leave and company of a man.
A subsequent way that Bronte tells that Jane’s rebellion is positive is that she finds her lost relatives and become rich. In chapter XXXIII St. John says, “You are not, perhaps, aware that I am your namesake?- that I was christened St John Eyre Rivers?” To which Jane replies “You three then, are my cousins; half in our blood on each side flows from the same source.”
Also in chapter XXXIII, St. John tells Jane that “your uncle, Mr Eyre of Madeira, is dead (...) and that you are now rich.” Jane then goes to live with Diana, Mary, and St. John happily in the Moor