Charlotte Bronte’s character, Jane Eyre, is a heroine of her own era. She is a character of passion, integrity, and intelligence. She is faced with discrimination, oppression, and poverty, which obstructs her dignity, strong will, and her desire for freedom and still comes out strong in the end. She faces oppression, first, in her childhood home, discrimination throughout her life due to her plain looks, and poverty near the end of the novel. The development of Jane throughout these hardships is a crucial piece of the novel, as well as the women she associated herself with. The women in Jane’s life vary from an evil mother-creature to a kind housekeeper, and they all have an impact on her life in some way and to different extents. The way Bronte wrote this novel, most of the …show more content…
The beginning of Jane’s life was anything but easy. Due to the death of her parents, Jane moved in with the next of kin: The Reeds. Jane’s uncle was kind, compassionate, and merciful to her, unlike her aunt and their devilish children. Unable to catch a break, Jane’s uncle died soon after her transition, leaving her with her cold-hearted aunt and cousins. Most of the women Jane encountered at Gateshead (the living place of The Reeds) made Jane’s childhood very difficult. She did her best to do as she was told and stay out of trouble, but trouble came to her. Mrs. Reed, Jane’s aunt, despised Jane and treated her as if she were an animal. She despised her due to her late husband’s love for Jane, exceeding the love for his own children. On Mrs. Reed’s deathbed, she was still hostile towards Jane and couldn’t apologize to her for all of the hurt she had caused in her childhood. Though Jane fails to smooth things out before Mrs. Reed’s passing, she learns the lesson of forgiveness and moving on. “You have my full and free forgiveness…” (Bronte). Jane not only had to deal with Mrs. Reed, but her children as well. The saying goes, “monkey see, monkey do,” and that’s exactly