Charlotte Brontë wrote the novel Jane Eyre. The novel follows the title character, Jane, as she develops through life (Brontë 1). The book starts out with orphaned Jane, who is living with her aunt’s family (Brontë 1). The book continues to follow Jane through boarding school and her first job as a governess (Brontë 105). Eventually, you see an independent young woman instead of the lonely child that Jane began the book as. Independence plays a big role in this novel, which is shown through Jane’s actions. Jane shows her independence by standing up for herself, raising standards for future literary heroines, and of course by being able to take care of herself. At first, Jane is not very confident in herself, so she fails to stand up for herself. …show more content…
This exhibits her independence because Jane is living with her unloving aunt’s family. They dislike her enough that they send her off to boarding school. When Jane takes a job as a governess at Thornfield, she is earning her own money and has to fend for herself against the world. “Reader, though I look comfortably accommodated, I am not very tranquil in my mind” (Brontë 103). In addition, she realizes that being alone will boost her independence. “I can live alone, if self-respect, and circumstances require me so to do. I need not sell my soul to buy bliss. I have an inward treasure born with me, which can keep me alive if all extraneous delights should be withheld, or offered only at a price I cannot afford to give” (Brontë 467). This section of the book is describing Jane falling in love with Mr. Rochester, who seems to be infatuated with Miss Ingram. Jane runs away from Thornfield due to the fact that she believes that Mr. Rochester and Miss Ingram are to be married (Brontë 256). She has to return to Gateshead (Aunt Reed’s house), because she learns her cousin John has died (Brontë 250). While on her deathbed, Jane’s aunt apologizes for not taking care of her when she was young (Brontë 253). She also apologizes for sending Jane to boarding school rather than let her know that she had another uncle who wished to take care of her (Brontë 254). All of this