Jane Eyre

I recently listened to a webcast by a fantasy author on crafting compelling, three dimensional female characters who are fully realized, interesting and powerful. Ah ha! I need to get back to my blog writing...so here we go. Jane Eyre. What more can I say? Charlotte Bronte's novel and character were beyond her generation. She had everything packed into that book , which is why it happens to be one of my favorite classics that I go back to again and again. I am going to focus on two aspects of her character that make Jane Eyre an unforgettable heroine.

First, she's a contradiction. From the very beginning of the novel, she's a contradiction and it hooks us. She's hiding from her cousin, trying to avoid him because he's such a brute. But when he finds her and hurts her, she doesn't just take it like we expect. She defends herself. Not only does she physically defend herself, but she verbally tells him exactly what she thinks of him. This character trait, where she tells people exactly what she is thinking, comes to haunt her throughout the book, but we love her for it. She has agency.  What makes her even more intriguing is that she shows us even more contradiction. She may honestly tell everyone around her what she is thinking, but she's never honest to others about how she feels. Not until the very end when she realizes that she can love Mr. Rochester and be an independent person at the same time.

Second, Charlotte Bronte does not make Jane suffer to motivate Rochester into action. In fact, it's the complete opposite. He never saves her from the bad guys. The bad guys being Ms. Ingram and his crazy wife in the attic. Instead he falls in love with Jane for being who she is, just like how we the readers have fallen in love with her for that same reason.