Final Questions

1. How do the female characters in Jane Eyre respond to the male hierarchy in
British society?

2. How does our understanding of Jane's childhood and child self contribute to our
understanding of her as an adult?

3. In what ways, and for what reasons, is Jane portrayed as an outsider?

4. Is Jane Eyre a reliable narrator? Can we trust her to be honest about her life? If
not, what in her narrative leads us to think she may not be completely reliable, or
utterly reliable?

5. Consider Jane and Rochester's relationship: What do they have in common; How
do they establish a relationship; Is their relationship plausible?

6. A Victorian critic stated that "Most serious novels stimulate thought; they may
force readers to face unpleasant truths about human nature.” Are there "unpleasant
truths" that Jane Eyre wants us, or its Victorian readers, to face?

7. What is the influence of the Gothic Tradition upon the novel Jane Eyre?

8. Jane began her education in rationality thereby taming her rebellious spirit with
Miss Temple at Lowood School. Jane's teacher's name is especially significant
because she represents all the angelic piety and peace of mind Jane would like to
possess.

9. Jane's conformance to social rules has become the defining element of her adult
self.

10. Pairs of people, concepts, and settings that oppose, compliment, or juxtapose
the other fill the novel with layered symbolism typical of the Victorian Era.

11. Many women in nineteenth century literature were depicted as demonized or

something to be greatly feared either because of their sexuality or their resulting
madness. On the other hand, Victorians also held the middle-class concept of
woman as “the angel of the house” – a domestic goddess of sorts, a female to
comfort her male counterpart, a heroine to balance the fiery, reckless actions of
fallible men.

12. The German word Bildungsroman means "a novel of formation": that is, a novel
of someone's growth from childhood to maturity. About a third of Jane Eyre, for
instance, is concerned with her childhood. How is the childhood Jane different from
the adult Jane, and what is the “formation” that has taken place?