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This lesson covers three more themes that run through Jane Eyre: social class, religion, and love. These themes are closely interconnected — class determines who Jane can love, religion shapes her moral choices, and love is the ultimate testing ground for both class prejudice and religious principle.
Class pervades every relationship and every setting in Jane Eyre. Brontë uses Jane's liminal class position to expose the injustice and hypocrisy of the Victorian class system.
Jane is a gentlewoman by birth and education, but she has no money and no family connections. This places her in an impossible position:
| Higher than... | Lower than... |
|---|---|
| Servants (by education) | The Reeds (by wealth and status) |
| Pupils (by role) | Rochester (by class and gender) |
| Village poor (by birth) | Blanche Ingram (by beauty, wealth, rank) |
| Setting | How class affects Jane |
|---|---|
| Gateshead | Treated as an unwanted dependent — "less than a servant" (Ch. 2) |
| Lowood | Charity school for "poor" girls — Brocklehurst humiliates based on class |
| Thornfield | Governess position: above servants, below the family; invisible to Blanche Ingram |
| Moor House | Inheritance transforms her class position; she becomes financially independent |
| Ferndean | Marriage to Rochester as an equal, not a subordinate |
Brontë does not argue for the abolition of class distinctions, but she consistently shows that class and moral worth are unconnected:
| Character | Class position | Moral worth |
|---|---|---|
| Jane Eyre | Poor, plain | Deeply moral, principled |
| Blanche Ingram | Wealthy, beautiful | Shallow, mercenary |
| Mr Brocklehurst | Wealthy clergyman | Hypocritical, cruel |
| Mrs Reed | Wealthy gentlewoman | Vindictive, dishonest |
| Hannah (at Moor House) | Servant | Kind but class-prejudiced — initially turns Jane away |
Examiner's tip: When writing about class, note how Brontë uses contrasts to make her point. Blanche Ingram has every social advantage Jane lacks — yet Rochester rejects Blanche because she is hollow inside. The message is clear: inner worth matters more than social rank.
"You have no business to take our books; you are a dependent, mama says; you have no money; your father left you none; you ought to beg, and not to live here with gentlemen's children like us" (Chapter 1 — John Reed)
John Reed articulates the Victorian class system's blunt logic: money and birth determine your right to exist.
"Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong!" (Chapter 23)
Jane's most famous speech is fundamentally about class equality. She refuses to accept that poverty makes her less human.
"I am an independent woman now" (Chapter 36)
Jane's inheritance has given her what Victorian society required for full personhood: money.
Bertha's treatment raises uncomfortable questions about class and race. Rochester married her for her family's money (£30,000), then imprisoned her when she became inconvenient. Some critics argue that Bertha represents the colonial exploitation that funded the Victorian class system — her West Indian wealth enriches Rochester, but she herself is discarded.
Religion in Jane Eyre is not a single, unified force — Brontë presents competing forms of Christianity and asks which is authentic.
"Oh, madam, when you put bread and cheese, instead of burnt porridge, into these children's mouths, you may indeed feed their vile bodies, but you little think how you starve their immortal souls!" (Chapter 7)
Brocklehurst uses religion to justify cruelty and control. He starves the Lowood girls while his own wife and daughters live in luxury. His religion is about power, not faith.
"I live in calm, looking to the end" (Chapter 6)
Helen embodies a selfless, otherworldly Christianity — she forgives her tormentors and accepts suffering as God's will. Brontë clearly admires Helen, but her early death suggests that such pure faith cannot survive in the harsh material world.
"God and nature intended you for a missionary's wife... you are formed for labour, not for love" (Chapter 34)
St John's religion is impressive but inhuman. He suppresses all personal feeling in favour of duty and expects Jane to do the same. His faith is authentic but dehumanising — he would sacrifice love, warmth, and human connection for his mission.
Jane's faith is private, moral, and grounded in both feeling and principle:
"I will keep the law given by God; sanctioned by man. I will hold to the principles received by me when I was sane, and not mad — as I am now" (Chapter 27)
Jane's religion is internalised — she does not follow rules imposed by others, but rather a moral compass that combines conscience with compassion.
Examiner's tip: Brontë's treatment of religion is nuanced. She does not reject Christianity — Jane's moral strength is deeply spiritual. But she condemns religion that is used as a tool of control (Brocklehurst), that demands the suppression of humanity (St John), or that leads to passive suffering (Helen). The "correct" model is Jane's own: a personal faith that balances duty with feeling.
Love in Jane Eyre is not simply romantic — it is the arena where class, gender, religion, and independence are all tested.
| Type of love | Characters | Brontë's view |
|---|---|---|
| Possessive love | Rochester (early) | Critiqued — he tries to own Jane |
| Loveless duty | St John's proposal | Rejected — love without feeling is death |
| Unconditional love | Helen Burns for Jane | Beautiful but ethereal; not enough for life |
| Mercenary "love" | Blanche Ingram | Condemned — based on money, not feeling |
| Equal love | Jane and Rochester (Ferndean) | Endorsed — the novel's ideal |
Brontë's ideal love requires:
| Before the fire | After the fire |
|---|---|
| "I would not exchange this one little English girl for the Grand Turk's whole seraglio" (Ch. 24) — possessive, orientalist imagery | "Am I hideous, Jane?" (Ch. 37) — vulnerable, seeking reassurance |
| Dresses Jane in expensive clothes; calls her "angel," "fairy," "elf" | Depends on Jane for physical and emotional support |
| Master of Thornfield | Humble inhabitant of Ferndean |
Rochester's language shifts from possession to partnership — and only then does Brontë allow the marriage.
"I want a wife: the sole helpmeet I can influence efficiently in life, and retain absolutely till death" (Chapter 34)
The language of commerce and control — "influence," "efficiently," "retain absolutely" — reveals that St John's proposal is not love at all. It is a transaction, dressed in religious duty.
Jane's recognition that this would be spiritual death:
"If I join St John, I abandon half myself" (Chapter 35)
Question: How does Brontë present social class in Jane Eyre?
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