Jane Eyre is an interesting and exciting novel to read.  The main character brings us into the scenes that make the readers believe that they are actually living the story.  I know from personal experience that once I started this book I could not put it down.   I want to be able to give a guide throughout the novel, showing the audience Jane’s path as she matures, grows, and lives as the novel progresses. 

            Jane starts the novel with being a young girl about ten year’s old, living in her Aunt’s house.  She is alone in the world and she feels that it is being cruel to her.  It seems that the whole world and everyone in it hates Jane Eyre and doesn’t want her to exist.  Although Jane feels that she is treated unfairly by everyone that she knows, she really doesn’t help her situation in life.  What I mean about that is she seems to be very stubborn and obstinate as child.  Jane is a walking contradiction, one of my favorite quotes is in Volume 1, Chapter 4, Page 41 of the Penguin Edition of Jane Eyre, “I deliberated a moment; my answer, when it did come, was objectionable: ‘I must keep in good health, and not die.’”  This quote shows her true character as a child. 

            She is young and impressionable, but her hard circumstances in life made her bitter until she finds happiness later on.  Jane is sent to Lowood School for Girls where she is put into a system of reform for her bad temperament and behavior.  She still dislikes her life, although she finds it somewhat easier than living with her Aunt and cousins.  Jane is also able to find a degree of happiness at Lowood.  She finds her happiness in the form of two friends; her teacher Miss Temple and a friend Helen Burns. 

            Miss Temple helps Jane to become a good child by devoting her to the studies that are taught at Lowood.  Miss Temple also indulges Jane in her talent of drawing by reinforcing and persuading her to keep up with her work.  Her friend, Helen Burns keeps Jane out of trouble and helps her to deal with the everyday life of living at Lowood.  Jane and Helen’s conversations while at Lowood helped Jane not only to deal but to also grow and become more serene.  Helen was such a calm person and her calmness rubbed off on Jane. 

       After Helen’s death Jane also seemed to quiet down.  She argued less and also became less stubborn.  The loss of Helen seemed to weaken Jane’s spirit, as she felt pain and suffering again.  Death brought Jane back into the reality of the world.  Jane was happy at Lowood because she was not accused of being something she wasn’t, although she lived a strict life under severe rules while at school her life there was quiet. 

      As Jane moves to Thornfield Hall she hopes that she will be able to teach Adele to become a proper English girl but Jane finds out that things are quite different that what she expects.  As soon as Jane meets Mr. Rochester her world turned upside down.  Every time that Mr. Rochester talks to Jane he tries to catch her off guard in some way or another.  Mr. Rochester thinks that Jane is always to calm and collected to be human it seems.  He keeps questioning her about her former life and what friends she has made along the way. 

            It seems to me that Mr. Rochester brings excitement and joy back into Jane’s life.  He is always keeping her on her toes and he makes Jane question herself.  By having Jane questioning herself Rochester is actually making Jane grow as a person, internally.  He makes Jane grow internally by forcing her to ask the questions that normal people should ask.  He makes her question her true feelings for life and what it is to live in the world.  Mr. Rochester makes Jane become human through his funny comments about her behavior and her character. 

                Mr. Rochester references Jane as a fairy of wood nymph of Thornfield Hall making her seem almost as if she wasn’t a real person but inside Jane feels more real than ever.  She feels more real because Mr. Rochester makes Jane feel alive when he talks to her and pays attention to her when all she has ever been used to is being ignored. 

            Their love also helps Jane to grow as a person.  I think that it has something to do with the attention that Jane gets from Mr. Rochester.  He is always doting on her, wanting to smother her in jewels and fine gowns but Jane feels that she does not deserve these things.  I believe that these feelings are directly tied to her past.  The fact that she was ignored and mistreated as a child makes Jane want to hide and not be known as something extraordinary, but rather to blend in with the wall behind her.  All of her life she was told that she was nothing and meant nothing to anyone, now that she has found love Jane is able to be truly happy.  Jane is able to express her feelings without the ridicule that she experienced before as a child, no one scolds her when she speaks her opinion and in fact, her opinion is often sought after by Mr. Rochester for advice. 

             Jane’s character is also able to grow through her religion.  Throughout the entire novel Jane looks to God and her faith during the hard times.  After she leaves Mr. Rochester after the discovery of his wife Jane seems to be left desolate and alone.  Finally she prays to god for shelter, food, and something to save her from the situation that she is in.  Jane finds her salvation in the form of Saint John Rivers a cousin that she didn’t know that she had.  It is ironic to know that St. John is a parson who is extremely devoted to his religious work. 

            Saint John is determined to make Jane a disciple of the Lord’s work and to accompany him to India as his wife.  He thinks that by daily instilling the faith of the lord in Jane he will be able to tame her wild spirit that was in her since childhood.  Mr. Brocklehurst, the minister who funded the boarding school Lowood; also tried to tame Jane’s wild spirit through god and discipline.  As it turns out Mr. Brocklehurst and St. John were very similar in the way that they treated Jane.  They really didn’t think about what Jane wanted from them or what she wanted out of life, but what they wanted her to be.  Each man wanted Jane to be tame, subdued, and obedient to them.  Mr. Rochester on the other hand encouraged Jane to be herself, the wild and free fairy that she was. 

            At the end of the novel Jane finds out that she doesn’t need anyone to make her happy and that she can be a independent woman.  She does choose however that she wants to be with Mr. Rochester forever as his wife.  Jane goes back to him after she has proven to herself that she can make her way in the world and be proud of herself.  I believe that Jane needed to wait before going back to Mr. Rochester because this made her full transition into a fully grown human being. 

            It seems that both Jane and Mr. Rochester needed each other in this novel.  Without one the other could not be a full person, they are two halves of a person that equal a perfect whole.  Mr. Rochester is able to set Jane free, helping her to discover herself and also to let her know that it is ok to express her feelings for other people and the world.  He gives Jane the freedom to grow and expand and create the person that she has always wanted to be.