The Theme of Jane EyreJane‘s natural disposition is stubborn,and because of the early death of her parents, she has to live with her aunt and her families. Her aunt is so ruthless that she sends Jane into the orphanage which has the most harsh rules. So, during her early age,Jane has went through many kinds of bitterness.But her spiritual world therefore becomes more fortitude. After growing up, she goes to the reinfeldt's castle to become the family teacher of Mr Rochester's children. In her eyes,Rochester is arrogant but full of charm, and Rochester considers her as the only one can talk to.And they fall in love with each other.In their wedding,Jane knows that Rochester had married, his wife is the crazy woman!To pursue freedom and equality,Jane flee from him.But after a long time, she knows her real love is Rochester. She goes back to reinfeldt's, but the castle has been burn into ruins by the crazy woman,and Rochester also blind to save her. Among the ruins, Jane looking for Rochester,and they hug each other, no longer separation.It explains such a theme: the value of a man = dignity + love.One theme is Jane's dignity.In Mrs. Reed home, 10-year-old Jane,has to face her cousins' discrimination and abuse. But she expresses a strong resistance spirit. When her cousin beat her, she responds to; When her aunt exclaims that their children get away from her, she shouted "they do not deserve with me together"; When she is imprisoned in the room,thinking of the abuse, she shout loudly "unfair" from the heart. At the orphanage, Jane's resistance character become more distictive. This is a clear contract with her friend Helen,who is oppressed cruelly but believes in "love your enemy". But Jane detests the principal and the ruthless teachers. She said: "if she uses the root note hit me, and I will take it away from her hand, and break it in front of her."It fully demonstrates that she unwilling humiliation and won't surrender to the fate.Another theme of the novel is Jane and Rochester's love. Jane Eyre's love view deepen her personality. She thinks love should be set up on the basis of equality spirit, and should not depend on social status, wealth and appearance.Only when men and women both truly love each other,can they get real happiness. On the pursuit of happiness, Jane showed unusual pure, simple thoughts and feelings and indomitable courage. She doesn't because of the servant status give up the pursuit of happiness.Her love is pure, noble.She doesn't interested in his weath. She loves him because he can treat her equally,and take her as a friend.As Rochester speaking, Jane Eyre likes a stream of fresh wind, so that he is braced up.In the past,Rochester had been used to the hypocrisy of the society. And Jane Eyre's simplicity, kind and independentpersonality recall his pursuit and yearning for the life.Jane sympathize for the unfortunate fate of Rochester, thinking his mistake is caused by the objective environment. Despite his ugly, and later he becomes a bankruptcy disabled,what she sees is his inner beauty and sympathize with his unfortunate fate.So, eventually marry him.In the novel,there are two basic melody of Jane's pursuit of life: passion, fantasy, resistance and perseverance;desire for the happiness and freedom of life and the higher realm of spirit pursuit. The theme of the novel is expressed through the rough life experiences of the orphan girl, success in making an heroin who is courageous and tough.Analysis of Major CharactersJane EyreThe development of Jane Eyre’s character is central to the novel. From the beginning, Jane possesses a sense of her self-worth and dignity, a commitment to justice and principle, a trust in God, and a passionate disposition. Her integrity is continually tested over the course of the novel, and Jane must learn to balance the frequently conflicting aspects of herself so as to find contentment.An orphan since early childhood, Jane feels exiled and ostracized at the beginning of the novel, and the cruel treatment she receives from her Aunt Reed and her cousins only exacerbates her feeling of alienation. Afraid that she will never find a true sense of home or community, Jane feels the need to belong somewhere, to find “kin,” or at least “kindred spirits.” This desire tempers her equally intense need for autonomy an d freedom.In her search for freedom, Jane also struggles with the question of what type of freedom she wants. While Rochester initially offers Jane a chance to liberate her passions, Jane comes to realize that such freedom could also mean enslavement—by l iving as Rochester’s mistress, she would be sacrificing her dignity and integrity for the sake of her feelings. St. John Rivers offers Jane another kind of freedom: the freedom to act unreservedly on her principles. He opens to Jane the possibility of exercising her talents fully by working and living with him in India. Jane eventually realizes, though, that this freedom would also constitute a form of imprisonment, because she would be forced to keep her true feelings and her true passions always in check.Charlotte Brontë may have created the character of Jane Eyre as a means of coming to terms with elements of her own life. Much evidence suggests that Brontë, too, struggled to find a balance between love and freedom and to find others who understood her. At many points in the book, Jane voices the author’s then-radical opinions on religion, social class, and gender.Edward RochesterDespite his stern manner and not particularly handsome appearance, Edward Rochester wins Jane’s heart, because she feels the y are kindred spirits, and because he is the first person in the novel to offer Jane lasting love and a real home. Although Rochester is Jane’s social and economic superior, and although men were widely considered to be naturally superior to women in the Victorian period, Jane is Rochester’s intellectual equal. Moreover, after their marriage is interrupted by the disclosure that Rochester is already married to Bertha Mason, Jane is proven to be Rochester’s moral superior.Rochester regrets his former libertinism and lustfulness; nevertheless, he has proven himself to be weaker in many ways than Jane. Jane feels that living with Rochester as his mistress would mean the loss of her dignity. Ultimately, she would become degraded and dependent upon Rochester for love, while unprotected by any true marriage bond. Jane will only enter into marriage with Rochester after she has gained a fortune and a family, and after she has been on the verge of abandoning passion altogether. She waits until she is not unduly influenced by her own poverty, loneliness, psychological vulnerability, or passion. Additionally, because Rochester has been blinded by the fire and has lost his manor house at the end of the novel, he has become weaker while Jane has grown in strength—Jane claims that they are equals, but the marriage dynamic has actually tipped in her favor.Helen BurnsHelen Burns, Jane’s friend at Lowood School, serves as a foil to Mr. Brocklehurst as well as to Jane. While Mr. Brocklehurst embodies an evangelical form of religion that seeks to strip others of their excessive pride or of their ability to take pleasure in worldly things, Helen represents a mode of Christianity that stresses tolerance and acceptance. Brocklehurst uses religion to gain power and to control others; Helen ascetically trusts her own faith and turns the other cheek to Lowood’s harsh policies.Although Helen manifests a certain strength and intellectual maturity, her efforts involve self-negation rather than self-assertion, and Helen’s submissive and asceticnature highlights Jane’s more headstrong character. Like Jane, Helen is an orphan who longs for a home, but Helen believes that she will find this home in Heaven rather than Northern England. And while Helen is not oblivious to the injustices the girls suffer at Lowood, she believes that justice will be found in God’s ultimate judgment—God will reward the good and punish the evil. Jane, on the other hand, is unable to have such blind faith. Her quest is for love and happiness in this world. Nevertheless, she counts on God for support and guidance in her searchSt. John RiversSt. John Rivers is a foil to Edward Rochester. Whereas Rochester is passionate, St. John is austere and ambitious. Jane often describes Rochester’s eyes as flashing and flaming, whereas she constantly associates St. John with rock, ice, and snow. Marriage with Rochester represents the abandonment of principle for the consummation of passion, but marriage to St. John would mean sacrificing passion for principle. When he invites her to come to India with him as a missionary, St. John offers Jane the chance to make a more meaningful contribution to society than she would as a housewife. At the same time, life with St. John would mean life without true love, in which Jane’s need for spiritual solace would be filled only by retreat into the recesses of her own soul. Independence would be accompanied by loneliness, and joining St. John would require Jane to neglect her own legitimate needs for love and emotional support. Her considerat ion of St. John’s proposal leads Jane to understand that, paradoxically, a large part of one’s personal freedom is found in a relationship of mutual emotional dependence.Character Contrast of Rochester and John in Jane Eyre Jane Eyre is a famous novel written by Charlotte Bronte. Jane is the heroine of the book, and she finally married Edward Rochester and they lived a happy life together. There is a person who may be easily neglected——St. John Rivers. He was Jane’s cousin, and also proposed to Jane. But Jane chose Rochester after struggling. There are remarkable differences between Rochester and St. John.Even the adjectives used by Charlotte Bronte for the two male characters are opposite: Rochester is fire and St John is ice.Jane is affected by both men. Bronte wrote, “I was almost as hard beset by him (St John) now as I had been once before, in a different way, by another(Rochester). I was a fool both times. To have yielded then would have been an error of principle; to have yielded now would have be en an error of judgment.”Jane was affected by Rochester because she loved him so much, because he saw what she was and appreciated and encouraged her. She was affected by Rivers because she owed him her life, because he was one of her few relatives, because she was too depressed to resist his efforts and finally because he possessed a character that didn’t explode with anger to help her channel her own against him. When Rochester offered Jane a love without marriage, and John offered her a marriage without love, she gave up all them. Eventually she got the love with marriage, and she chose Rochester as her better half.Edward Rochester, as Jane’s employer and the master of Thornfield, was a wealthy, passionate man with a dark secret that provides much of the novel’s suspense. At first, he seemed indifferent to his employees, including Jane. He was a strange man according to the account of Mrs. Fairfax, “His character is unimpeachable. He is rather peculiar. He is considered a just and liberal landlord by his tenants, but he has never lived much amongst them.”( VolumeⅠ, Chapter Ⅺ, 166) So Jane was curious about him, and cautious when talking with him.Despite Rochester’s stern manner and not particularly handsome appearance, Edward Rochester wined Jane’s heart, because she felt they were kindred spirits and because he was the first person in the novel to offer Jane lasting and a real home. Bronte wanted readers to know that Jane was not attracted by Edward’s appearance but because she recognized something good in his soul.Rochester seemed to be a Gothic hero. He was haunted by his shameful past. He was rash and impetuous when he was young. His problems of Bertha Mason and Celine Varens were partly the result of his recklessness. On the other hand, he was a sympathetic figure. First, he didn’t abandon Adele Varens though he didn’t believe she was his daughter. Second, he stuck to taking care of Bertha though he had suffered so long. What was worse, he was blind and lost one arm for saving his servants when Bertha set big fire. So we can draw a conclusion, actually Rochester was a great man.“While Rochester is a prototype of the fiery, passionate, unconventional man,St. John is his opposite: cold, hard-hearted and repressed.”(Harvard Blue Sky Most popular Study Guides)St. John River was a handsome young clergyman who was the brother of Diana and Mary Rivers. When Jane arrived at Moor House, hungry and penniless, fleeing from Thornfield Hall, John offered her shelter. Although Jane became close friends with the Rivers sisters, she found that St. John had a “reserved, an abstract, and even a brooding nature.”“Now, I did not like this, reader, St. John was a man; but I began to feel he had spoken truth of himself, when he said he was hard and cold. The humanities and amenities of life had no attraction for him...As I looked at his lofty forehead, still and pale as a white stone…I comprehended all at once that he would hardly make a good husband.”( VolumeⅢ, Chapter Ⅷ) From Jane’s words, we can see John was not a ideal husband.He was a pious Christian and humble to work for God. It is easily noticed from his words, “I cannot accept on his behalf a divided allegiance. It must be entire.”(Page 411), and “I, for instance, am but dust and ashes.” (Page 411) .But from the long conversation between and John and Jane, when he asking Jane to marry him and be the wife of a missionary, his aggressive and controlling in his interactions with others exposed. He was entirely alienated from his feelings and devoted solely to an austere ambition. He said, “But, as it is, either our union must be consecrated and sealed by marriage, or it can not exist.” When Jane regarded him as a brother, he answered, “We cannot——we cannot”with short, sharp determination.When I saw thus words during reading the book, I doubted whether John loved Jane or not. He never said “I love you” to Jane, nor did he remember to shake hands with her when living. He just wanted a wife he can “influence efficiently” and “retain absolutely”, rather someone he beloved.So there are sharp distinguishes between Rochester and St. John. Jane described Rochester’s eyes as flashing and flaming, whereas she constantly associated St. John with rock, ice and snow. St. John was self-centered whileRochester not. To match Jane, Rochester tried to change himself. He tried to understood Jane and expressed his feelings truly, sincerely and faithfully. But John didn’t try to change himself. He selected Jane as his wife after noticed Jane’s abilities and good qualities, but he himself did nothing.John vented his passions while John repressed it. Although he “flushed” and “kindled”at the sight of Rosamond Oliver, he would rather turn himself into “an automation” than succumb to Rosamond’s beauty or fortune. What’ s more, Rochester gave Jane freedom while John threatened Jane like a “shackle” through his assertion of his “masterhood”. Optimistic critics point to Jane’s description of St. John as her reminder that the marriage she rejected would offer her much more stifling.By entering into marriage, Jane did enter into a sort of “bond” and get in many ways. This “bond” was the “escape” that she had sought all long. If Jane accepted John’s request, how different her life would be.。