Question- Attempt a character Sketch of Jane Eyre.

Answer -

The protagonist and narrator of the novel, Jane is an intelligent, honest, plain-featured young girl forced to contend with oppression, inequality and hardship although she meets with a series of individuals who threaten her autonomy, Jane repeatedly succeeds at asserting herself and maintains her principles of justice, human dignity and morality. She also values intellectual and emotional fulfillment. Her strong belief in gender and social equality challenges the Victorian Prejudices against women and the poor.

Let's take a look at her character traits one by one :

1. Jane Eyre's Spirit of Defiance and Revolt - The first trait of Jane Eyre's character, which we note at the very outset and which she continues to display throughout her carrer is her spirit of defiance and revolt. Jane Eyre, as a ten-year old girl, rebels against, Mrs. Reed's cruel treatment of her. Subequently, she has to endure the degradation and humiliation to which she is subjected by Mr. Brocklehurst-at Lowood school. She is in no position to defy the director of the school, but she begins to detest and abhor this man. At Thornfield Hall, she tells Mr. Rochester that he has no right to give her orders and commands just because he pays her a salary. At Moor House she refuses St. John's repeated proposal of marriage and does not surrender to him despite the pressure which he exerts upon her.

2. Jane Eyre's Passionate Nature and Constancy In Love - Jane has a passionate nature and when she falls under the spell of Mr. Rochester's magnetic personality, she becomes deeply devoted to him. Her love for him is so intense that he seems to her to be the most handsome man even though he is, by his appearance, one of the most unattractive males. Here she aptty says to herself that beauty lies in the eyes of the gazer or the beholder. She finds Mr. Rochester to be a fascinating man, and her love for him becomes profound. Here we also perceive Jane's unconventional attitude to life, not only because she has fallen in love with a physically unattractive man but because she has fallen in love with a man who is twice her age. Her love for him is not a passing fancy as would've been the case with a girl of a superficial nature. Her love has an abiding quality, and it continues even after she leaves Thornfield Hall and forsakes Mr. Rochester under the compulsions of her conscience. Eventually of course she is united with him, and finds perfect bliss in her conjugal life with him.

3. Jane Eyre's Sense of the Dignity - Jane has a strong sense of her dignity, and this sense of her own dignity actually shows her sense of the dignity of her sex. This sense of the dignity of her sex. The sense of the dignity of her sex shows that she does not regard woman as a commodity whom a man can acquire by his status or wealth. When Mr. Rochester urges her not to forsake him but to live with him as his companion or his mistress, she declines this proposal and quits Thornfield Hall even though she has not ceased to love Mr. Rochester. In taking this step, she appears to us as an upholder of the dignity of her sex and as a champion of the rights of women.

4. Jane Eyre's Sympathetic Nature and Her Generosity - Jane is basically a sympathetic person. In fact, she is large-hearted and generous. Her friendship with Helen Burns at Lowood School is based on her sympathy for that girl who is the very embodiment of piety and humility. The manner, in which Jane distributes her legacy of twenty thousand pounds equally among her three cousins and herself, shows her generosity as well as her desire for family affections and Attachments.

5. Jane Eyre's Courage and Fortitude - Jane goes through the vicissitudes of her life with great courage and fortitude. An ordinary girl would have given way to despair, and would have sunk beneath the weight of her misfortunes. An ordinary girl would have certainly succumbed to the temptation of living with Mr. Rochester as his mistress or subsequently have agreed to marry St. John in order to lead a financially viable if not, prosperous life. But she gives evidence of extraordinary powers of endurance under all circumstances. She proves herself to be an enterprising girl capable of taking initiatives.

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