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Contents
The narrator and main character. Jane is plain, poor, and passionate. She is also unusually clear-eyed about her own feelings and refuses to let anyone treat her as less than human. Her arc moves from powerless child to self-determining adult.
Jane's employer and love interest. Rochester is older, moody, and unconventional. He hides his marriage to Bertha and tries to convince Jane that the deception was justified. He is compelling but deeply flawed, and the novel does not let him off the hook easily.
Rochester's legal wife, kept locked in Thornfield's attic. She is violent and barely communicates. The novel presents her through Rochester's perspective, which is hostile. Her existence destroys Jane's first chance at marriage and raises questions about who is really the victim.
Jane's cousin and a driven missionary. He is handsome, cold, and relentless. He wants Jane to marry him and dedicate her life to his mission in India. He nearly succeeds through sheer force of will, which makes him one of the more frightening characters in the book.
Jane's first real friend at Lowood. Helen is deeply religious and accepts suffering without bitterness. She dies young from tuberculosis. Her calm contrasts with Jane's anger, and she gives Jane an early model of how to endure without being destroyed.
Jane's aunt by marriage, who raises her after her parents die and then sends her away. Mrs. Reed is cold and resentful. On her deathbed, she admits to a lie she told about Jane that had real consequences, but she cannot bring herself to apologize.
The housekeeper at Thornfield. Jane initially mistakes her for the owner. She is kind but conventional, and she warns Jane to be cautious about Rochester's affections, advice Jane does not take.
The aristocratic woman Rochester pretends to court to make Jane jealous. Blanche is beautiful and condescending. She treats Jane as invisible. She exists partly to show that Rochester values Jane's mind over social status.
The head of Lowood school. He preaches austerity and Christian humility to the girls while his own family lives comfortably. He publicly humiliates Jane on her first day, calling her a liar. He represents institutional hypocrisy.
Rochester's ward and Jane's pupil at Thornfield. Adèle is the daughter of a French opera dancer Rochester was once involved with. She is cheerful and a little vain. She gives Jane a reason to be at Thornfield and connects Jane to Rochester's past.
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