Jane Eyre quotes

Question 1

‘I am no bird: and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.’
Bird- Motif of freedom
‘No’- repetition of the negative
‘Ensnares’- connotations of hunting, prey, traps,
‘Ensnares and free’ syndetic pair

Answer 1

Themes of freedom, justice, morality
Context- women in Victorian times, declaring who she is, emphasises her limited choices.
Religion-morality, sinful, could link to Bronte’s life- Father a vicar

Question 2

‘Do you think I am an automation?-a machine without feelings?’ (J to R during proposal)
Interrogative mood, rhetorical
Personal pronouns-accusatory

Answer 2

Themes- control, desire for independence, Limitations of Victorian women
Industrial Revolution- machinery

Question 3

‘I would always rather be happy than dignified’
PP ‘I’
intensifier ‘always’
Juxtaposing pair of happy and dignified
Modal verb ‘would’- stronger
(St John offering to take Jane)

Answer 3

Themes- being respectable, religion, Jane’s freedom and independence
Contextually- Victorian expectations to marry and have a family

Question 4

‘I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself.’
( J after discovering R secret)
Two declarative sentences- one short and powerful
Triadic structure of more, increases intensity
Asyndetic list
Statement of intent
Modal verb will- enforces her power

Answer 4

Themes- independence, self-worth/self-respect
Part of her bildungsroman
Context- making religious, moral choice, treatment of women etc…

Question 5

‘Reader, I married him’
Opening words of final chapter
Short, declarative
Direct address
Sentence structure- her decision

Answer 5

Themes- self determination, power shift- Jane is wealthy and independent making choices
Context- importance of marriage, economic choices for women, wealth, post colonial- Jane rich as Uncle is a slave owner

Question 6

‘You have rather the look of another world’
(R to J)
Declarative
Rather-post modifies, removes intensity
Rochester sees Jane as different

Answer 6

Themes- superstition, gothic
Context- Bronte writing in post-romantic era- interested in Nature, worlds, magic

Question 7

Jane, be still; don’t struggle so like a wild, frantic bird, that is rending its own plumage in its desperation.”– Mr. Rochester

Answer 7

imperative
Pre-modifying adjectives
Abstract noun desparation
Perceptions of women, class difference