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What are three observations made by the narrator in Jane Eyre about an individual or society?

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The narrator in Jane Eyre makes several key observations about individuals and society. First, she critiques social stratification by asserting her spiritual equality with Rochester despite her lower status. Second, she challenges Victorian gender norms by arguing that women, like men, need opportunities to use their talents. Lastly, she comments on St. John's lack of passion, highlighting her own appreciation for emotional depth and warmth in relationships.

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Pages numbers vary by edition of Jane Eyre: the first quote appears in chapter 22, halfway or a little more through:

Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong!—I have as much soul as you,—and full as much heart! And if God had gifted me with some beauty and much wealth, I should have made it as hard for you to leave me, as it is now for me to leave you. I am not talking to you now through the medium of custom, conventionalities, nor even of mortal flesh;—it is my spirit that addresses your spirit; just as if both had passed through the grave, and we stood at God’s feet, equal,—as we are!

In the passage above, Jane makes an impassioned comment to Rochester about her society, fearing he is going to marry Miss Ingram,...

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a woman of equal social status to him. In this quote, she contrasts the way people are stratified in English society of the time period to the way they are considered in heaven. She makes the bold claim that although a mere governess, a low-status position in middle-class British society, she is Rochester's equal in the eyes of God. In doing so, she is critiquing her own culture.

The second quote comes from chapter 12, five paragraphs in. Rochester has not yet arrived at Thornfield, and Jane, though kindly treated and comfortable, is feeling the dullness and claustrophobia of her situation as a governess. She makes a strong comment about how Victorian society treated women:

... women feel just as men feel; they need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts, as much as their brothers do; they suffer from too rigid a restraint, too absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffer; and it is narrow-minded in their more privileged fellow-creatures to say that they ought to confine themselves to making puddings and knitting stockings, to playing on the piano and embroidering bags. It is thoughtless to condemn them, or laugh at them, if they seek to do more or learn more than custom has pronounced necessary for their sex.

Jane is asserting that women have the same desires as men to use their abilities, making a pleas for something akin to gender equality.

In the third quote, the second paragraph from the last in chapter 34, Jane makes a comment on St. John's response to her refusal to marry him.

What a cold, loose touch, he impressed on my fingers! He was deeply displeased by what had occurred that day; cordiality would not warm, nor tears move him. No happy reconciliation was to be had with him—no cheering smile or generous word: but still the Christian was patient and placid ... I would much rather he had knocked me down.

We learn in this passage not only about St. John's coldness but about how much Jane values passion.

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