Female Independence in Jane Eyre

In the beginning of Jane Eyre, Jane struggles against Bessie, the nurse at Gateshead Hall, and says, I resisted all the way: a new thing for me…"(Chapter 2).  This sentence foreshadows what will be an important theme of the rest of the book, that of female independence or rebelliousness. Jane is here resisting her unfair punishment, but throughout the novel she expresses her opinions on the state of women.  Tied to this theme is another …

…the past and how it was a presentiment of her sister's illness. Jane dreams of infants, as this woman did, and these dreams are followed by the attack on Mason and Robert's visit telling Jane that John Reed had died and that Mrs. Reed was on her deathbed. She again has dreams of infants before her failed wedding, and she has a dream of Thornfield as a ruin, which she later sees has become reality.