Themes in Jane Eyre

In the following excerpt, Kramer examines the interplay between Jane's concern for equality and her urges to submit or rebel. The fact is that the motivating forces of Jane Eyre's personality are not sexual concepts at all but personal concepts. She reacts as she does to erotic situations not because of repressions or of desires to emasculate or castrate her menfolk but because she fully understands her own motivations. She also comprehends the significance of …

…to react to her associates in terms of inequality. The foregoing analysis of the structure and characterization of Jane Eyre is not especially revolutionary. Indeed, it enhances previous interpretations by approaching the central issues of the novel from new directions without either invalidating other readings or distorting the text. Identifying the dual aspect of Jane's movement toward self-realization provides a fresh indication of Charlotte Brontë's command of her materials and her clarity of vision.