Jane Eyre Characters with Analysis

This article will provide a comprehensive list of characters in Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. Though Jane and Mr. Rochester are the two gothic spires of this text, there is a whole host of characters who populate the manors and moors. If you need it, here’s a summary of the text to help you out as well as the 7 Best Quotes in Jane Eyre with Analysis. 

While you can certainly use Project Gutenberg’s searchable Jane Eyre, I continue to recommend the Oxford World Classics text for its helpful endnotes and footnotes. 

Major Characters in Jane Eyre with Analysis

Jane Eyre 

As the protagonist and narrator, Jane’s interior life is the whole point of the novel. Remember – Jane Eyre is an “autobiography” written from a future where Jane and Mr. Rochester are happily married (with at least one son). That is not to say that the events of the novel are unimportant. However, far more important is how Jane understands these events as shaping her present self. Indeed, Jane Eyre was revolutionary precisely because of this focus on the private, emotional development of its main character. (The literary critic Daniel Burt calls Charlotte Brontë “the first historian of private consciousness.”)  

We first meet Jane, she is ten years old girl and in the care (if it can be called that) of her aunt, Mrs. Reed. We find out later that Jane’s father was a poor clergyman who married a woman from a wealthy family. Jane’s maternal grandfather was so irritated with his daughter’s choice of husband that he cut them off financially. When Jane’s mother and father both catch typhus and die, Jane is left in the care of Mr. Reed, her mother’s brother (who dies soon after). 

Jane Eyre Characters (Continued)

Though Mrs. Reed has three children – Eliza, John, and Georgiana – they shun their cousin Jane. Of the three, the fourteen-year-old John is particularly cruel. When Jane stands up for herself against John’s bullying, Mrs. Reed throws Jane in the “red-room.” Jane thinks she sees a ghost and is terrified. She begs to be released, but Mrs. Reed pushes her back into the room, where Jane subsequently faints. 

In response to her “disobedience,” Mrs. Reed sends Jane off to Lowood academy, where Jane will spend the next eight years – six as a student and two as a teacher. Eventually, Jane bores of Lowood and advertises her services as a governess. Within a few weeks, Jane is off to Thornfield Hall to take care of Adele, a young French girl in the care of Mr. Edward Fairfax Rochester. 

When Jane finally meets her boss, Mr. Rochester, she is (justifiably) wary. He seems an angry, tempestuous man. (Their subsequent romance has not aged well.) Though it takes time, Jane eventually confesses her love to Mr. Rochester, who reciprocates. Things go pear-shaped when they try to marry. [Spoiler alert!] Unbeknownst to Jane, Mr. Rochester is already married to Bertha Mason, an insane woman that he keeps imprisoned in on the third floor of Thornfield Hall. 

Jane Eyre Characters (Continued)

Such is Mr. Rochester’s passion for Jane that he suggests that they move to France and live as husband and wife away from the prying, prudish eyes of English high society. Though Jane is tempted, she refuses to be led astray by her feelings for Mr. Rochester. She has no intention of being a rich man’s mistress. In an impressive act of will, Jane leaves Thornfield without telling anyone.

She makes it as far as “Whitcross.” After paying for her travel, Jane has no money – she then accidentally forgets her suitcase in the coach. Penniless and possessionless, Jane begs for food and sleeps outside. After three days of this, near death, she knocks on the door of a house and is taken in by Mary, Diana, and St. John Rivers. Through a series of unlikely events, Jane 1) inherits a fortune, 2) finds out that Mary, Diana, and St. John are her cousins, and 3) decides to split her inheritance equally with them. (I’ve written a chapter-by-chapter summary here.)

Her financial future secured, Jane turns her eyes to the future. St. John has taken a shine to Jane and proposes marriage (and a missionary existence in India). Though Jane is enamored with St. John’s intellect and Christian faith, she refuses to marry someone she doesn’t love. Like her rejection of Mr. Rochester earlier in the novel, Jane manages to resist the seductive allure of giving her existence over to another’s will.

Jane Eyre Characters (Continued)

Having rejected St. John, Jane turns her thoughts back to Mr. Rochester (it’s been a year since she left him). She returns to Thornfield to find it burned to the ground. When Jane asks around, she finds out that Bertha Mason set the house on fire and subsequently killed herself. Mr. Rochester managed to save all the servants but was blinded and maimed in the fire. Jane goes to him immediately, rekindles their romance, and marries him within the month. 

At the end of the book, Jane reflects on her path and feels that her success is a result of her having stayed true to her own inner compass instead of submitting to the will of others. 

Mr. Rochester 

Mr. Edward Faifax Rochester is Jane’s boss (suitor, and (eventually) husband). Much has been made of Mr. Rochester’s brooding, Gothic vibes, but his main narrative purpose is to prompt Jane to trust herself. Remember, Mr. Rochester asks Jane to marry him under very false pretenses. It’s not until Jane is kneeling at the altar with him that she finds out that Mr. Rochester has been married for fifteen years to a crazy lady he keeps on the third floor of his mansion. 

Mr. Rochester’s subsequent proposal – that they move to southern France and live as man and wife – is tempting. While Jane loves Mr. Rochester, her Christian faith will not let her live as a man’s mistress, crazy wife or not. The intensity of Jane’s feelings for Mr. Rochester makes her decision to leave him more poignant. 

Jane’s rejection of Mr. Rochester also allows for him to become a better (more Christian) person. His eventual blinding and maiming strip him of his arrogance and haughtiness. By the time Jane returns, he is a humble, middle-aged man, finally ready for the love of a nineteen-year-old girl.  

St. John Rivers 

Like Mr. Rochester, St. John exists as a sort of test for Jane’s self-determination. The brother of Maria and Diana, St. John is driven to be a missionary. He proposes marriage to Jane because he sees in her a worthy helpmeet for his missionary life. (While he not-so-secretly burns for the wealthy Rosamund Oliver, he knows that missionary life would be a poor fit for her.) 

Jane is very nearly convinced by St. John’s religious fervor. Though he is presumptuous and aloof, she understands the allure of giving over her will to such a force. If she were to marry St. John, Jane would cease to suffer from the burden of self-determination. Ultimately, Jane cannot betray her belief in the value of romantic love. She rejects St. John’s conventional understanding of Christian duty in favor of finding her own way in the world. On the last page of the book, we find out that St. John is ailing in India and will soon die. 

Jane Eyre Characters (Continued)

Bertha Mason

Though she doesn’t speak a single line in the text, there’s no doubt that Bertha Mason is a major character in Jane Eyre. Like her mother before her, Bertha suffers from “congenital madness.” Mr. Rochester implies that his marriage to Bertha was rushed by both families. The Rochesters wanted the Masons’ wealth and the Masons wanted someone to take Bertha off their hands. 

We find out that the strange laughter Jane hears from the servants’ quarters is Bertha (though Mr. Rochester blames Grace Poole). Though Grace is supposed to keep watch over her, Bertha escapes whenever Grace hits the gin too hard. On one occasion, she tries to burn Mr. Rochester in his bed. In another, she sneaks into Jane’s room and tears Jane’s bridal veil in half.

Mrs. Reed

Mrs. Reed takes Jane in when her parents die of typhus. Though she is Jane’s aunt, there is no love lost between the two. Indeed, the only reason that Mrs. Reed bothers with Jane is because she promised her late husband that she would take care of her. Mrs. Reed is consistently unkind to Jane and keeps her away from her own children, John, Eliza, and Georgiana. 

A few years after Mrs. Reed sends Jane to Lowood, one of Jane’s uncles comes searching for her. It turns out that this uncle has made a fortune and would like Jane to be his heir. In an act of particular spitefulness, Mrs. Reed tells him that Jane died at Lowood. We find out later that Mrs. Reed couldn’t bear the thought of Jane’s conditions improving.  After her son, John, dies (implied to be suicide), Mrs. Reed has a stroke from which she does not recover. 

Minor Characters in Jane Eyre with Analysis 

Helen Burns

When Jane arrives at Lowood, she befriends Helen Burns. While an excellent student, Helen is frequently punished by the teachers for being “slatternly.” Like many of the characters in Jane Eyre, Helen exists to highlight Jane’s unique refusal to conform. Helen accepts every punishment she receives without protest, believing that this world is merely preamble to the next. Helen dies of consumption soon after Jane’s arrival at Lowood. 

Mrs. Fairfax

Distantly related to Mr. Rochester, Mrs. Fairfax manages Thornfield Hall. It is she who hires Jane as governess. 

Blanche Ingram

Before Mr. Rochester can admit that he loves Jane, he courts Blanche Ingram to make Jane jealous. Because Jane finds Blanche so thoroughly boring, Mr. Rochester’s interest in her lowers Jane’s opinion of him. In a testament to her shallowness, Blanche’s interest in Mr. Rochester wanes when she comes to believe that his fortune is smaller than expected. 

Mary and Diana Rivers

Sisters of St. John, they welcome Jane into their home after she flees from Thornfield. When Jane discovers that they are her cousins, she shares her inheritance with them and invites them to return from London to live at their ancestral home. 

Rosamund Oliver

Rosamund is the wealthy woman who St. John is in love with. She also funds the school that Jane works at while in Morton. While Rosamund’s father makes it clear that he would accept St. John as a son-in-law, St. John refuses, knowing that Rosamund would never consent to being a missionary. 

Adèle Varens

Adèle is the ten-year-old French girl who Jane teaches at Thornfield. Though her paternity is unclear, Mr. Rochester might be her father. 

Jane Eyre Characters (Continued)

Celine Varens

The French opera dancer with whom Mr. Rochester has an affair, she claims that Adèle is Mr. Rochester’s daughter. Mr. Rochester ends his affair with Celine after he learns that she has been unfaithful and is only interested in his money. 

Georgiana, John, and Eliza Reed

After bullying Jane in the first four chapters of the text, we don’t hear much from Georgiana, John, and Eliza until Mrs. Reed has a stroke. When Jane returns to care for her aunt, we are reintroduced to her cousins. John has led a dissolute life and killed himself over gambling debts, Georgiana is a beautiful, if vapid, society lady, and Eliza has become a stern woman destined for the nunnery. 

Bessie 

One of Mrs. Reed’s servants, Bessie is one of the only people who is (sorta) kind to Jane during her childhood. Before Jane leaves for Thornfield, Bessie comes to visit Jane and tell her news of Mrs. Reed and her cousins. She later marries the Reeds’ coachman.

Mr. Lloyd

Mr. Lloyd is the apothecary who visits Jane after her fainting spell in the red-room. A kind man, he recommends to Mrs. Reed that Jane be sent to school. When the headmaster of Lowood (Mr. Brocklehurst) claims that Jane is a liar, it is Mr. Lloyd who attests to Jane’s good character. 

Jane Eyre Characters (Continued)

Miss Temple

Miss Temple is the only teacher at Lowood who is kind to Jane. When Miss Temple marries and leaves Lowood, Jane realizes she too wants to set out on adventures. 

Mr. Brocklehurst

As the headmaster of Lowood, Mr. Brocklehurst is responsible for the atrocious conditions at the school. A strict, tyrannical Christian, he keeps Jane and the other girls on the brink of starvation so that they can better focus on God. 

Grace Poole

Grace Poole is Bertha’s caretaker at Thornfield. Whenever something weird happens, Mr. Rochester blames Grace Poole. We find out later that Grace keeps a bottle of gin in her room. Bertha escapes whenever Grace gets drunk. 

Richard Mason

Richard is Bertha’s brother. When he comes to visit Thornfield, Bertha attacks him, nearly killing him. Upon hearing that Mr. Rochester plans on marrying Jane, he comes to the wedding and exposes his bigamy. 

John Eyre

Jane’s long-lost uncle, he leaves Jane 20,000 pounds in his will. 

Wrapping Up – Jane Eyre Characters and Analysis

While Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre is focused on the moral and ethical development of its eponymous narrator, the text also provides a detailed depiction of the various strata of Victorian society. From governesses to coachmen, nobles to beggars, Jane Eyre weaves a rich tapestry of characters and classes. 

If you’ve found this article useful or interesting, you can also check out my summaries and analyses of 1984, Frankenstein, The Great Gatsby, Hamlet, The Crucible, Beloved, Brave New World, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and Macbeth.