Betrayal In Jane Eyre

In Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, Bronte portrays her theme of the importance of women's’ independence and gender equality by employing betrayal throughout her novel. In particular, Bronte portrays how betrayal propelled the character of Jane Eyre to attempt to find herself and how betrayal affected the character of Bertha Mason.

Throughout most the novel, Jane never feels settled into where she stays. In the beginning, Jane feels tormented by her cousins and her aunt in Gateshead. When she leaves for Lowood, she is not satisfied with remaining in the same school setting for the rest of her life. However, when Jane reaches Thornfield Hall, everything changes. At Thornfield, Jane falls in love with Mr. Edward Rochester. When Jane agrees to marry Mr. …show more content…
This betrayal pushes Jane to make the decision to leave Rochester and attempt to go on to find herself in the world. It was Rochester’s betrayal that was the driving force for Jane to finally try to search for her independence. Before this occurred, Jane had experienced hardship her whole life;however, she had never attempted to survive on her own. When Jane was at Thornfield, she experienced a sense of comfort which she had never experienced before. Rochester’s betrayal tampered the sense of comfort that Jane had with Thornfield. In reality, Rochester’s betrayal on Jane was more beneficial than it was harmful. If Jane were married to Rochester like she had originally intended, she would have been tied down and restricted from being as independent as she intended to be, similar to many married women during this time period. Without Rochester, Jane was able to take charge in her occupation as a teacher for troubled students, and she was able to finally learn to live alone in the town of Morton. Jane has an awakening. In Morton, it is revealed to Jane that her uncle had left all of his inheritance to her, and