2. Love vs Autonomy  a quest to be loved, to be valued 1, while remaining herself  when she finds it (Rochester’s proposal) she refuses it for fear of losing her integrity in favour of emotional gratification

3.  at Moor House: economically independent, but she’s offered a loveless partnership  events at Moor House: tests of Jane’s autonomy, until she’ll prove her self- sufficiency to herself and will be able to engage in a completely symmetrical relationship with Rochester

4. Religion  three main religious figures: Brocklehurst Helen Burns St.John Rivers each representing a model she refuses

5.  Brocklehurst : Evangelicalism  full of false rhetoric; inflicts privations and humiliations on the girls while living in luxury  Helen Burns  recognizes the holiness of her behaviour, but also knows it is too passive to be adopted by herself

6.  St.John Rivers  sacrifice, but also ambition, glory, self-importance  urges Jane to sacrifice her emotional fulfilment in favour of moral duty  by adopting that model she would be disloyal to herself

7. Religion as a personal choice  she refuses those models of religion but not Christianity and morality  several examples in which she relies on God for help and comfort  finally she finds her own way: a religion not hateful and oppressive like Brocklehurst’s, nor self-effacing and ambitious like Helen’s and St.John’s  a help to keep immoderate passions under control; a spur in worldly efforts and achievements

8. Social Class  criticism of Victorian social hierarchy  exploration of the complex social position of governesses  contrast between her refined manners and her low social standing  tension reaches its climax in Jane’s relationship with Rochester: equal intellectually, but not socially 1  however, she never really questions the organization of society

9. Gender Relations  constant fight against patriarchal domination, against the idea of the inferiority of women, embodied by three different figures: Brocklehurst, Rochester, St.John  each of them tries to dominate her  in her quest for independence she escapes Brocklehurst, rejects St.John, comes to Rochester only after they can marry as equals  she will not depend on him either emotionally or financially  articulates what at the time was felt as a radically feminist philosophy (Chapter 12) 1