History Characters / JaneEyre

* LethallyStupid: The terrible conditions he forces upon the girls at Lowood in the name of teaching them humility, results in them nearly freezing and starving. Poor Helen eventually dies of consumption[[note]]AKA typhoid fever[[/note]] because of this idiot's rationing.

* TurnTheOtherCheek: Helen is a staunch believer in this trope. She patiently accepts and forgives all the abuse she recieves at [[BoardingSchoolOfHorrors Lowood School]] and encourages the angry young Jane to do the same. Jane never becomes as self-effacing as Helen was, but she does ultimately take her friend's belief in forgiveness to heart, most noticeably when, as an adult, she forgives her abusive Aunt Reed at the latter's deathbed.

* KickTheSonOfABitch: Make no mistake he's an UngratefulBastard who treats his own mom like shit, but knowing that she is no good person as well, few will pity her.

* KickTheSonOfABitch: Because Blanche is after money and position and because she is extremely rude to Jane, Rochester's callous treatment of Blanche's hopes for marriage [[OldMaid at the age of twenty-five]] are not lingered on long.

* AmbiguouslyBrown: Her descriptions can be read as implying that she is mixed-race Creole, though they can also be interpreted as the physical manifestation of her mental illness. For what it is worth, her brother is consistently described as pale in complexion.

* ButNotTooBlack: Or AmbiguouslyBrown. Some bits and pieces in the story mentions (or, rather, implies) she's Creole-English and has a darker complexion than the rest of the cast.

* BadassBaritone: He has a very fine singing voice in addition to being muscular in build and athletic.

* ControlFreak: He dresses it up as serving the will of God, but deep down he is very much this. He is very exacting and demanding in his teachings of Jane, and she realizes during his proposal that for all his high-minded sentiments he really just wants to control her as he thinks he knows best for her. The fact that her will is stronger than he assumes pricks his ego a bit.

* {{Hypocrite}}: He is not wholly free of this sin; after Jane rejects his proposal he loudly declares that he has completely forgiven her and abandoned any grudge as a good Christian ought to, while his every action towards her is drenched in passive aggression and clearly screams that he very much has not.

* {{Foil}}: To Georgina and Eliza Reed, Jane’s cousins in Gateshead. They are kind and welcoming to Jane where Georgina and Eliza are cruel and inhospitable. Both pairs have a sister who is reserved (Eliza and Mary) and one who is outgoing (Georgina and Diana), but where Georgina is frivolous and superficial Diana is responsible and thoughtful, and where Eliza is cold, self-righteous and wants to lock herself away from the world Mary is warm and caring.

* UnwantedSpouse: Much of the reason as to why Edward opted to remarry and kept her hidden is because he really wants nothing to do with her.

* {{Foil}}: To Blanche Ingram. Both are wealthy, attractive young women with their eye on a man who is interested in Jane, but Blanche is a cold, cruel and haughty GoldDigger who only values Rochester for his wealth, whereas Rosalind is kind, sweet and has genuine feelings for St. John. Blanche is condescending and superior to Jane where Rosalind is friendly and genuinely impressed by her skills. is Both are treated somewhat callously by the man they pursue; Rochester does not have any affection for Blanche, is well aware that she is only after his money and uses her as part of OperationJealousy towards Jane, and Blanche loses interest in him when she is led to believe he is not as wealthy as she thought. St. John, however, has genuine attraction towards Rosalind but seems to view this as a test from God to lure him away from what he believes is his calling as a missionary, leading him to give her the cold shoulder. Rosalind eventually gives up on him and marries someone who returns her feelings.

* SpoiledSweet: Jane notes that when they were first introduced that Adèle, who had been somewhat abandoned by her parents / guardian who had used material gifts in place of affection, was rather spoiled and wilful when the first met. However, Jane also makes it clear that the girl was never malicious or mean-spirited, and that after only a few weeks under her influence Adèle had been rid of her worst habits or at least had gotten them more under control.

* RedHerring: For a long time Jane believes her to be the "ghost" of Thornfield and leads readers to think so as well.

[[folder:Bertha Antonietta Mason (aka Bertha Rochester)]]

* EvilCounterpart: To Jane Eyre. Both are in many ways outsiders or "Others," both have passionate sexual desires for Rochester, and both seem a little bit eerie or supernatural. But while Jane is sometimes-mild-mannered and plain-faced, Bertha is AxCrazy lunatic who tries many times to kill Rochester.

* ItRunsInTheFamily: Madness runs in Mason's family among women.

* PyroManiac: She seems to like fire a lot. She nearly burned Mr. Rochester in his bed once, and she's responsible for the fire revealed at the end of the book.

* BeautyEqualsGoodness: Jane describes her as extremely beautiful with nearly every feature perfect. She's a bit vain but amiable. In fact, one could consider her one of the few characters who plays this trope straight, compared to Blanche Ingram and Georgiana Reed.

* SpoiledSweet: She's a spoilt girl who knew nothing but indulgence, but she's never jerkish or proud. She helps to establish a village school for kids, and she's really kind to Jane, a poor teacher with no connections. Rosamond admires Jane's education and accomplishments.

* LethallyStupid: The terrible conditions he forces upon the girls at Lowood in the name of teaching them humility, results in them nearly freezing and starving. Poor Helen eventually dies of consumption[[note]]a.k.a. typhoid fever[[/note]] because of this idiot's rationing.

* TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth: She was the sweetest, cutest girl imaginable, and her spirit was noble and dignified (almost scary for a child). Such girls are not made for this evil world. She would suffer too much. [[note]]Helen is a portrait of Charlotte's sister Maria, who really did die of TB contracted at the school. Witnesses vouched for Helen's character as being a ''toned-down'' version of Maria's, pointing out that Charlotte had left out numerous torments suffered by both Maria and another sister, Elizabeth, who also died.[[/note]]

* {{Gaslighting}}: Mrs Reed insists to Jane that she is a caring and loving guardian who only punishes Jane for her own sins and misbehaviour, when both know full well that Jane does nothing to deserve it and it is purely an excuse for her own spite and cruelty. She also tells Mr Brocklehurst that Jane is a liar, which is clearly an attempt to preemptively discredit her in the event that she tells anyone the truth of how she was treated at Gateshead.

* {{Hypocrite}}: Insists that she is a caring and dedicated guardian when she is clearly anything but. She also tells Mr Brocklehurst that Jane is a malicious liar, which is itself a malicious lie.

* KickTheDog: Concealing Jane's existence from her existing relatives is a particularly nasty act. She also poisons the well for Jane when she is sent to Lowood by telling he headmaster that she is a chronic liar, which Jane views as especially spiteful.
* MoralEventHorizon: Young Jane views her lie to Mr Brocklehurst about Jane herself being a compulsive liar as this; not content with having treated Jane awfully while under her roof and then abandoning her promise to raise her as one of her own, she then tries to sabotage any chance that Jane might have of finding happiness at school by turning the headmaster against her purely out of spite and to conceal her own cruel and abusive conduct.

* KickTheDog: Concealing Jane's existence from her existing relatives is a particularly nasty act.

* WidowWoman: Her husband died. She's never shown missing him. She promised him she would take care of his niece, but she resented that he made her promise that.

* UncannyValley: In-Universe, Jane describes him as being right out of it:
-->''"...I liked his physiognomy even less than before: it struck me as being, at the same time, unsettled and inanimate. His eye wandered and had no meaning in its wandering: this gave him an odd look, such as I never remembered to have seen. For a handsome and not unamiable-looking man, he repelled me exceedingly..."''

* LaserGuidedKarma: He is forcibly removed from his position and his reputation permanently ruined after he treats his students so poorly that he causes a tuberculosis outbreak, contributing to many deaths.

* EpicFail: The horrendous living conditions he forces upon the girls at Lowood in the name of humility, results in a tuberculosis outbreak that kills half the students.

* LethallyStupid: The terrible conditions he forces upon the girls at Lowood in the name of teaching them humility, results in them nearly freezing and starving. Poor Helen eventually dies of consumption[[note]]a.k.a. tuberculosis[[/note]] because of this idiot's rationing.