“It seemed I had found a brother; one I could be proud of, – one I could love; and two sisters, whose qualities were such, that when I knew them but as mere strangers, they had inspired me with genuine affection and admiration.”

Brtonë, 482-483

Comment:Jane has recently discovered she has inherited 20,000 pounds from her Uncle John Eyre who had passed away. This inheritance provides her with both wealth and family which overjoys her immensely. Her entire life she has felt as though she did not belong and would be wanted or accepted by anyone else besides Rochester. Now it seems Jane has found all she had hoped for. The children she teaches at school become her friends and she has a family with St. John and cousins Diana and Mary; even deciding to split her fortune with them evenly. This gesture shows Janes value of money. She is more grateful to have found her family than to have been given a large inheritance. Later in the novel, St. John deeply pressures Jane to marry him, but Jane is able to demonstrate she will not give in to these pressures in order to stand up for her beliefs about marriage. After her previous time Rochester, she has seen the importance of following her heart and not giving into persuasive men. Without the fear of ever being alone, she returns to Rochester who is now free of his previous wife Bertha, and able to officially marry her.

Question: Jane Eyre’s life was greatly influenced by the news of her uncles passing and inheritance- how would her relationships with her family be if they had never discovered to be related? Would Jane still have denied St. John and gone back to Rochester?