What is the main conflict of Jane Eyre?

Answer 1

Jane Eyre is an example of a female hero's journey. In order for the plot to resolve Jane must find herself by following a path to independence. She ends up with Rochester only after she has found herself. She can return to him knowing that she has gained independence and so their relationship can be mutual without one depending on the other.

Answer 2

The war between passion and responsibility. In this book Jane Eyre faces a conflict between her true love and her moral responsibility to God that torments her and becomes the most important and intriguing conflict in the book.


When Jane Eyre learns on her wedding day that her true love, Mr. Rochester, already has a wife, she is faced with a conflict between her love for this man and her need to be happy and her moral duty to God to obey the law of the church that recognizes only one marriage. She is tempted almost beyond her will to resist to simply abandon her moral responsibility and become Rochester's mistress. On one hand, Jane had found for the first time in her life a true affection that made her feel a sense of belonging, safety, and love. On the other hand, by embracing this affection, she would lose her soul in the eyes of God.

Jane is devastated by this conflict and almost destroyed by it. Because of this, she abandons the security of Thornfield Hall and is almost killed by starvation. She finds a new life but is tormented in dreams and in every private moment by the thought of her loss. However, she is also strengthened by this conflict. Jane is forced to realize that she has an inner strength that sustains her and the she does not need anyone else. She is also made more pure and, therefore, more self-confident by the fact that she could resist the greatest of all temptations and remain pure. The independence that she gains as a result of this conflict ultimately allows her to marry Rochester. She had always shunned his worshipful attention such as his long drawn-out compliments before, but after the conflict is resolved, she is not bothered by this attention because she has finally earned it. Therefore, the conflict between love and duty to God may have weakened Eyre almost to the point of death, but it also strengthened he and allowed her to find true happiness.

http://www.gradesaver.com/jane-eyre/study-guide/major-themes/

Answer 3

Jane Eyre is an example of a female hero's journey. In order for the plot to resolve Jane must find herself by following a path to independence. She ends up with Rochester only after she has found herself. She can return to him knowing that she has gained independence and so their relationship can be mutual without one depending on the other.

Answer 4

The main moral conflict in Jane Eyre is whether or not she should leave Mr. Rochester when she finds out he is married. SHe loves him with all her heart, and she understands that she would not be offending any one else by staying with him, but it is so much against everything that she believes in, that she is deeply conflicted. In the end, she realizes that she would never be happy if she stayed with him against her morals.

Answer 5

In the book Jane Eyre, one of the main points of the book is also Jane Eyre's largest conflict. This conflict was not with others, but with herself and her culture. Jane Eyre believed that she and God were the only ones that could determine where she would go in life. Her society believed that social-class meant and determined everything - including who you will marry and spend the rest of your life with. She felt that this was wrong and that people should not be displayed solely by their appearance or by their economic-status but by their individual worth.

Throughout the novel she defied the Victorian Era's ideals. When she finally found true love with Mr. Rochester, she knew that she had to separate from him because he was acting immorally in her eyes. Even though Jane discovered something that would bring her much pleasure, she turned away from what she knew was wrong. This displays Jane's character, one that believes in morals and what is correct rather than what would please her or her culture the most.

Other examples are when Jane left Lowood School and the school near Moor House. Despite her comfort there, she knew she had to leave for greater purposes. The last example is that Jane worked for what she needed. Instead of marrying off to a rich man, she earned a living for herself. This example displays that Jane believed in doing was what right and in working hard.

What a reader of Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre may learn from her book is that true love, real happiness, and complete morals are what life is made of. Bronte depicts people of the Victorian Era as empty and incomplete, because they are focused on wealth and appearance. She rises up against her culture's "perfectness" and says that it is false, no matter what the consequences were to herself.

Answer 6

The main conflict in "Jane Eyre" is Jane's struggle to assert her independence and find her own identity in a society that tries to confine her to traditional roles and expectations. This inner conflict is also reflected in her external challenges, such as her relationships with Mr. Rochester and societal norms that dictate her place in society.