GCSE Charlotte Bronte | Themes Revision in Jane Eyre

English Literature Quiz - Jane Eyre - Themes (Questions)

This GCSE English Literature quiz explores key themes in Jane Eyre, including love, independence, social class and morality, helping you link ideas clearly to exam questions.

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Fascinating Fact:

Social class shapes opportunity and prejudice, and Jane’s status as a poor, orphaned governess exposes rigid Victorian hierarchies.

In GCSE English Literature, you are expected to track key themes across a whole text. In Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë explores love, independence, social class, religion and morality through Jane’s changing relationships and choices.

Key Terms

Theme: A big idea that runs through a text, such as love, justice, freedom or social class.
Independence: The state of thinking and acting for yourself, rather than being controlled by others.
Social class: A way Victorian society was divided by money, family background, education and status.

Frequently Asked Questions (Click to see answers)

What are the main themes in Jane Eyre for GCSE English?

Main themes in Jane Eyre include love and marriage, independence, social class, religion, morality and gender roles. You should be able to explain how Brontë presents these through plot and character.

How is social class shown as a theme in Jane Eyre?

Social class is shown through Jane’s position as a poor, orphaned governess among wealthier characters. Brontë highlights snobbery, unfair treatment and Jane’s desire to be valued as an equal, not a servant.

How can I write about themes in a Jane Eyre GCSE exam question?

To write about themes, link every point to the question, choose short quotations, explain what they show about the theme and connect your ideas to context and the novel’s overall message.

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Throughout the novel, Jane is frequently placed in the position of an outsider. This is NOT true in which of the following situations?

[ ]	As a teacher in Lowood School
[ ]	At Gateshead with her aunt and cousins
[ ]	At Thornfield Hall when the visitors, including Blanche Ingram, stay
[ ]	When first taken in at Moor House

What do the accounts of Mrs Reed's punishment of Jane, Mr Brocklehurst's running of Lowood School and Blanche Ingram's account of her governesses share in common?

[ ]	The theme of love
[ ]	The theme of marriage
[ ]	The theme of cruelty
[ ]	The theme of self-determination

"Mr Brocklehurst was here interrupted: three other visitors, ladies, now entered the room. They ought to have come a little sooner to have heard his lecture on dress, for they were splendidly attired in velvet, silk, and furs." To which of the following themes does this sentence relate?

[ ]	Class
[ ]	Gender
[ ]	Hypocrisy
[ ]	All of the above

What is the effect of Jane's large inheritance from her uncle?

[ ]	The inheritance drives her away from friends
[ ]	The inheritance allows her to be independent
[ ]	The inheritance makes her unhappy
[ ]	The inheritance encourages St John to propose to Jane

The first objects of Jane's affections are....

[ ]	Mrs Fairfax and Sophie
[ ]	Mr Rochester and Adèle
[ ]	John, Eliza, Georgiana and Mrs Reed
[ ]	Helen Burns and Miss Temple

What does Jane feel as a great, and unjust, restraint on her ability to determine her own future?

[ ]	Her age
[ ]	Her gender
[ ]	Her education
[ ]	Her religion

How does class impact on Jane?

[ ]	She is a member of the working class and is lucky to become a governess rather than a kitchen servant
[ ]	She is from a wealthy background and expects to marry well as a consequence
[ ]	She is from a relatively poor background; her poverty is compounded by being an orphan housed by wealthy relatives
[ ]	She is from a middle-class background and can move freely in the same social circles as Mr Rochester

When Jane informs Rochester's servants that she has married him, one remarks that she is not the handsomest of ladies but that she's good-natured and better than the "grand ladies". Which of the following statements is correct?

[ ]	In the novel, good character creates a beautiful outward appearance
[ ]	In the novel, good looks often correspond with poor character
[ ]	In the novel, good looks always correspond with good character
[ ]	In the novel, a beautiful appearance creates a good character

Which one of the following characters exhibits passion tempered by reason?

[ ]	Bertha Mason
[ ]	Jane as a child
[ ]	St John Rivers
[ ]	Jane as an adult

10.

"If you won't let me live with you, I can build a house of my own close up to your door, and you may come and sit in my parlour when you want company of an evening." Which of the following themes is NOT evident in this sentence?

[ ]	Self-determination
[ ]	The supernatural
[ ]	Love
[ ]	Home

You can find more about this topic by visiting BBC Bitesize - Themes

English Literature Quiz - Jane Eyre - Themes (Answers)

Throughout the novel, Jane is frequently placed in the position of an outsider. This is NOT true in which of the following situations?

[x]	As a teacher in Lowood School
[ ]	At Gateshead with her aunt and cousins
[ ]	At Thornfield Hall when the visitors, including Blanche Ingram, stay
[ ]	When first taken in at Moor House

Jane begins to feel at home at Lowood School during her time as a teacher. Her primary experience during the novel is of not belonging, of being an observer of the lives of others

What do the accounts of Mrs Reed's punishment of Jane, Mr Brocklehurst's running of Lowood School and Blanche Ingram's account of her governesses share in common?

[ ]	The theme of love
[ ]	The theme of marriage
[x]	The theme of cruelty
[ ]	The theme of self-determination

Mrs Reed, Mr Brocklehurst and Blanche Ingram are cruel to those who possess less power. While the novel is scathing about those who are cruel to children in particular, Blanche's account of teasing her governesses demonstrates the text's interest in those who abuse their power over others more generally

[ ]	Class
[ ]	Gender
[ ]	Hypocrisy
[x]	All of the above

Poor orphan girls do not need to dress beautifully since their role in life will be to serve. Wealthy women must, by contrast, present themselves as adornments. Mr Brocklehurst, who insisted that pupils' curly hair and top-knots should be cut off, is a hypocrite when it comes to his own family

What is the effect of Jane's large inheritance from her uncle?

[ ]	The inheritance drives her away from friends
[x]	The inheritance allows her to be independent
[ ]	The inheritance makes her unhappy
[ ]	The inheritance encourages St John to propose to Jane

Jane is able to be generous to those who had been kind to her and she also gains status in relationship to Mr Rochester, who can no longer perceive her as a poor beneficiary of his generosity

The first objects of Jane's affections are....

[ ]	Mrs Fairfax and Sophie
[ ]	Mr Rochester and Adèle
[ ]	John, Eliza, Georgiana and Mrs Reed
[x]	Helen Burns and Miss Temple

Jane is also very fond of Bessie, the only person who shows her any kindness at Gateshead Hall. This is because she is starved for affection, rather than because Bessie reciprocates her feelings

What does Jane feel as a great, and unjust, restraint on her ability to determine her own future?

[ ]	Her age
[x]	Her gender
[ ]	Her education
[ ]	Her religion

Charlotte Brontë offers a heroine who self-consciously advocates for her equality with men and with anyone who would deny her ability to act and to make choices regarding her own future

How does class impact on Jane?

[ ]	She is a member of the working class and is lucky to become a governess rather than a kitchen servant
[ ]	She is from a wealthy background and expects to marry well as a consequence
[x]	She is from a relatively poor background; her poverty is compounded by being an orphan housed by wealthy relatives
[ ]	She is from a middle-class background and can move freely in the same social circles as Mr Rochester

Jane's poverty is the result of her mother marrying a poorer clergyman against her family's wishes. Jane's background would place her level with the Reed family, but for most of the novel she has little money of her own

[ ]	In the novel, good character creates a beautiful outward appearance
[x]	In the novel, good looks often correspond with poor character
[ ]	In the novel, good looks always correspond with good character
[ ]	In the novel, a beautiful appearance creates a good character

Jane, who thinks of herself as "plain", frequently judges others by their appearance, believing character to show somehow in physical appearance. She does not, however, perceive this correspondence as one between good looks and good character. St John, for example, is as unmovable as the classical marble statues he resembles

Which one of the following characters exhibits passion tempered by reason?

[ ]	Bertha Mason
[ ]	Jane as a child
[ ]	St John Rivers
[x]	Jane as an adult

Jane learns not to suppress her passions, like St John, nor to allow them to rule her, as did her childish self, but to control them wisely

10.

[ ]	Self-determination
[x]	The supernatural
[ ]	Love
[ ]	Home

Jane has spent her life to this point seeking a home, a place where she can love and be loved without losing her ability to act for herself

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English Literature Quiz - Jane Eyre - Themes (Questions)

Fascinating Fact:

Key Terms

Frequently Asked Questions (Click to see answers)

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