Think about the central character in ‘Jane Eyre’ and whether you sympathise with her or not.

Brontë creates the character of Jane in a way that ensures the reader's sympathy. She presents the hardships she has faced her entire life as a result of being an orphan and female. For example, we see the emotional and physical abuse she suffers at Gateshead. Brontë makes it clear that these two characteristics made the lives of many Victorians very difficult, perhaps in the hope that it would inspire sympathy in readers who were unaware or uncaring of these experiences which would be familiar to a large percentage of the population in Britain at the time. However, although we sympathise with Jane, she is still a realistic character, meaning she is not perfect, and has elements of her character that many find annoying or undesirable.